Beyond the Sapphire Gate: Epic Fantasy-Some Magic Should Remain Untouched (The Flow of Power Book 1) (31 page)

NOT HER WORLD

A bright, hot light lanced into Crystalyn’s eyes when she tried to open them, adding to the pain inside her head. Squeezing them closed, the pain lessened, but didn’t flee as much as she wished, though it was some relief. Now, if the wind would stop rocking the bed.

A woman’s melodious, yet commanding voice, cursed. “Blast you, fools! Keep her shaded until you get to the tent! She’s coming around, do you want her blind?”

A paler shade of gray enveloped her. Slow at first, then with a frightening rapidity, the weight of her flesh on her exoskeleton crashed upon her awareness. She felt everything all at once. Like she’d dropped into her own body after driving someone else’s, like the time she’d roamed about inside Lore Rayna, except she ached with pain this time. Pinpricks of the white-hot pain shot through her everywhere. Crystalyn moaned. Was this the price for her callous use of her symbols? She
hurt!

Do’brieni, are you here?
Concern flowed through link, and surprisingly, much of the pain lessened.

Yes, my dear, sweet Broth, I’m here, again. I’m so sorry for cutting you off. I don’t wish it again.
Crystalyn sent love and affection.

Agitation and fear flowed in.
I have searched long; nowhere in my race’s memory has this occurred. I would not have believed it possible. I, too, do not wish it to occur again. It is a very troubling and aberrant behavior.

Her affection grew.
You should know by now, my dear Broth, nothing about me is normal, not in the slightest way.
Her pain lessened noticeably.
Are you doing something with my pain?

Smugness tinged with pain flowed through.
I also have found an ability, which is not normal; in fact, I am certain no Do’brieni has accomplished it in the past. Your hurt is great. I’ve mirrored half of what you have so you do not bear the full brunt. The link will not allow any additional support. It will dissolve as yours does, or worsen.

Crystalyn sent gratitude along with much concern of her own.
I am in awe Broth, but do not be so noble to draw in too much. I cannot have anything bad happen to you.

It is a new ability. I will be cautious, my Do’brieni.

The rocking motion ended, replaced by a firm feeling under her back.

“All leave us,” the melodious voice commanded. “Not you, Leven. I need your healing abilities.”

Crystalyn’s eyelids snapped open.

An interior sparsely furnished with multi-colored cushions laid out purposefully upon the floor. A small writing desk sat underneath a squared, clear section sewn into the tents roof, which provided the strongest luminance. A yellow crystal candle beckoned to her from atop the desk, identical in height to her black crystal candle, though differing in design. A woman’s slender fingers cupped a clear orb, made of the same material as Jade’s white candle. The orb exuded a subtle sense of chaste feminine vitality she sensed through her pain. Unique symbols ringed its base.

A woman’s tall, slender form stepped from the side to block her view of the candle. Opening the desks single drawer, the auburn-haired woman busied herself with something. Sliding the drawer closed, the woman turned to face her, slipping a key into the front pocket of her yellow dress. The yellow candle had vanished from atop the desk. “The dim light of my tent will help stave off the pain,” the woman said.

The woman’s voice was the melodious one she’d heard. Now she had a face to match it. The woman’s lovely features were what she’d expected from such a beautiful voice. Wide-set, dark green eyes regarded her from a rounded face. Red lips pursed, the woman clasped her hands to the front with the patient air of someone waiting for a child’s response to some unasked question. Crystalyn wasn’t confident the two of them would get along. “I still feel awful, but the shade most definitely helps. Will someone tell me what happened? How many did I lose, besides…Atoi?” Crystalyn asked though she feared the answer.

A middle-aged man dressed in stark white robes stepped beside the regal woman. “Your little friend is alive…well, not deceased,” he said. The dark-eyed man was devoid of hair. Scalp, facial, or otherwise, not a single eyebrow defined his features. “As for the others, two had severe enough wounds I was forced to draw some strength from those without injury in order to complete the healing process…by their own request. They will require added rest.”

Crystalyn was relieved, yet confused. “So, no one died? How can that be?”

The woman raised a broad eyebrow, a half-smile flitting across her lips. “No, Crystalyn, as impossible as it sounds you and your companions chased a regiment of Dark Users away. My reinforcements showed up, but you’d already forced them to begin withdrawing with your final two…detonations.”

“You know my name. I don’t know yours.”

The woman’s face smoothed. “So, you do not. I am Kara Laurel. This is my companion, Leven,” she added, gesturing toward the man beside her.

Crystalyn nodded, and then grimaced, the pain flashing to new heights inside her skull. Looking down, she pressed her palms over her eyes, waiting for the pain to subside. She didn’t want to add further to Broth’s pain, he already carried a lot. When she could, she looked up to find the man and woman had moved close, one to each side.

“Your headaches,” Leven asked, without preamble, “when did they begin?” His dispassionate face gave no indication as to why he’d asked.

“I’m not sure, but I think they began when I started using my symbols.”

Kara Laurel’s eyes flickered. “Tell me about these symbols. When you create them, do you pull the Flow from around you, or do you think about what you want to accomplish?”

She thought for a moment. “I put them together by concentrating on the patterns themselves, most of the time I redraw them the way I want. There’s no pulling and no Flow involved, I don’t believe. Why do you ask?”

Ignoring her question, Kara Laurel met Leven’s eyes. After exchanging a long look, the reddish, brown-haired woman fixed her startling green eyes on her again. “Have you had ailments after Using, such as nausea, vomiting, or acute weakness? Perhaps nosebleeds?” she asked intently.

“I seem to be acquiring nosebleeds. How did you know?”

Kara Laurel’s eyes widened slightly. “How severe are they?”

“Severe enough they’re becoming harder to staunch. The migraines come after every symbol creation, though.” Instead of ignoring what was happening, she was being honest with herself about them for a change. They
were
getting worse. Staring into the slightly older woman’s eyes, Crystalyn recalled Jade. A vivid image of Jade chewing her lip flashed into her mind and powerful desire to run rolled through her—to run home to Jade. If only she could. Gathering her emotions, she pushed them away by concentrating on the middle-aged woman’s eyes. Such a lovely deep green, they held a vibrant intelligence, and something else she couldn’t define.

“I see,” Kara Laurel said softly. Moving close enough for her to inhale the woman’s scent, Kara Lara gazed at her unblinking.

“Well? Do you know what it is?”

“Yes, to an extent. There is a power within you. However, you’re using it incorrectly. You’re exacting too high a price on yourself. At the rate you are going, you’ll likely have destroyed your cognitive mind within a few months, a year at the most. That is, providing you don’t cease what you’re doing today. You’ll still be able to eat, sleep, and possibly see to your own bodily functions, but that will be all.”

Crystalyn frowned, fighting her anxiety down. When had she taken her meds last? “How can I stop? Without it I’m defenseless.” Trapped on a world where magic use was commonplace and evil lurked everywhere, stopping would be the same as suicide.

Kara Laurel moved closer still, until she was mere inches away, saying nothing.

Drawn to the woman’s eyes, a flicker of white mist, mixed with light blue, pulsed across each of the older woman’s corneas. Transfixed, she stared. Regular pulses flickered there, reminiscent of blood cells flowing through capillaries.

A flash of memory bloomed in her mind. In the image, Atoi casually mentioned that Users had colors associated with their magic use. She wondered why she never noticed before, but then she recalled she hadn’t met anyone with the phenomena yet. Lore Rayna and the Lore Mother’s eyes glowed. There was no way to see into theirs, even if they had corneas, which she doubted.

Kara Laurel’s regal face-hardened. She drew back.

Crystalyn spoke without thinking. “The pulses in your eyes are white and blue, such beautiful colors.”

A sharp intake of breath arose from Leven’s direction.

Kara Laurel’s eyebrows rose, her eyes widening with surprise.

“Is she right? Are your colors white-blue? Is your addiction deep enough she can see them?” Leven asked.

“Yes,” Kara Laurel replied, without looking away. “I’m afraid I owe you an apology, Crystalyn. I was within a moment of destroying you.”

Anger rose from deep inside her. “Why would you do that? Didn’t I just help you against those Dark Users? You may not find me as easy to destroy as you think.” A variation of the black and gray knockback symbol formed in her mind.

Kara Laurel smiled warmly. “Stay your anger, my feisty one. There are some strange things about you, but I no longer believe you to be a Dark User. Such a User could not see my colors, nor I theirs. You must understand, I’d first thought so of you. I can detect no colors in those magnificent blue eyes of yours, yet you see mine. Perhaps you haven’t been Using long enough for the addiction level to show? Or is there another, darker reason for it?” she asked, her eyes hardening.

The conversation was beginning to irritate her, along with the two other people involved in it. All of her companions had fought bravely for them. They didn’t deserve their suspicion. “I have no idea. Either I’m not a User at all, or I’m not a conventional one. You pick which one you want, it’s time we continued our journey.” Expecting the worst, she sat up. Thankfully, her head didn’t protest too much. “Where are the others?”

“They’re outside where I sent them. Your friends wanted to be here, but I for—” Kara Laurel started then a commotion at the tent’s entrance flap gave her pause.

Broth charged through with Atoi in tow. Halting one to each side, both her companions faced the couple interrogating her. Hastel pushed through right after, tilting his head to favor his good eye. Taking in the situation at a glance, he stood relaxed yet attentive by the flap.

I am with you, Do’brieni.

I know you are.

A frown marred Leven’s smooth forehead. “What is this? Did my lady not command you to wait outside her tent? Leave at once!”

“I am going to wait here,” Atoi said.

Hastel thumbed the edge of one of his axes. “I kind of like the shade in here.”

Broth made a show of sitting on his rear haunches.

Crystalyn draped an arm over his broad front shoulders, pulling the Warden close for a quick squeeze. “I prefer they remain,” she said, visualizing the knockback symbol again. If Kara Laurel was telling the truth, she was destroying her mind with every symbol she used. Yet what choice did she have? The tent was beginning to feel like a prison instead of a place of healing.

Kara Laurel moved away from Broth, sweeping the room with a stony glance. Smoothing her face with a visible effort, the red-haired woman leaned on her writing desk. “Your recovery should proceed quickly without the distraction of your friends, however well meant,” she said, her words clipped. Straightening, she left her hands behind her back.

“I’ll decide what’s best for me. Besides, my affliction is related to my symbol use, is it not?” Crystalyn asked.

“Yes,” Kara Laurel admitted, moving a step away from the dresser.

“Well, it stands to reason then, my friends won’t delay the recovery. Only using symbols will. Like this one,” she said, producing the knockback symbol. As lovely as a black-and-white king butterfly, the symbol hung majestically in the air before her, beautiful yet ominous.

Leven shuffled to Kara Laurel’s side. “What is this? I told you she was a blasted Dark User, Kara!”

Kara Laurel’s eyes narrowed. “In your weakened state, you won’t be able to hold it long.”

“Wrong! It doesn’t take anything from me to have it here. I won’t pay the price until
after
I’ve used it. I don’t want to, but you get to decide if I’m going to by your next actions,” Crystalyn said, proud that her voice stayed steady. “And, Kara, your yellow candle won’t help you much.”

Leven gasped.

Kara Laurel’s shoulders slumped. “This has escalated beyond what I expected. What is it you wish?” She sat the exquisite candle atop the writing desk.

Hastel expelled a low whistle.

Leven’s tanned face whitened. “What are you doing, Kara? Prepare! She’ll destroy us both!”

Crystalyn’s anger at both of them suddenly flared. It would serve them right if she let the symbol knock the consciousness out of both of them. “I will do no such thing! Well, not unless you attack my friends or me, first. What I want to know is what you two hope to gain. We helped you, but you’re treating me like some bloody monster you’ve never encountered before.”

Kara Laurel nodded. “You are correct. I am shamed beyond measure. In our quest for answers for something new, we went too far. We are indebted to you and your companions for coming to our aid. What can I do to make amends?”