The Divine Apprentice (The Divine Series) (29 page)

“There.  That should do.  It will heal in good time,” Darcienna said and sat back heavily.  She resumed her pose of palms up and deep breathing for several long minutes.  Kade watched her closely without moving a muscle, afraid that any sound or movement might disturb whatever it was she was doing.  After what felt like an hour passed, she slowly, opened her eyes.  Kade was amazed at the improvement.  She looked better than he expected.  The slightly dazed look she had had since he woke her was gone.

“OK, what was that?”  Kade asked, tilting his head toward his hand without breaking eye contact.  He was watching her closely as he analyzed her reaction.  “Divine Calling?” he asked, already suspecting it was not.  She took a breath in to answer and Kade’s eyes narrowed.  He could not say why but there were times when he could sense when someone was about to lie and this was one of those times.  She saw the look of suspicion in his eyes and stopped.  Her shoulders slumped in resignation and she let out her breath.

“We call it Nature’s Gift,” Darcienna said as if she were giving away a sacred secret.  She glanced at Kade but he sat silently, letting her continue.  “I had to take the energy from within myself and apply it to your wounds.  Every little thing I do with my gift drains me.  If I was not already so exhausted from using my deflection casting, I could have healed you without any help,” she said, indicating the salve, “but I was almost completely drained.  The best I could do was to energize the gel and let it do the healing.”

“What do you mean the energy from within?” Kade asked, confused.  This Nature’s Gift was new to him.  Kade had a suspicion that this was another thing that Zayle had conveniently forgotten to tell him.

“The ability comes from within me.  If I use too much, I can deplete the energy, and I have to replenish it to use it again.”  Darcienna saw that Kade was trying to work this out and continued.  “It is like having the strength to lift a log.  I can do it the first time easily but using it over and over I get weaker and weaker until the log is too heavy.  I have to rest and replenish.  Jorell’s abilities are much more impressive than mine,” Darcienna said and then stopped.  Her eyes lost focus as she narrowed her vision, trying to recall something.

“That explains why your Deflection Casting failed,” Kade said.

“Yes,” she said as she slowly looked back over her shoulder, searching for what was missing.  “My strength was exhausted,” she said as she slowly rose from her chair, her eyes moving around the room as she listened.  “I am lucky I held out as long as I did,” she said almost absentmindedly.  A look of concern flashed in her eyes and she quickly glanced back at Kade.

*CH7*

Darcienna left the table and Kade got a very sick feeling in his gut.  He found it hard to look up from his hands as Darcienna ran from room to room.  He took a breath several times to tell of the old woman he had seen at the edge of the clearing but could not bring himself to cause her the same crushing sadness he had felt at losing his precious master.   He swallowed several times, trying to remove the lump from his throat.

“Jorell,” Darcienna called out.  “Where are you?” she yelled, trying to stay calm.

Kade felt as though he was going to be sick.  His stomach twisted into a knot.  He could feel the blood drain from his face as he tried to figure out how he was going to break such devastating news to her.  Darcienna came to a stop directly in front of him and he cringed.

“Do you know where she is?” Darcienna asked.  “Well?” she asked impatiently.

Kade’s eyes slowly rose to look into Darcienna’s soft, beautiful, blue eyes, knowing the pain he would see as soon as she learned of her teacher’s demise.  He swallowed hard and tried to find the best way to say what needed to be said.  He took a breath to speak when she spoke first.

“The last thing she told me was I need to keep the shield up as long as possible, no matter what.  I am sure…,” she started to say when she saw the look on his face.  “Are you okay?  You look pale.”  Kade, still unable to speak, sat silent.  “She has to be around here somewhere.”  Darcienna said.  But, even in her own ears, it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself of something she knew was not true.  She paused, watching him while he was looking down at his hands again.  “Kade,” she said, her voice a bit shaky.  “What is it?” she asked, her voice already filling with pain.  “What’s wrong?”

Darcienna looked away, not wanting to hear what he was about to tell her.  Kade heard the ever so soft intake of breath, as if she were starting to cry but trying hard not to.  He would have taken any amount of physical pain to save her from the hurt he knew she was about to feel.  He was all too familiar with the crushing sadness felt when losing a cherished soul to the land of the dead.

“Do you know?” she asked, and then her throat closed up.  Darcienna swallowed hard and squeezed her eyes shut momentarily as she ground her teeth.  After a few seconds, she tried again, but the words just would not come.  Kade’s eyes started at her boots and slowly traveled up until he was looking into the windows of her soul.  He could feel the pain already.  It cut him deep.  Her voice broke slightly and all she could utter was, “Show me,” as a single tear worked its way down her cheek to catch the edge of her soft, pale, pink lips.

Kade desperately wished he could be doing anything other than leading Darcienna to the old woman laying at the edge of the clearing.  If he could, he would have been wringing his hands together in discomfort.  A habit he had picked up from his mother.  Taking a deep breath, he slowly stood, and with just a slight glance into those sad, blue eyes, he turned and headed out of the cabin.  As he walked across the clearing, he cast a quick glance back at her.  She was trying so hard to be brave.

Kade led her to the broken body and stopped several feet away.  He expected her to fall to her knees but she just stood, staring.  She shook her head several times and then looked around the clearing as if trying to figure something out.

“But how?  She killed them.”

“We killed two,” Kade said, looking around to see if there were more and found none.  He reached out to comfort her.  He could not recall ever feeling such a burning desire to hold and comfort someone as he did right then, but as he reached out a hand toward her, she pulled away. 

“You…killed them?”

“Yes,” Kade said, feeling a slight bit put off by the tone that hinted at doubt.  He quickly dismissed it, feeling ashamed.

He felt incredibly helpless.  Never in all his life did he feel so much at a loss as to what he should do.  He watched as Darcienna turned her attention back to the broken body.  She slowly knelt down and placed her hands on the old woman.  Kade was not sure if she was crying or praying until he saw the slight shake of her shoulders.  Then, he saw the tears start to fall from her face and land in the dirt, making little puffs of dust.  She slumped forward, letting her hair fall over Jorell’s face.  Darcienna picked up her mentor’s hand and stroked it affectionately, as though it were a small pet.

Kade felt his heart break for this precious young woman.  He did not know if he should put his arm around her or just leave her alone.  He looked around as if to find the answer elsewhere but found only his dragon looking askance at him.  He turned his attention back to Darcienna.  He ached to hold her and tell her it was ok, but fear of doing the wrong thing at such a painful moment froze him to the spot.  It occurred to him that whatever had killed his master might be behind this slaying, also.  His blood started to boil by the moment.

“I will find you and destroy you!” Kade vowed with every fiber of his being.  “By the time I am through with you, you will regret ever knowing life!” Kade hissed with such fury that he shook.  His nails bit into the palms of his hands.  He was so focused on his curse, he almost missed that he was drawing on the Divine.  With one last burst of hate, he let the ancient power evaporate.

Kade took a deep breath to steady himself, and as he let it out, he looked down to see Darcienna looking up at him.  Afraid she had seen his outburst and thinking him a crazed man, he recovered as best he could.  He decided to follow his heart and do what he knew to be right.  He sat next to her and gathered her in his arms.  She resisted and even tried to push him away but she needed this and he wanted her to know she was not alone.  She gave up and let her walls come crashing down.  She fell into his arms and laid her head against his chest as she cried.  He held her tightly and whispered into her ear, “I will avenge her death!  I swear it!”

Darcienna slumped and the sobs came freely.  Kade stroked her hair, not knowing what else to do.  He held her for so long he could feel his muscles cramping in his legs.  He shifted as little as possible to ease the discomfort, but he never took his arms from around her.  Slowly but surely, she calmed.  He glanced down and looked right into her eyes.

“Thank you,” Darcienna said.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You shared my pain and grief,” she said as she reached up and kissed him lightly on the cheek.  Her lips lingered briefly.  “Will you help me bury her?” Darcienna asked, not wanting to look at the body.

“Of course,” Kade said as he went to put his hand on her cheek, but before he could, she pulled away.  He thought he could feel her close off a little, but he was not sure.  “You do not need to help.  I will do this,” Kade said, trying to save her from any more grief.

“No.  I have to help.  I want to see her off to the land of the dead.  It is the last time I will be able to say…” and then she stopped, her lips trembling, unable to say the word goodbye.  She tried to keep the tears from coming but failed miserably.  She slumped into his arms once again.  After several more minutes, she was able to bring herself under control but her red-rimmed eyes told of the pain she was still feeling.  She tilted her head back and looked into his eyes, staring for several long moments.  Kade could see her mind working.  He waited.

“Who would do this?”

He stiffened instantly as his mouth went tight, causing her to flinch.  Doing his best to relax, he looked past her as he gathered his thoughts.  He forced his hatred to a slow ebb and looked at her.

“I don’t know who caused all this destruction,” Kade said as he looked around the clearing.  “Something is hunting those with power.”

“When you spoke that vow, I sensed a lot of anger and hate.  Is it because of this?” she asked as she nodded her head in the direction of Jorell, “or is there more?”

Kade opened his mouth to give any of the many answers that came to mind but paused.  He thought of his master and his own hardships.  He thought of the family that he had met in the woods.  He thought of his parents.  He looked deep in her eyes and saw the pain there.

“I have my reason,” was all Kade said, not feeling this was the right time for a full explanation.  She nodded weakly.

“We can bury her over here,” Darcienna said as she indicated a spot next to a large, silvery tree.  “She used to love this tree.  I think she would like that.”

Kade did not speak, nor did he look at Darcienna.  He moved over to Jorell, lifting her into his arms and turned to take her to the spot she indicated.  Kade sent a mental request to the dragon to dig a hole next to the tree.  The dragon eagerly bounded over and turned, looking at Kade as if asking, “Here?”  Kade nodded and Rayden began digging by using his front claws to throw the dirt through his hind legs.  It was not more than a few minutes when there was a crudely dug hole in the ground.

“Thank you my friend,” Kade said.

He knelt by the edge of the grave and started to lean over, but he was not going to be able to lay Jorell in the hole without dropping her or falling in himself.  He gently laid her on the ground and then jumped in.  He turned, picked her up and then laid her gently in the bottom.

Kade climbed back out of the hole and paused, looking Darcienna in the eyes.  She was doing her best to be strong but Kade could see the slight quiver to her chin.  He did not need to see her to sense the sadness starting to pour out of those rivers of blue.

“I am going to have Rayden bury her now.  If you have anything you want to say, or if there is anything you want her to have, now is the time.”

Darcienna did not speak nor did she move.  She just kept staring at her cherished teacher.  Kade asked Rayden to fill the hole.  Confusion flooded the link as Rayden looked between Kade and the body.  Kade asked again, and this time the, dragon did as Kade bid.  He cringed as the dragon let the dirt fly.  Most of it went in the hole but much of it flew past.  It was far from the solemn event Kade was hoping for, but it was what they had to work with.  There was an indent in the ground where the hole was when the dragon finished.

“Are there any last rights you want to perform?” Kade asked.

“No,” she said in a whisper so low he barely heard.

Kade looked down while scratching the back of his head.  He just did not feel right leaving without saying something…anything.  He wanted to make a suggestion but feared he might offend her.   In the end, he just could not leave it like it was without at least trying.

“Darcienna,” Kade said softly.

“What?” she responded just as quietly.