Relentless (5 page)

9. DEEP PURPLE

THAT VERY SAME NIGHT,
Leesa dreamed.

Blackness enveloped her. No, not blackness—more of a purple. A purple so deep and rich and dark as to be almost black. She held her hand up in front of her face and she could see it clearly, but when she extended her arm, her hand nearly disappeared into the void. Farther out, she thought she could see faint, floating white lights surrounding her, but whenever she tried to focus on any particular one of them it somehow became lost to her sight.

Almost as frightening as the eerie darkness was the complete and utter silence of the place. It was so deathly quiet she thought she could hear her own heartbeat, but maybe that was because it was pounding so hard inside her chest.

She had no idea where she was, no memory of how she had come to this place of cold, eerie darkness.

She tried to take a careful step forward, but discovered she could not. Not because her legs didn’t work, but because she wasn’t standing on anything solid. She seemed to be floating—no, that wasn’t the right word. It was more like suspended, though that didn’t seem quite accurate, either. Trying to walk felt like she was merely swinging her legs in the air.

When she had extended her arm to test the darkness she had felt no resistance, so she wasn’t in any kind of liquid or gel. So what was keeping her up—a levitation spell of some kind? If so, it wasn’t a spell of her doing. Not that she could remember, anyhow.

She closed her eyes and concentrated. When she did, she had the slightest sensation that she was falling. Once again, though, she wasn’t using the right word. She wasn’t falling—it was more like she was being pulled slowly down. Opening her eyes, she tried to test that sensation, but she failed. The tiny, nettlesome lights—still at the very limits of her vision—seemed to stay right where they were. Either she was not sinking downward as she thought, or they were moving down with her.

She called up an illumination spell to break the darkness, but no light came. She tried again, shouting the spell out loud this time, hoping that volume might add to its potency.

“
Illuminati verdas
,” she cried. Her shout sounded like little more than a whisper, as if this horrid place had somehow sucked up and absorbed the sound of her voice. This time, a faint golden glow appeared above her palm, casting little light. The darkness remained as impenetrable as ever.

She closed her eyes again and the feeling of being drawn downward returned. She focused on the sensation, trying to draw whatever information from the sensation that she could. Now that she was concentrating on it, a new element became added to the feeling—an element that left her even more uncomfortable. She had the distinct feeling that she was being pulled down headfirst!

A momentary panic seized her. She imagined herself being sucked slowly into some giant maw. Her eyes flew open, and the sensation of downward motion vanished. She had never felt so confused, so helpless. Was she being drawn into some invisible danger or not?

She hated this place, hated the sensations it brought with it. But she saw no way to escape it. She was trapped.

“Leesa!” She thought she heard someone calling her name from somewhere far away, but in this silent and seemingly endless void it was difficult to be certain. She tried to attach herself to the voice before it vanished. The voice might offer her only chance at succor.

“Leesa! Leesa! Wake up!”

She opened her eyes to see Rave staring at her, his face etched with concern. His hand was on her shoulder, shaking her. She blinked away her confusion.

Rave’s hand moved from her shoulder and began tenderly stroking her hair. “You were having a nightmare.”

Leesa drew in a deep breath. “Thank God. It was horrible. More frightening than any dream I’ve ever had.” Left unsaid was the scary thought that many of her dreams eventually came true—another of her wizard powers.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Rave continued caressing her hair.

“Yes…. No…. I don’t know.” Leesa sucked in another deep breath. “I supposed I should—just in case.”

Rave knew what she meant by “just in case”—just in case the dream actually came to pass.

“Go ahead. Tell me.”

Leesa placed her palm on Rave’s naked chest. She could feel his heart beating under her hand, could feel the heat of the inner fire that was his essence. She took comfort from both.

“I was stuck in some kind of dark void,” she began. “When I stretched my arm out, I could hardly see my hand out in front of me. I tried to cast an illumination spell, but my magic barely worked. Worse, I had the feeling I was being drawn slowly down, toward a giant pair of invisible jaws, like something down there was waiting to devour me.” Her body shivered at the memory. “Ugh! It was horrible.”

Rave drew her into his arms and held her close, one hand still softly stroking her hair. Leesa gave herself over to the comfort of his warm, muscular body. Wrapped up in his arms like this, she knew she was safe. Rave would never let anything happen to her. He was a protector like no other.

Suddenly, another involuntary shiver ran through her body. Rave wasn’t with her in the dream—he could not protect her there.

Leesa knew she was going to have to think about the dream, to try to glean any information she might be able to learn from it. But not right now. That bit of introspection could wait. Now, she needed something else. She needed comfort. She needed distraction. She needed love.

She lifted her head from Rave’s chest. “Make love to me, darling. Make love to me right now.”

Rave happily did as she asked. All thoughts of her dream slipped away….

Later that day, sated from their lovemaking, Leesa and Rave strolled hand in hand to the Maston orchard. Rave reached up to grab two apples, but Leesa beat him to the punch, using her telekinesis to pluck two juicy-looking pieces of fruit from a high limb. All her practice with telekinesis had developed her skill to the level where she could now move two things independently, rather than having to move them together. She floated the pair of apples down on separate paths, sending one into Rave’s outstretched hand and one into her own.

Drops of moisture left over from a morning shower glistened in the grass, but Rave used his heat to dry an area of ground beneath the tree. When all the water had been evaporated, he and Leesa sat down beside each other. Rave rested his back against the trunk, and Leesa snuggled against his side.

The storm had left behind an overcast sky, and a moderately strong breeze rustled the leaves above them. Leesa didn’t care—she was warm and dry with Rave.

They ate their apples in companionable silence. The fruit was crisp and tangy. When Leesa finished eating, she tossed the core over her shoulder back farther into the orchard, a treat for some scavenging animal. She turned her head toward Rave.

“I think I need to talk about my dream again, while it’s still reasonably fresh in my mind. There may be something in it that I need to know.”

Rave nodded. “I thought we might get back to it this afternoon. Maybe talking about it will help you remember something. Go ahead.”

Even though it was the last thing she wanted to do, Leesa closed her eyes and tried to recall the dream in as much detail as she could. She felt her heart beginning to beat faster as she relived the nightmare. When she finally reached the end, she opened her eyes and repeated the details to Rave, who listened silently.

“I don’t know what would have happened next,” she said when she was done, “if you hadn’t wakened me.”

Rave took Leesa’s hand. “Maybe I shouldn’t have. Maybe there was information in it for you if the dream had continued. But you seemed so upset. I just couldn’t let it go on.”

Leesa squeezed his hand gently. “No, I’m glad you stopped it. But maybe next time…”

“Next time I’ll let you wake up on your own,” Rave said, finishing her thought. “That won’t be easy, though.”

Leesa squeezed his hand one more time. “I know.”

“Those little silver lights you saw floating in the distance—do you have any idea what they might have been? Did they remind you of anything?”

Leesa shook her head. “No, nothing. I could never really get a good look at any of them. I could see them most clearly on the periphery of my vision—whenever I turned my head and tried to focus on some, they faded away into dull blurs.”

Rave thought for a moment. “What about any sounds? You said it was silent there, but was there any kind of background noise at all?”

“No, none. I thought I shouted out my illumination spell, but it sounded more like a whisper to me, as if something in that place absorbed all sounds.”

Rave breathed in a deep breath. “There’s not really much to go on, then. What about temperature? Was it hot? cold?”

Leesa shook her head again. The more they talked, the more frustrated she grew.

“Neither. At least, not that I can recall. I think the temperature was perfectly neutral.”

They sat together in silence for a bit, both of them having exhausted their ideas. Leesa was about to give up on learning anything useful from the dream when something suddenly struck her. She grabbed Rave’s arm with both hands.

“Wait! There is something. Throughout the whole dream, I never felt pregnant, never even thought about it. I’m sure I would have noticed if I was. I didn’t feel any distress about it, either.”

Rave looked puzzled. “I don’t understand. What are you saying?”

Leesa stood up and paced. She needed a few moments to put her thoughts into words.

“I think it means that if this was one of my wizard dreams, it’s not going to happen until after our son is born. That gives me plenty of time to dream it again. Maybe I’ll even try to guide the dream one of these days, the way Dominic was teaching me.”

Rave understood now. He rose to his feet.

“And if you do have another nightmare, I’ll let you wake up on your own. Next time, maybe you’ll see more.”

“Exactly.” Leesa kissed Rave on the lips. “See, I knew talking about it with you would help.” She jumped up into his arms, and he caught her with practiced ease.

“Now how about a little ride around the orchard to lighten the mood?” she asked.

“At your service, sweetheart.”

Rave took off running, zigzagging among the trees at volkaane speed.

10. PROGRESS

THE NEXT WEEK FLEW BY.
Leesa worked hard on the growth spell every day. The stone continued to grow a little more at each session, except on the fourth day, when she had a small hiccup in her progress. The day before, the rock had finally reached the size it had been in Jenna’s illusion. The next day it stubbornly refused to grow any more, despite more than a dozen attempts from Leesa. The difficulty had not been unexpected, and Leesa simply shook it off. She was fairly confident now she would be able to break through that barrier and was determined to do it on her own, without another assist from Jenna. The next day, that’s exactly what happened—the stone finally grew bigger than Jenna’s image.

The stone had become too big and heavy for Leesa to levitate—it was now thigh high—so for the last two days she and Rave had simply left it where it sat and returned to the same place the next day to work on it.

That spot was in the middle of a stand of pine trees not too far from the bank of the Connecticut River, about ten miles west of the volkaane settlement. Leesa didn’t mind practicing in the same place for a few days in a row—the scent of the pines was refreshing and invigorating, and the carpet of fallen pine needles provided a nice cushion for resting on whenever she needed a break. The thick foliage gave them plenty of cover. With Rave’s volkaane senses on alert, there was no chance anyone would stumble upon them by surprise.

As usual, Leesa warmed up with some of her easier spells, both to build her confidence and to insure she didn’t lose the ability to employ them easily should the need arise. With Dominic having destroyed the black waziri and chased the Necromancer into the dark table, she had no magical enemies to worry about, but you never knew when magic might be called for. She was determined to be ready. Besides, she had an idea in the back of her mind that might require lots of magic from her somewhere in the future.

She turned her attention to the stone, which was really more of a boulder now. Today, she wanted to see if she could perform the growth spell without actually verbalizing the incantation out loud, the way she could with many of her other spells, including the plant growth spell. Being able to cast spells silently could prove useful sometime. And it was faster to do it that way, too.

Picturing the rock growing larger was pretty easy for her now. This time, she accompanied the visualization with a silent chant inside her head. Her first two attempts failed, but on her third try the boulder swelled an inch or two in every direction.

“Good job,” Rave congratulated from his spot sitting with his back resting against one of the pines. “You didn’t even whisper the spell, or I would have heard it.”

Leesa smiled. There was no cheating when Rave was around. His volkaane ears didn’t miss anything.

“Thanks. It feels great to have come this far.” She glanced at the rock for a few seconds, then turned back to Rave. “I think I’ll do it another two or three times before moving on to a real test of this spell.”

Rave looked perplexed. “Real test? What have you been doing for the past week, pretending?”

Leesa laughed. “No, of course not. This has been really challenging. But I had help twice from Jenna, remember? I need to be able to do this all on my own.” She grinned. “Well, maybe not entirely on my own. I could use a little bit of help from my big strong husband.”

Smiling, Rave pushed himself up to his feet. “What do you need?”

“Could you go find me another rock, please? One that doesn’t look anything like this one would be best, I think. I’d go with you, but you’ll find one a lot faster without me slowing you down.”

Rave bounded across the small clearing and kissed Leesa on the forehead.

“One new rock, coming up.”

In a flash, Rave had disappeared into the woods. Leesa shook her head. Despite his speed, she hadn’t heard even a whisper of his passage through the trees.

She barely had time to fire a few energy bolts at the boulder before Rave returned, carrying a rock that was as different from the first one as it could be. The original stone was roundish in shape, and since it had come from the middle of a stream, the flowing water had smoothed all its surfaces and edges. Rave’s rock was rectangular, filled with angles and sharp edges. It was also dark gray in color, as opposed to the earthy brown hue of the first one.

Rave dropped the stone a few feet from the one Leesa had been practicing on. Despite its weight, it landed on the pine needles with only a soft thud.

“Will this do, my lady fair?”

Leesa studied the rock. She hadn’t been expecting Rave to return with a stone SO completely different from the first one. She had a feeling this was going to be quite a challenge—but in the long run, she hoped the challenge would be a good thing.

“This rock will do wonderfully.”

Rising up onto her toes, she gave Rave a lingering kiss upon the lips.

“Mmmmm…” Rave sighed, smiling. “Maybe I should go find you a couple more rocks.”

Leesa grinned. “You don’t have to fetch rocks to get me to kiss you, handsome. All you have to do is ask.”

Rave raised his dark eyebrows. “Really? That’s all? Okay, can I have another kiss, then?”

Leesa laughed and drew him into her arms. “I thought you’d never ask.”

She kissed him again, harder this time, pushing her tongue against his mouth. Rave opened his lips and welcomed her tongue with his.

Leesa gave herself over to the rising heat between them. All thoughts of magic and making rocks grow disappeared as their mouths and bodies pressed against each other. She grabbed the bottom of Rave’s shirt and pulled it up over his head. He responded by picking her up and depositing her softly upon the bed of pine needles. The rest of their clothes quickly followed Rave’s shirt as they once again consummated their love, surrounded by the thick pines and with a bright blue sky above them.

An hour, or a lifetime, later—she couldn’t really tell which—Leesa reluctantly slipped back into her T-shirt and jeans. Their lovemaking had left her feeling relaxed and satisfied and very much in love. Now it was time to get back to work.

The dark stone Rave had fetched for her waited patiently in the center of the clearing. She studied its irregular angles and sharp edges, trying to picture what they would look like as they grew larger. When she had the image firmly in her mind, she cast her spell.

“
Blitha morun sumuss
,” she said loudly. She was not about to try to make this new rock grow by merely thinking the spell inside her head. That would come later, after she had enlarged the stone several times.

Nothing happened. Leesa pushed down her disappointment. She had hoped her proficiency with the spell would transfer immediately to her new target, but she was not really surprised when it didn’t. The old rock had become very familiar—she was easily able to picture it growing, since she had seen it do so numerous times. She had no such experience with the new one. Getting it to grow the first time would be her biggest challenge. This was almost like learning a new spell—she would need to be patient.

She tried three more times without success before deciding to call it a day.

“That’s enough for today,” she said, looking up from the rock. “Let’s go home.”

Rave popped back up to his feet from where he had been sitting and watching. He motioned toward the dark stone.

“Are you bringing that with us? Or do you want to leave it and come back here tomorrow?”

Leesa levitated the rock until it was floating in front of her waist. She reached out and grabbed the stone with both hands.

“This thing goes where I go,” she said determinedly. “It’s not leaving my sight until I make it grow at least once. The more familiar I get with it, the sooner that’ll happen.”

Rave smiled. “Fair enough.”

He scooped Leesa up into his arms. A moment later, they were racing through the forest toward home.