Legacy of the Blood (The Threshold Trilogy) (18 page)

Adesina’s
vyala
seemed to be taking on her feeling of
desperation. It became less and less controlled, swirling around her in its
desire to strike. When the aekuor appeared again, a tight beam of energy leapt
from her hand of its own accord. The beam struck the monster in the eye, and
its head recoiled with a shriek of agony.

The young queen felt a mixture of elation at finally causing the
beast some damage and terror at what her
vyala
had done.

When she had first begun her training with L’iam, she had
experienced an eerie feeling regarding her
vyala
. She had wondered what
would happen if it ever, in a sense, stepped outside of her. Since then, she
had strived to keep in under tight control.

There had been a handful of times when her emotions were
overpowering and she lost some of that control, allowing her
vyala
to
become manifest in the eyes of those around her. But she had never experienced
anything like what had just happened.

Her
vyala
had never before controlled
her
.

“Ma’eve, what is it? Your mind is filling with panic. Ma’eve!”

Adesina choked on her words, unable to describe the fear that was
overpowering her.

“Mar’sal,” shouted Ravi. “Come quickly!”

The young L’avan sprinted towards them, slipping in the pools of
water and stumbling from the violent motions of the ship. He knelt beside
Adesina and took her hand in his own.

“Bring her mind back into harmony,” instructed Ravi.

Mar’sal hesitated. “I do not know if I have the ability for that.”

“I will help you,” said the Rashad.

Together they reached into Adesina’s mind and brought it back from
the brink of paralyzing panic. Her fears did not go away, but she was able to
control her emotions again.

“Thank you,” she breathed, struggling to get to her feet.

The aekuor was also recovering, and it reared back with a hateful
hiss. Adesina had hoped that it would retreat after being injured, but it
seemed to be beyond reason now.

The L’avan were about to return to their defense of the ship, when
Ravi’s strained voice brought them to a halt.

“It is here!”

The Rashad gave a deafening roar, and a wave of golden power shot
out from his body.

Satosh pointed to the night sky. “Look!”

A streaming ball of fire hurdled through the air towards them.
Adesina had never seen a meteor before, but she knew enough about astronomy to
recognize what it was.

Some of the ship’s crew panicked at the sight, and dove off the
side of the ship in an effort to save themselves from the death that rocketed
towards them. Everyone else watched in awe as the flaming stone curved
gracefully towards the aekuor.

Adesina had to shield her eyes from the bright light, and the
force of the impact knocked her from her feet. When she regained the strength
to sit up, the aekuor was gone and Ravi had collapsed.

There was a stunned silence after the death of the aekuor.

Everyone seemed frozen, unable to move or think. The sound of men
thrashing in the water soon brought someone out of their daze and a shout rang
through the air.

“Man overboard!”

There were about half a dozen men fighting the waves that still
buffeted from the dying motions of the sea monster. The crew sprang into
action, throwing out ropes and hauling the men back to safety.

Adesina’s only thought was to reach her guardian.

“Ravi! Ravi!”

She was exhausted from her fight with the aekuor, but her
vyala
willingly flared to life. She ran her hands through his thick black fur, while
her power reached out tentatively to touch Ravi’s spirit.

He was dying.

“No, no, no, no,” Adesina said frantically.

He had expended most of his life force in the effort of calling
down the meteor, and now his spirit was flickering like a fading candle.
Adesina’s vision tinted a golden yellow, creating a mixture of energy and
healing from her
vyala
. She spread the magic over her guardian and
waited for his body to accept it.

Nothing happened.

The
vyala
was still there, as if she hadn’t done anything
with it. Her vision shifted to a light green, and she studied his spirit
carefully.

It was a kaleidoscope of colors, which was perplexing to observe.
Adesina was only accustomed to using her powers on humans. She had never used
her
vyala
on Ravi before. It almost appeared as if her magic didn’t fit
him, as a non-human. However, that didn’t make sense to her either, because she
had been able to use her gifts on the aekuor.

“Healing must be different than taming,” she muttered to herself
as she tried to find a solution as quickly as possible.

Normally, she would have consulted with an experienced healer, but
Mar’sal was quite preoccupied with healing the injuries of the crew. Adesina
felt an overwhelming wave of fear and uncertainty as she realized she was
completely on her own. She didn’t even have Ravi’s advice to guide her.

His life was slipping away quickly.

The young queen tried to heal him again, but it felt like there
was something in the way. It was like trying to fit a chair into a trunk. She
knew that if she could get the right “angle,” it would work.

She studied his spirit again, this time viewing it as an opening
rather than an object. Perhaps if she nudged at the corners a little bit, she
could widen it and set the healing spell inside.

Time was running out.

Her
vyala
pushed at the edges of Ravi’s spirit, expanding
it ever so slightly. His body quivered, but there seemed to be no other side
effects. Adesina pushed again, and he shuddered once more.

A few more adjustments, and Adesina nodded in satisfaction. She
created the healing energy and placed it within Ravi’s spirit, but something
about the magic felt unstable and she was afraid to let it go.

Acting on instinct, Adesina shot some golden beams of pure energy
through the spell in an attempt to strengthen it. She anchored the beams to her
own spirit, and released the magic to do its work.

The
vyala
shimmered, growing steadily brighter. Then, with
a flash, a pulse of visible light shot out from Adesina and Ravi.

The Rashad remained unconscious, but his breathing grew deeper and
Adesina knew that he would eventually recover.

“What did you do?”

She turned around and saw that the whole crew was staring at her.
Mar’sal and Than’os looked especially concerned.

The young queen hesitated. “I…am not certain…”

Adesina felt weak and queasy. She tried to stand, but her legs
were too unsteady. The two L’avan soldiers hurried to her side and reached out
to steady her.

“I tried to heal him, but it was not working,” she explained.

“His body or his spirit?” asked Mar’sal sharply.

“His spirit.”

He shook his head. “It is not possible to heal a Rashad’s spirit.
We can heal physical wounds, but their spirits are too dissimilar from our
own.”

Adesina looked at her guardian in confusion. “But…I think I
succeeded.”

Mar’sal used his
vyala
to inspect Ravi, and his eyes grew
wide. “What did you do?” he asked again.

She wasn’t sure how to explain. “I moved his spirit so the healing
would fit, and I connected it to my spirit.”

It was clear that Mar’sal didn’t understand, but that didn’t seem
to matter at the moment.

“I have never seen anything like this before. I am surprised that
it did not kill you both.”

Than’os grew stern at these words. His pinched features drew
downward in a fierce expression. “Why would you take such a risk, Adesina?”

“I did not know it was so dangerous,” she answered honestly. “I
just knew that I had to heal him.”

“Well,” replied Mar’sal slowly, “I believe that he will live. We
should take him below and keep him warm.”

“You should probably rest as well,” added Than’os, giving Adesina
a look that brooked no argument.

“You, there,” called Mar’sal to a passing crewman. “Help me to
carry this Rashad below deck.”

The crewman blanched at the suggestion. “No disrespeck, sar, but I
don’ like the idear o’ touchin’ that beast.”

Adesina gave her coldest stare. “That
beast
is the reason
you are still alive. He defeated the aekuor, and he deserves your respect.”

The man wilted before her anger, and he raised no more objections.
He helped Mar’sal to carry Ravi, and Than’os supported Adesina as they moved
away from the scene of the battle.

“Mar’sal and I will heal the crew and see to any repairs that need
immediate attention. Then we will explain to Captain Zulimar that we need rest
before we continue.”

Adesina indicated her approval of this plan. “I can assist you-”
she began, but Than’os cut her off.

“No, Adesina. You have used more
vyala
than what is safe.
You need rest more than all of us.”

She wanted to argue, but she knew he was right. She sighed
reluctantly. “Very well. But please, do not push yourselves too hard. I can
help again tomorrow.”

He nodded, but she wondered if he was just doing so to placate
her.

They walked into a small storage room, where a hammock and a nest
of blankets had been previously prepared. There was barely enough room for the
two of them, but it gave a small amount of privacy.

Mar’sal and the crewman laid Ravi down on the blankets as gently
as they could. The L’avan saw that he was comfortable and warm before stepping
out of the room. Then Than’os helped Adesina into the hammock and spread a
blanket across her.

“Will this be enough?” he asked in a solicitous voice.

She smiled at his concern. “Yes, thank you.”

“Try to sleep,” he urged. “You will need your strength.”

The door was closed, and they were left alone. Adesina took a deep
breath and let it out slowly. She looked down at her guardian, anxious for some
sort of sign that he was improving.

Nothing changed, but somehow Adesina could sense that he was in a
deep, peaceful sleep.

This made her sleepy as well, and she closed her eyes gratefully.

***

He is waking.

It wasn’t a thought. It was a knowledge as automatic as if she
were waking, herself.

Adesina opened her eyes and turned to gaze at Ravi.

He raised his head slowly and returned her look. The young queen
gasped in surprise at what she saw.

One of his eyes had changed from a golden color to a metallic
purple, just like hers.

“Ravi, the iris of your left eye has turned purple.”

His voice was quiet and grave when he spoke. “What happened,
Ma’eve?”

She knew that he was not talking about his eye. “You called down a
meteor and defeated the aekuor.”

An expression of amazement passed over his face. “It worked?”

Adesina smiled. “Yes, dear friend. It worked.”

His brow furrowed. “I have never tried anything on that scale
before. Such magic of the Rashad has not been used since our First Parents
became mortal. In fact, my very mortality should have prevented me from
succeeding.”

“What do you mean?”

Rays of understanding began to permeate his eyes. “I do not have
the strength for such magic. It should have cost me my life.”

Adesina tried to shrug in a casual manner. “Well, you are clearly
not dead, so there is no need to worry.”

Ravi was not convinced. “Ma’eve, did it cost me my life?”

“How would that be possible if you are alive now?”

His feline face became austere. “Did it cost me my life?”

She lowered her eyes. “You were dying…but I healed you.”

“That should not be possible. No L’avan has ever successfully
healed the spirit of a Rashad. How did you do it?”

Adesina wasn’t certain how to describe the process, but she did
the best she could. Ravi’s expression didn’t flicker, but somehow she could
sense his growing incredulity.

When she finished, he spoke in a whisper. “It was a Joining.”

She frowned. “What does that mean?”

“In ancient times, the Rashad were the guardians and the
companions of the Serraf. A special bond was created through
vyala
to
bind the spirits of a Serraf and her Rashad. This was called Joining.”

Adesina wasn’t sure how she felt about this new information. “What
does the bond do?”

Ravi paused before answering. “I am not certain. It has not been
performed since the time of the Serraf, and there are only legends about what
it could accomplish.”

No L’avan should have the necessary
vyala
to create a
Joining.

As before, this understanding came to her as automatic knowledge
rather than a thought.

“I should not have been able to Join us.”

Ravi was clearly surprised. “How do you know that?”

The young queen had a flash of insight as she replied. “Because
you know it. I think the Joining has connected our minds somehow.”

Yes, the sympathy between us has definitely deepened.

“Yes, it has,” Adesina agreed.

Again, Ravi was startled by her response. He smiled slowly, “Well,
I shall have to guard my thoughts more carefully from now on.”

“I am not certain that you can,” mused Adesina. “Even if I do not
know exactly what you are thinking, I have been able to identify each emotion
you have felt throughout our conversation. Also, the knowledge you have seems
to be seeping into my mind of its own accord.”

His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Yes, I am learning things about
you that I have not known before. Things you have never shared.”

Adesina was a naturally private person, and the thought of such an
open connection alarmed her. “What kind of things?”

His two-toned eyes widened slightly. “You long to have a child.”

She blushed furiously. “I…have only considered it.”

His face was awash with disbelief. “If you truly believe that,
then you are lying to yourself. Your desire for a child runs deep.”

Adesina felt exposed. She searched her own mind, trying to
discover something personal about her guardian. She found the places where she
had anchored his spirit to hers, and she followed the links outward.

What she discovered was a mass of information and intelligence
that was beyond coherency. It almost seemed like a swirling mass of color, and
it was almost impossible to single out the individual hues.

Ravi could sense her confusion and his expression became gentle.
“I should not have pried, dear one. I am sorry. Perhaps, when we are not so
tired, I can show you how to view a Rashad soul.”

His willingness to open himself up to her was strangely
comforting. It made her feel less vulnerable.

“For now, we should get some more sleep. Our bodies have much
recovering to do.”

Adesina could feel his fatigue, and it added to her own. She
nodded readily, and settled back into her hammock.

Ravi hummed for a few short minutes before they both fell into a
deep sleep.