The Divine Apprentice (The Divine Series) (28 page)

“The dragon is my friend,” Kade said in a rush to the woman, who failed in her efforts to raise her defenses.  He had to force her to look him in the eye and hold her by the wrist to keep her from fleeing.  She was on the verge of full panic but he persisted, holding her firmly, calling to her over and over.  She slowly stopped struggling as his words started to make sense.  Breathing heavy, as if she had run several miles without stopping, she looked back and forth between the two of them as if not believing what she was seeing.

“He…is your friend?” she asked incredulously.  Kade could feel the pulse in her wrist pounding hard and fast.  He ground his teeth as he tried to ignore the pain that lanced through his mind.  “A dragon?  Since when do dragons make friends with humans?” she asked as she tried to regain much of her lost composer.  There was a fair amount of suspicion in her voice, also.  Kade could see she was still not fully recovered.  It was almost as if she were still waking from a dream.  He blamed it on the large lump on the back of her head.  She must have taken a fall at some point.

“It was an accident.  I will explain later.  Right now, we need to get you inside and get you cleaned up,” Kade said as he continued to feel her pulse with his one hand while still struggling to keep a grip on the boy with the other.  She started to reach for the boy and froze when her eyes took in his injury.  Kade turned slightly as if to hide it.  She forced her wobbly legs to work and reached for his damaged arm.

“Let me see it,” she said as she gave her head a light shake in an attempt to clear her mind.  It was obvious she was not going to accept no for an answer as she pushed his hand off her wrist.  He resisted because he did not want her to see him as a cripple or maybe a charity case.  And pity was never anything he would accept.  It would only mean that he was weak.  Kade hesitated and then, reluctantly, turned for her to get a good look.  She continued to cast several quick glances at the dragon, never turning her back to it, but soon her focus was completely on his arm.

Has she not even seen me holding the boy?
Kade started to wonder when he saw her glance at the child as she moved around to his arm.  It was very slight, and had he not been watching her closely, he would have missed that glance. 

Why in the Great Divine would she not take this child?  It is hers,
he thought as he shook his head.

“Why…”  Kade started to ask when she cut him off, clearly knowing the unfinished question.

“Because, he is asleep,” she said absentmindedly as she examined the damage.  “Because, if you put him down, even into my arms, he will wake and cry.  And,” she said as she hesitated and looked him straight in the eye, “because he is a good judge of character.  You can’t be all that bad if he likes you.  Normally, he does not like anyone but me.  You get to be my sitter while we get that taken care of,” she added while indicating his hand and arm.  Any suspicion she had was now gone.

Kade felt his heart leap when she looked at him.  He could not help but to smile.  Right then, he knew he would do anything she asked.  Kade shook his head hard in an attempt to stop these uncontrollable thoughts.  He felt drawn to her, even though he had just met her. 

Was she using the Divine?
he considered when he realized that she was talking again.  Taking a deep breath in an attempt to regain control, he focused on what she was saying.

“I said, what happened to your hand?  Did you hit your head?” she asked with concern as she looked for injuries.  She gently felt the bump on the back of her own head and pulled her hand away to see if there was any blood.  There was none.

“Yes,” Kade was saying as he looked into those beautiful, mesmerizing eyes.  It was the best way to cover for his strange behavior.  Angry for looking like a buffoon, he furiously chastised himself and forced these odd feelings to go away.

She must think me a fool
, he thought, regretting that his chance to impress her with his prowess was slipping away.

“Well?” she asked.

“Well what?”

“Well, what…happened…to…your…hand?” she asked with forced patience.

It had to do with her voice.  It had to
, he thought.  Her voice was musical as it rang in his ears.

“My hand?” Kade asked as if just remembering.  “Oh, it happened when I almost lost control of the Lightning Calling,” he said and immediately regretted it
.  She does not need any more reason to see me as incompetent,
Kade thought harshly.  Anger cleared his head and he, once again, forced this strange influence from his mind and body.

“A what?” she asked in awe. 

“It was a Lightning Calling.  I was using it when I lost control of it.  I lost my concentration,” he said, giving up trying to hide his incompetence.  “I had to force the power up and out my hand, but by the time I did, it had built to a level beyond my abilities,” Kade said matter-of-factly.

“You can control the Divine?” she asked as her eyes widened.  Are you…are you …a Chosen?” she whispered.

Kade felt himself start to swell with pride, and then just as quickly, he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.  He dreaded having to tell her he was only an apprentice.  He wished he could tell her he was, indeed, a great Master of the Divine Power, but it was not his style to lie.  He took a breath, ready to confess to being a lowly apprentice, but before he could answer her question, she refocused her attention on his hand.

“If you are one of the Chosen, then why don’t you use the Divine Power to heal your hand?”

“Well, if it was possible, I would need my hand to perform the calling.  As it is,” Kade said with a sigh,” I cannot use the Divine Power to heal myself.  At least, I don’t know a calling that allows me to heal myself.”

“Oh,” she said as she gently slid her hand down his arm to his palm.  Kade felt himself melt at the soft touch and soaked up the sensation.  She was caressing the burned palm with the fingers from her right hand while supporting his with her left.  Kade felt his eyes close slightly.  He became angry that he was, once again, losing what sense of mental balance he had and jerked his hand away from her.  She tried to grasp it before he could pull it away but was not quick enough.  The flood of pain flowed through him like a dam breaking.  Kade sucked air in violently through clenched teeth, making a sound like a hiss.  She quickly reached for his hand and started her gentle caress once more.

“It takes time for this to work,” she said as she looked at him apologetically.  “You did not notice the pain was almost gone?” she asked as she looked at him with a sidelong glance.

Kade did not answer as he gritted his teeth and waited for the torture to end.  She stroked his arm and he could feel her working…something, but he could not put it into words.  It was almost as if she were soothing the pain with the Divine Power, but there was no sign of the Divine being used.  He would have sensed it, or seen the trails of it as she moved her hands.  There was nothing.

“Come inside and I will put something on that.  We have some herbs that will help the healing.   It will take the swelling down,” she said as she turned toward the cabin.  She wavered slightly from exhaustion.  Kade prepared to catch her when she steadied.  He could see that she was doing her best to hide her plight, but it was obvious that she was completely drained.

“You may have a head injury,” Kade said as he looked at where he had dabbed blood from her forehead.  The bump that was already swelling confirmed his suspicion.

“I am not physically hurt,” she said, trying to dismiss his concern.  “I just passed out from the exertion.  I am a little sore is all,” she said as her grip on his hand loosened slightly.  Kade winced at the pain that he knew she was keeping at bay.  Her grip became steady again and Kade got the strong feeling that she was very focused on whatever it was she was doing.  It almost appeared as if she were taking very deliberate steps as though she was being careful of where to put her feet.

“Good,” he said, as he studied her.  By the way, what is your name?  I can’t just call you girl,” Kade said as he walked up the steps and went into the cabin.

“Darcienna,” she said.  Her voice wavered ever so slightly.

Kade smiled.  The name sounded musical to his ears.  He said the name in his mind several times, waiting for her to continue.

“Thank you,” she said over her shoulder.  Kade found himself leaning to the side to see her eyes and quickly forced himself to stand up straight.  She had turned forward too quickly, regardless.  “Come inside,” she said as she tugged at him.

Kade followed her and was surprised when she led him straight to a room with a bed and chest for clothes.  By the clothes hanging in the corner and the hairbrush sitting on a table in front of the mirror, he knew this was her bedroom.

“You can lay the boy here,” she said as she indicated a small bed just inside the door to his right.  “Do you feel okay?” she asked.  She had to focus on her words as though she were under a strain.

“Yes.  I am fine.  I don’t think it would be a good idea to put him down.  He will just start crying again,” he said as he narrowed his vision suspiciously, sensing something was wrong.

“I doubt he will cry even one little squeak,” Darcienna said as she held onto the bed for support.

Kade looked at her hand on the bed for just a moment and then turned his attention to the boy.  He was, indeed, breathing deeply and rhythmically.  Kade noticed, for the first time, that the boy had loosened his grip on his neck and was hanging limp at his side.  He leaned the child back to get a good look at his face.  Content that the boy was sound asleep, and as gently as possible, he laid the child down on the bed.  To his immense relief, the child did not utter the slightest sound other than the deep breathing.  Kade flexed his arm, working out the cramps.  The boy was heavier than he realized.

“Are you okay?” Kade asked.

“Come in here,” Darcienna said as she pulled him toward the kitchen.  She stumbled and fell against the wall.  Kade quickly put an arm around her waist for support.  He did his best to ignore how she felt as she stood this close.  “I’ll put something on your hand,” she said with just a hint of slurring to her words.  “You should notice most of the pain fade,” she continued, dismissing his questioning look. 

She pushed him into a chair and fell heavily into the other one that was facing him.  She could no longer hold his hand and let go.  Kade gripped the armrest hard with his good hand and the wood crushed beneath his grasp.  He did not see that she was breathing heavier, his mind still reeling from the pain.  The crease in her forehead gave away that she was under immense strain, but he could not see it through his eyelids that were slammed shut.

“Hold still,” Darcienna said.

Reaching into a jar, Darcienna pulled out a large amount of a green, slimy substance.  She reached for his arm to spread the gel and missed.  On her second attempt, she was able to grab his hand and spread the salve thickly from his wrist up to his elbow.  Next, she wrapped both her hands around his arm and clenched her jaw as her head rocked backward, straining.  After a moment, she took a ragged, gasping breath.  She wobbled slightly in the chair and would have fallen had Kade not reached forward to steady her.

“You are not well,” he said, concern heavy in his voice.  He flinched from what felt like pulsating pressure being applied to his injured arm.  When he looked down, he saw that the gel writhed along his arm as if it were alive.  He had to fight the urge to scrape it off as if it were a deadly snake.  It was surging all around his arm and even appeared to be melting into his skin.  It was not necessarily painful, but it was incredibly uncomfortable and very unsettling to watch.  Kade looked on in awe as the swelling went down, and the pain dwindled to a dull thrumming.

Darcienna was sitting back with her hands open, palms up.  She was breathing in deep as if pulling air as far into her lungs as possible.  There were beads of sweat on her forehead.  Kade flexed his hand, testing his muscles in hopes of using the Healing Calling on her.  Still not good enough, he pressed his lips together in frustration.  He felt helpless with so much power at his fingertips, and yet, he was not able to use any of it.  But, even if his hand had been healed enough, he could not have used the Divine.  His hand was jumping and flexing as though something were squeezing and letting go, only to squeeze again. 

Kade looked over at Darcienna and found her looking back.  Her color was returning.  She was doing her best to appear normal, but Kade could see it was an act.  He chose to pretend not to see the strain on her face.  He looked at his hand and then back to her as if to ask for an explanation.

“The Divine is very powerful.  You are lucky it did not kill you,” she said, ignoring his unspoken question.

“Yes, I am lucky that this is all that happened.  I could have easily been blown to pieces,” Kade said as he mentally shivered.  He recalled how hard it was to get control of the Lightning Calling and visibly shook.

Darcienna took several more steadying breaths and then reached for the clean cloth on the table.  She motioned for him to give her his hand.  Kade complied with just a little of hesitation.

Wrapping the cloth around his hand several times, she gently tied a knot to keep it secure.  Carefully, she set his hand down on the table.  When Kade went to pull it back, she gently laid her fingers on his arm, indicating he was not to move.  When he ceased his pulling, she closed her eyes and then tilted her head as if listening to something.  After a moment, she smiled slightly and opened her eyes.  She looked down, as though she could see through the cloth, and a slight quirk at the corners of her mouth indicated she was pleased with the results.