The Tears of Elios (30 page)

Galen looked up, his face contorted in agony. He scowled for a second when he saw Arlisle behind her. “Kira, I—” He stood and turned away. “Paleah, Orin, you tell her. You were there.”

The dwarf reached into a brown sack and pulled out a heap of dark blue fabric. It was tattered, singed, and bloodstained, but as he unfolded it, she could see it was the robe of a Master. Her head swam. “Master Tyrrus?”

The elves all simultaneously winced at the mention of his name, but Paleah nodded. “Your master died bravely. He distracted the red dragon, Kyrisha, so we could retrieve the Tear of Elios.”

Kira’s throat constricted until she found it hard to breathe. Her eyesight blurred. She didn’t need to hear anymore. She saw it all before it happened. Another one of her visions had come to pass. Orin pressed the remnants of the robe into her hands. Her body stiffened, and she rushed out of the tent.

“Kira, wait!” Galen called after her, but she kept running.

Arlisle caught her before she got too far away. “Easy, lass, you don't have to run away to cry.” He wrapped her in his arms, steadying her.

Galen stopped a few feet away from them. “I'm so sorry, Kira.”

Rage like she had never felt before pounded through her veins. She wrestled out of Arlisle’s arms. “Why did you send him?” She rammed one of her small fists into Galen's chest.

He stumbled back a step but bore her assault without trying to stop her.

“You sent him on purpose. You sent him on this death mission just to get him out of the way.” Her words turned into sobs.

Arlisle grabbed her wrists and tucked them under his arms as he tried to comfort her. “Don't hold it in, dearie.”

“Kira, please listen to me. I never intended for this to happen. He wanted to go and went even after you warned him.”

“Haven't you done enough, Galen?” Arlisle pulled her in the direction of the Highmounte camp. “You've taken away the only family the lass has ever had. You'd do well to leave her alone.”

Galen didn’t follow them back to the Highmounte camp. Arlisle took her to a tent and lowered her onto a pile of furs. “Wait here, Kira. I’ll go get my Dah.”

She pulled her knees up to her chest and allowed the hot tears roll down her cheeks.
I should have stopped him. What could I have done differently to save him?

Arlisle returned with Fergan and told him what happened. The older man knelt in front of her with a grunt and stroked her cheek. “It's all right to grieve, lass, but remember he died a hero's death. There's no better way to pass from this life than as a warrior.”

***

She woke the next morning to the clanging of swords and shields. The Highmounters were practicing for war, the way they did every morning. She threw back the deerskin blanket and let her eyes adjust to the light. They felt gritty from the saltiness of her tears.

She wasn’t surprised to find Jaius waiting for her outside. His eyes followed her as she left Arlisle’s tent. “Galen was worried about you.”

“Tell him I'm fine.” She walked past him. The sunlight hurt her eyes, and she had a slight headache, but she wasn’t going to let Galen know that.

Jaius, however, was on to her. “Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Truly fine? Maybe he's just as confused as you are, Kira,” he continued before she could get a word in.

Impossible
. Galen always seemed so confident, so in charge of things. It was one of the many things she admired about him. Yet since they left Sylvania, his whole demeanor had changed. She began to wonder what else Mab had done to him.

She said nothing and continued on to her tent. Jaius followed close behind, his steps falling into sync with hers. When they arrived at her tent, he reminded her of her lessons that afternoon and disappeared.

Inside, she was unable to concentrate. She paced the floor. Everything here reminded her of Tyrrus. Her heart ached, but no more tears would fall from her eyes. A feeling of hopelessness consumed her, as if no matter what she did, she would never find joy again. She remembered the feeling of despair from her recent vision and wondered if it was related to what she felt now.

The four walls of the tent threatened to smother her, and Kira ran down to the river to escape them. The melting snow had turned the quiet river into a raging torrent, but she didn’t fear it. She climbed a boulder on the shore and watched the rapids foam white as they tumbled over the rocks in the riverbed. It fit her mood—angry and uncertain. She closed her eyes and imagined how it would feel to float down the river, but then frowned. She would probably get banged up as she was shoved into the rocks and pulled under the water until her lungs burned for air.
But would it hurt any less than what I’m feeling now?

She sat on the boulder until night fell and her stomach growled. For a moment, she considered diverting her path to the Highmounte camp but decided against it. Arlisle already wanted more from her than she was willing to give, even if it meant a hot meal.

When she entered her tent, Galen rose. “Where have you been? You missed another lesson.”

She brushed past him without meeting his eyes. “Relax, Galen. I haven't been convening with the Azekborn.” Excitement rushed through her at the sarcasm in her voice. Maybe she was learning to forget about him, although she still kept her back to him so her face wouldn’t betray her.

“You've changed since Sylvania.”

“And you haven't?” She regretted sounding so harsh. The sadness in his voice tugged at her heart. She turned and kept her eyes downcast. “I'm just trying to find my place, that's all.”

“You need to complete your training.”

“I will eventually.” She busied herself with folding a blanket.

He placed his hands on her shoulders, stopping her. “We need everyone at their full potential if we are to defeat Anilayus, especially you. Your gifts are extraordinary—”

“Please,” she interrupted, “just give me a few days to grieve.” Her bottom lip began to tremble. “Right now, it feels like my whole world is crumbling around me. Everything I thought was safe and dependable has betrayed me.”

Galen let go of her and took a step back. “I'm sorry if I had a part to play in this.” He turned, stopping at the tent flap to add, “We completed the archway here. The other side should be finished by tomorrow.”

Her hands clenched into fists. The only reason he sought her out was for the ritual. “I'll create a gate if you'll just leave me alone.” She hurled the blanket at him.

She realized how much her words stung when she saw the pain in his face. “If that is what you want,” he replied as he placed the blanket on the ground and disappeared.

That night, Kira tossed and turned and she considered her options. She could continue to be hurt by Galen, or she could force herself to settle for Arlisle or some other human who covered her with sloppy kisses. Neither seemed adequate to her.

The next morning, Arlisle brought her breakfast. She gratefully accepted the warm porridge and filled the gnawing void in her stomach as he sat next to her. “Dah told me they're expecting you to create some sort of teleportation gate.” He pried apart some of her tangled curls. “Do you think you can do it?”

“I've done it before.”

“Kira, I'm not as good with words as I would like, so I’ll get directly to the point. I'm worried about you being alone, and if you want to join our clan, we’d be happy to have you.”

She smiled at him and his kindness, and his eyes lit up with hope. He deserved her honesty. “I'll have to decline for now. I need to figure out what I want.”

He ran his hand through his hair, causing it to stand up on end. “I suppose you're still not over him yet.” He stood. “Not to worry, though, lass, I can be patient,” he added with a wink. He took the bowl with him and left her alone with her thoughts.

Kira spent most of the morning wandering around the Resistance camp. It was the children who drew her attention the most: the apple-cheeked dwarf babies, the elvan children with eyes wise beyond their years, and the human children playacting what the adults did every day. A barefoot girl ran by her wearing threadbare blanket that had been transformed into a makeshift cloak. Her old cloak.

There was a reason why Master Tyrrus, Fergan, Arlisle, Galen, and everyone else here were willing to risk their lives—to create a world where all the races could live together. And she knew then that she needed to put their needs before her own and contribute to the Resistance in the only way she knew how.

She sought out Galen. He was easy to find, still in his tent, surrounded by Jaius and Paleah. For a brief second, she regarded the female elf with some suspicion, wondering if there was some sort of history between her and Galen. Then she scolded herself for letting such thoughts distract her from the task at hand.

She cleared her throat, and three pairs of blue eyes turn to her. “Are the gates finished?”

They nodded.

“Then take me to the camp’s gate.”

Galen stood in front of her and stared.
He’s probably trying to read my thoughts
. She secured her mind and left her face blank. He didn’t need to know the reasons for her coming here now. If only that annoying silver haze would go away. “We'll need one of the crystals for the other gate,” he said at last.

Kira pulled out the small pouch that had hung around her neck since she left Dromore. Inside were the two pink crystals from the old gates. She reached in and retrieved one of them, which Galen gave to Paleah. “I’ll set this one in place,” she said as she teleported out of the tent.

Galen and Jaius flanked either side of her as they lead her to the new gate. She felt more like their prisoner instead of their equal, but they drew little attention as they moved through the tents. People must be used to seeing her with them, the strange human that she was. They turned and followed the river downstream for almost a quarter of a mile outside the camp before they came to the new gate.

She gasped when she saw it. They had built a stone arch into the wall of the bluff, not too different from the arch in Dromore, but three times the size. “I wasn't expecting it to be so big.”

The elves exchanged worried glances. “If you can't do it, I understand,” Galen said. “It's not worth your life.”

She looked at him and then back at the gate. She reminded herself why she was here. This was something bigger than herself, and only she could do it. “But it is worth the lives of others.” She approached the gate and had to stand on her tiptoes to place the crystal in its slot. Her fingers trembled as she withdrew them. She then forced a smile on her face. “I can do it.”

She closed her eyes and began to cast the ritual from memory. Everything started out as before. The magic flowed from her to the gate. She thought she heard Jaius say it was working.

But then the ritual seized control of her. She’d never experienced something like this before. Her mind screamed for her to stop casting, but she couldn’t. With her strength sapped, even breathing became a laborious feat. Her body grew cold and heavy. The ritual was pulling her soul out of her body, consuming everything that was her.

She’d been warned about trying to cast magics that were beyond her training. This was the consequence.

A sudden flash of blue filled her vision, followed by the sensation of falling. The voices seemed far away, but Galen's was the closest. He was telling her to stay awake.

Why would he say that?
She was so sleepy, and she had earned her rest. Death wasn’t as painful as she imagined it would be. She felt the faint touch of warm hands on her face and saw a white glow. Galen’s face became clear through the haze. She was happy that was the last thing she saw before she slipped away.

CHAPTER 22

Galen glanced at the corner once more to make sure she was still breathing. Kira’s small face appeared ashen against the richly colored cushions she slept on, but her chest still rose and fell with each shallow breath. She was still alive, and he was grateful.

Paleah’s voice pulled him back to the conversation. “Galen, are you even listening to me? You almost used the Judahrae on her. You know it’s forbidden to cast that ritual. How dare you anger the gods at this critical moment?”

“But I didn’t use it on her,” he snapped back. “Thankfully, I was able to heal her enough to keep her from dying.”

“She’s just a human.” Paleah leaned on the table across from him. Her eyes searched for any sort of weakness in him. “What’s so special about her that you would risk everything we’ve worked so hard to achieve?”

He rubbed his throbbing temples. It was late in the evening, and he was exhausted.

Jaius, who’d remained silent during her tirade up until this point, chose to step in. “Paleah, please, leave him alone so he can rest. Galen has far too much to worry about as it is. He doesn't need any more of this interrogation from you.”

Her anger turned on him. “But you were there! You saw what he almost did.”

“The key word is ‘almost’. He realized the consequences of that plan and chose an alternate route of action. The gate works, and Kira is still alive.”

“I should have known better than to get any support from you.” She stood, kicking the chair back so it skidded behind her. “Perhaps I should discuss this with Thoranus,” she threatened before she left.

Galen waited until Paleah was out of earshot before he spoke. “I almost killed her.”

Jaius pulled the chair Paleah had occupied to the table and sat across from him. He appeared to weigh his words carefully. “No, Galen, she was willing to die.”

The news sent a chill down his spine to the tips of his toes, and he wondered if he would ever be warm again. He looked up, waiting for Jaius to add some clause or condition to his statement, but his friend merely met his eyes and waited for the words to sink in. “How did you know?”

Jaius raised one brow in reply. Empaths seemed to be privy to even the darkest of secrets.

“Why?”

“I’ve sensed a feeling of hopelessness in her ever since she returned from Sylvania, as if she had lost her reason for living.”