The Bonded: The Allseer Trilogy Book I (28 page)

Sarah crept into the clearing, careful not to break any twigs beneath her feet. She held a dagger firmly in her hands as she moved through the underbrush, Erick close behind her. There was a scuffle up ahead, Bonded against Bonded.

One group was still in control of themselves. There were three of them; a girl, a boy and an older man that could only be an instructor. Forming a crude circle around them were several of the Bonded that were clearly being controlled. There was far too much expression in their movements, too much intelligence in their eyes. They weren’t unbound, but they were being controlled none the less.

The instructor was wounded, a hand held to his side as he stumbled back behind his students. The Bonded formed a protective barrier, blocking him from those that meant them harm. A girl stood at the forefront, beautiful and stoic. Her honey colored hair swayed around her as she stood firm, waiting for an attack from the others.

“Tegan, stop this. I know you can hear me. Stop this now,” she called to the boy in front of her. He hesitated for a moment, head tilting as he processed the sound of his own name. The brief moment of expression slipped away and his mouth went slack.

And then she saw the dagger in his hands, the silver dripping with wet blood. At that moment, Sarah burst from the underbrush, sending her own dagger up into the air and pushing it forward with a burst of power. The blade sunk into the kids left shoulder and he cried out in pain, his link from Nyson broken. The other controlled Bonded behind him, one a girl with braided auburn hair, turned and attacked. Despite the advantage of their numbers, Erick blocked them easily, pushing back against them hard enough to break the link. They came to, disoriented but in control of their bodies once more.

The girl she’d saved dropped to her knees next to the boy she’d hit with the dagger. He was a small, mousy thing and his breath came in ragged gasps. He was obviously in pain and the girl looked at his wound, her eyes dancing with anger.  “Why did you do that,” the girl burst out at Sarah. 

“He would have killed you,” Sarah said softly, kneeling down next to them. “He wasn’t himself. Nyson had him controlled.”

“I could have gotten through to him, I could have.” She looked down at the boy, caressing his pained features with her fingers. “Tegan, it’s okay. I’m right here.”

Sarah inspected the wound. The dagger had bit deep and pulling it back out was going to hurt worse than the injury itself. It would heal in time and with care, he’d have full function of his shoulder. “He’ll live, girl. I’ll help you tend to the wounded.”

“We don’t need your help! We’ve never even seen you before! Who are you,” the girl snapped. 

Sarah smiled. “My name is Sarah. We’re with Kirheen. She’s come back and we’re going to help her stop Nyson.”

There was a gruff bark of laughter from behind the honey haired girl. The wounded instructor was chuckling, his hand still holding his bloodied side. He was a large man, bearded save for where a scar arced across his lips. “Oh, this is too good. She leaves us all to die and now she’s back to save us all. I’ll be damned but I think the little shit might be able to pull it off. Allseer, help us. Irena, let them help. We need all we can get.”

Irena nodded grudgingly, allowing Sarah to take hold of the dagger in his shoulder.

“Hold him, this is going to hurt.”

“I didn’t think I would care this much,” she whispered, taking hold of his shoulder gently. “I didn’t think I cared, Tegan. But I do… I do care.”

Fending off three opponents being controlled by one person turned out to be a lot easier than Kirheen had expected. Daris lay on the ground before her, knocked out from a blow she’d landed. Misdirection seemed to be the key to keeping them at bay. They weren’t as quick on their feet, their movements sluggish and predictable. Kirheen imagined a single person under control would be a pretty fair match, but Nyson was cracking, his powers spread too thin. 

There was a hum of power behind her and she turned, extending her block and diverting the blow away from Therin. It was successful and she flung the power back on her opponents, knocking Isaac back against the tree behind him. He rose, showing no sign of pain, not the slightest bit of hesitation.

“They’ll keep fighting until they are dead or exhausted, Kirheen. They can’t feel anything unless we really cause some damage.”

Kirheen gritted her teeth. She didn’t want to hurt them. They were unwilling bystanders, caught in the crossfire of their struggle. “Let’s get close, try to knock them out.”

“We can try,” he said, keeping his bow at the ready.

Kirheen flung an illusion at Isaac, the hawk spreading its wings wide as it dove for his face. Velga took the bait, shifting her power to shatter the illusion. At that moment, Kirheen swopped in with a real burst of power, flinging it towards her. It struck her hard, forcing her off balance. Therin used the distraction to swing himself behind her. He cracked her over the head hard with his bow and she crumpled to the ground. He wasted no time and turned quickly, using the momentum to drive his fist into Isaac’s stomach as he turned towards him. He crumpled forward and a quick hit to the head left him lying next to his partner.

They were both breathing hard by the time the battle was won. Therin was leaned forward, his hands resting on his knees as he regained his breath. “Oh dear, I’m getting much too old for this.”

“You’re keeping up quite well for an old man,” Kirheen teased, giving him a devilish grin.

“Hmph.”

Something was pulling at Kirheen, a steady buzz of power radiating from the temple. She felt her skin rise in tiny bumps over her arms and she rubbed at them, trying to hold back the chill that had moved over her body. There were only two people with that kind of power.

“Tell me I’m not the only one that feels that.”

Therin frowned. “You aren’t. That’s a lot of power radiating from in there. You ready for this?”

Kirheen nodded but she felt panic taking over, the thought of facing either of them causing her to quiver. Herzin had almost killed her twice and Nyson was as dangerous as they could get.  This was a turning point and Kirheen couldn’t help but think of all the things that could possibly go wrong the minute they stepped through those temple doors.

Therin stepped towards the Temple, readying an arrow as he went. He wasn’t taking chances. Kirheen was close at his heels but she stopped as a voice called out to her. It was a voice she’d been longing to hear since she’d left Sanctuary and it flooded over her senses, calming her.

Turning to her right, she could see someone lying in the dirt far ahead. White hair, brown eyes pleading her to come close. And blood, so much blood. He reached towards her with a slick red hand. “Kirheen, please help me.”

“Tomias! Oh, Allseer. I have to help him.” Her legs moved without thought, carrying her towards him without hesitation. There was a shout from behind her but it was lost to the wind rushing past her ears. There was only Tomias and an overwhelming desperation to save his life.

She’d been right behind him, hovering near his right shoulder when he heard her take a sharp intake of breath. Therin froze, muscles tight as he waited for the attack he was sure was coming. Instead, he heard Kirheen peel away, her feet kicking up dust as she ran. There was something muttered under her breath but he couldn’t make out the words.

“Kirheen,” he hissed but the words were lost to her. He watched her run, ashen hair billowing behind her. There was desperation in that run but for the life of him, he couldn’t tell what she was running towards. “Damn it, girl.”

He was now left with a dilemma. The power in the temple hummed, low and powerful like the beat of a war drum. If he left to chase after Kirheen, his chance would slip away. The girl was powerful. He could only hope she was strong enough for whatever pulled her away, at least until he could deal with his past.   

The task at hand and the consequences that it had spawned were his to bear. He took a cautious step through the door set in the giant wraith wood tree, an arrow notched and ready. The room was dim, only the soft glow of candles and filtered daylight providing vision in the room. 

She stood at the center of it, tall and proud, her green eyes studying him. She was so much older than he remembered. She was still beautiful but there was a harshness about her now, a weathering that stripped her of what she once was.  Her hair was as gray as his own, flowing around her shoulders in soft waves that hid a hardened heart.

Those emerald eyes were staring at him not with the malice he expected but with a broken, desperate look. It was the look of someone seeing a ghost of the past. He was dredging up feelings in her she had probably long thought buried. But they never were. Feelings like that never truly faded away. They stayed hidden for a time, tucked away in spaces they’d tried so desperately to forget.

“It is you, isn’t it” she said softly, her voice barely filling the space around her. “I can’t believe it. You said…”

He relaxed his arm, allowing the bow to droop towards the floor. She had no weapon save her mind and she looked fragile, her hands clutched in front of her. Though he dropped his guard physically, he took a moment to strengthen his mind. “I said I’d never return. I meant to hold true to that.”

“And yet you’re here, you’re standing before me. Unless this is some cruel trick of the mind…”

Therin scowled. “A cruelty you would know much about. Herzin, I don’t understand, how could you use your powers like this? How could you do this to…to children?”

She recoiled from the sound of him speaking her name, her eyes squeezing shut. “I never wanted things to be this way. I never wanted any of this. I only ever wanted you. I only ever wanted our Bond. But you…you…”

“I left. I left Sanctuary so that we could be free. You were given a choice and you chose this.”

Herzin grew tense, her green eyes ablaze. “What choice was that? To follow you into exile? To watch you dawdle over...over her! You didn’t want freedom for some grand purpose. You wanted freedom so you could have the woman you lusted after. You broke our bond and you left me without a thought. You took everything from me, Therin.”

Therin was taken back to a dark night before the rebellion. He had told Herzin everything, poured out to her his thoughts and feelings. He’d wanted her to have answers, to know the reasons so she wouldn’t spend her waking hours wondering why she hadn’t been good enough. He’d left her crying and heart broken. All those years, events rippling through time. To be standing before her now, in front of the woman he’d broken...

Perhaps it wasn’t too late to fix his mistakes. “I’m sorry for what I did to you, Herzin. I tried so hard to help you understand, but that pain is something you can’t understand. It must have hurt so much and I’m sorry. I wish I could have chosen who I loved, but you can’t change the yearnings of a heart.  I couldn’t commit my heart to you when it had always belonged to another.”

She was crying now, tears leaving streaks down her dusty face. She raised her hands to hide her shame, her shoulders slumped. Therin let the bow clatter to the ground and stepped towards her, arms spread wide.

“Can you ever forgive me for what I’ve done? For what I allowed to happen to this place?”

Herzin lowered her hands, her eyes showing genuine remorse as she met his gaze. “You were always forgiven, Therin. All this time I’ve wanted nothing more than to tell you…I never blamed you. Not once.”

Therin stepped forward, wrapping his arms around the weeping woman he’d been bound to so long ago. She collapsed against him, her head resting heavy against his shoulder. They remained like that for a time, basking in the memories of old. So many feelings, so much pain in his heart and that old wound was finally knitting itself shut. He’d been forgiven.

There was a sound behind him, a sound like a piece of rope being pulled too tight, fraying from the pressure. He reacted on instinct, flinging himself to the side as an arrow went whizzing past him. He could feel the rush of air on his arm from its passing. There was a stomach churning thud as it connected with Herzin and she staggered back, eyes wide. The arrow had struck home, directly in her heart. Something thin and metallic slipped from her fingers, clinking as it hit the ground.

A dagger.

She’d intended to kill him all along.

The woman that had loosed the arrow was the red headed healer named Trista. She lowered the bow with a satisfied smirk while he looked on in disbelief. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

Therin was shaken. He’d been such a fool to believe her. She’d used that old wound against him, used it to manipulate his feelings and she’d done it flawlessly. Still, it saddened him that it had ended that way. More death, more blood on his hands. Would it ever end? “I suppose I should thank you for that.”

Trista shrugged. “I’m just glad you moved.”

“How’d you know I would?”

She smiled, green eyes mischievous. “Honestly? I didn’t. I was hoping those old ears of yours worked. Had you not reacted, you probably would have been a dead man either way.”

Therin looked down at the dagger, feeling his stomach flip flop as he did. He knelt on the ground next to Herzin, looking over the woman he had been meant to love. Years of bitter anger and this was the result. He let his fingers flutter over her eyelids and wept for a woman that had caused so much pain. Trista left him alone, stepping outside to give him a moment to himself. When he’d said his goodbyes, he stepped outside. 

“Thank you,” he said. “Thank you for giving me a moment to myself.”

Trista gave him a sad smile. “Of course. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry it ended this way.”

“As am I, but this was the path she chose and the consequences of her actions are her own. This was the price that had to be paid.”

Trista nodded, her gaze wandering the area around them. “Where is Kirheen,” she asked, concern clouding her features. 

Therin cursed, turning towards the direction she’d ran. “She took off on her own and for reasons I can’t fathom. It was follow Kirheen or end Herzin and I couldn’t allow this opportunity to slip. Who knows what she has gotten herself into? We need to hurry!” They took off after her, setting a pace as fast as his old bones could handle. And all the while he could feel it, events rippling outwards, like the dust stirred by his feet with every step.