Powers of the Six (28 page)

A soft, warm bed hugged him. Opening his eyes again, several people stood over him, but he couldn’t see clearly enough to recognize them.

“He’s awake!”

“Thank Brim.”

Nolan opened his mouth to speak, but it was dry as wool.

“Relax, Nolan,” Alec’s familiar voice said. “Here, have a drink.”

Alec placed an arm under Nolan and pulled him up, pouring a small amount of water down his dry throat. Nolan gagged. It tasted like dirt.

“What happened?” Nolan finally croaked.

“Don’t know,” Alec said. “Daren heard your scream from the temple nearly three days ago. At first, we thought you were dead. Your heart was still beating, but you only took a breath every minute or two.”

Three days? No. That’s impossible.

“We’ve been trying to figure out what happened,” Alec continued.

Nolan closed his eyes, trying to remember. The last thing he recalled was white mist and the Guardian. He exhaled, pushing back the rising panic. No. The Guardian had obviously been a dream.

“We should send someone out to tell Emery and the others you’re all right,” Alec said. “They left the day after we found you, although it took a lot of convincing to get Megan to move.”

“I need my spectacles,” Nolan said.

“Your spectacles?” Alec said, a strange tone to his voice.

Nolan touched his nose, but the frames were already resting there. His heart raced so strongly, it hammered in his ears.

“Nolan, what’s wrong?”

“I … I can’t see. Where am I?” He flung the covers aside and tried to stand.

“Sit,” Alec said. “You’re at my place. Taryn, can you look at his eyes?”

“I’ve already looked at him at least twenty times,” she said. “Like I said before, there’s nothing wrong with him.”

Nolan slumped. His eyes were poor before, but now he was practically blind! “I need to go.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Alec said. “At least, not until we know you’re all right. Crows, man. We thought you died.”

Nolan shook his head. It felt funny. “I just want to go.”

“Bonty’s been cooking,” Taryn said. “You need to eat.”

A door opened as if on cue, and the large silhouette of Bonty entered, followed by the smell of bacon and eggs.

Nolan’s stomach lurched. “No. Not now.”

“All right, love.” Bonty patted Nolan on the arm and slid the tray onto the nearby table. “I’ll leave it here in case you change your mind.”

A wave of nausea swept over him. He jumped to his feet, pushing past Alec toward the door. “I need air.”

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” Alec called.

The sunlight hit Nolan’s face like a torch; he slammed his eyes shut.

“He shouldn’t be by himself,” Taryn said.

“I’ll give him a few minutes, then follow him,” Alec replied.

Nolan cracked his eyes, looking for Alec and Taryn. He started. He was alone.

“What a shame,” Bonty said. “He didn’t eat a thing.”

“He said he wasn’t feeling well.”

“He might just need some time.”

“I’ll bring him something later today,” Bonty said. “Poor dear.”

A baby cried … somewhere. Then birds chirped, as if they sat on Nolan’s shoulder.
Too loud!
He clamped his hands over his ears, but it made little difference. So many noises jumbled together. It was hard to sort out.
What in Darkness is happening to me
?

Blurred trees swayed before his vision. He ripped off the useless spectacles and gasped. In breathtaking, sudden clarity, everything came into perfect focus. He could make out fine lines on the bark of a nearby tree. A parade of ants marched along the branch. And in the practice field, a group of people pulled back their bows. He could even hear the twang of their bowstrings.

Then Nolan felt his Shay power emerging; however, it wasn’t the Shay he knew.

Chapter Twenty-Three

NOLAN LOST TRACK OF TIME. He couldn’t sleep—sounds were too loud. He couldn’t eat—food tasted worse than dung, not that he had the motivation to eat anyway. Sunlight finally didn’t blind him, not that he wanted to emerge from his hole. He’d finally found a place he could show his Accuracy after two years of being a hermit. And now … He took a long, shallow breath. And now he had to hide again.

Nolan held the mirror, watching orange light flare in his eyes. He focused and listened to a nest of birds twittering outside. Pulling back, the orange light faded under the surface of his normal blue. He could hear the birds, though not as clearly as before. He ran a shaking hand over his chin. Learning control was exhausting.

He switched to Accuracy, its familiar presence taking hold. The orange light changed to sapphire blue. Summoning Perception again and leaving Accuracy in place, his eyes turned from blue to a strange gray with hints of blue and orange flaring around the pupils. Two powers at the same time? Crows. What was he going to do?

When he’d hidden Accuracy, his naturally blue eyes covered his mistakes. The orange light wouldn’t cooperate that way.

He focused on Perception again and, instead of the birds, he listened to the world outside his self-imprisonment. People carried out day-to-day activities, oblivious to Nolan’s struggles. Then he heard footsteps, closer than the others. He put down the mirror, focusing on hushed conversation approaching.

“Do you think he’ll talk to us?” Taryn’s voice said.

“He’d better,” Alec’s voice replied. “He’s locked himself in there for a week now. I’ll get him out of that house if I have to drag him out.”

Nolan hid both Shays and took a slow, calming breath. He waited for the knock before opening the door.

“Hey there, Nolan,” Alec said a bit too casually. “Mind if we come in?”

Nolan forced a smile and motioned for them to enter. The combined smell of metal and lavender followed them.

“We haven’t seen you for a while,” Taryn said.

A scraping sound drew Nolan’s attention. She rubbed a trim of fabric on her dress.

“How are your eyes doing?” Alec asked.

“Better,” Nolan said, leaving out the fact his vision was now perfect.

Taryn studied Nolan. “You don’t look so good. Have you eaten anything?”

“A little,” he admitted. “I’ll try to do better.”

A satisfied smile played across her face.

“Bonty can bring you something,” Alec said. “I’m spoiled with her staying so close. She cooks for us every day.”

“No, thanks. Unless it’s some fruit or something.”

Nolan waited for them to speak, to see how Alec would “drag him out of here.”

Alec shifted his weight to his other leg. “I’ve been thinking …”

“Yes?”

“What do you think about learning to fight? You know, just some sparring. Nothing too intense.”

“Spar?”

“With swords.”

Nolan laughed. “So as soon as I’m feeling better, you want to kill me?”

“Oh, come now.” Alec smirked. “I’ll go easy on you.”

Nolan was sick of wallowing behind closed doors, sick of staring at his pathetic reflection while practicing his lying again. He’d have to come out eventually; otherwise, people would start thinking he was crazy. He’d also gotten a decent grasp on hiding his new Perception, shoving it away in the same internal box with his Accuracy Shay. He straightened and inhaled deeply. “Sure. Why not,” he answered. He needed a distraction. Getting thumped by Alec would more than accomplish that goal.

***

Alec lied; he hadn’t gone easy on Nolan at all.

It was his own fault, though. Nolan had taken to sword fighting quite well.

Defense movements had structure and order. An opponent moved, and a set of responses followed. Nolan quickly memorized the series of blocks and strokes Alec taught him, then, of course, he let his Accuracy execute them with perfection.

“Well done,” Alec said as they finished another round with wooden practice swords. “I haven’t seen anyone catch on to basic defensive moves so quickly. But, I suppose, cheating does make things easier.” Alec mopped his face with a cloth.

“Cheating?” Nolan put a hand to his chest.

“Of course.” Alec grinned. “
I’m
not the one using my Shay power, am I?”

He pushed back a smile. “I can’t shut it off if I tried. In the manor, I’d use it for writing, hours at a time. I’m sure your Speed flares now and then. Maybe when you’re working at the forge or sparring with your father or me?”

Alec laughed. “Don’t tell me that! I thought I’d finally bested my father because of my skills alone.” He snatched two swords from the ground and tossed one at Nolan.

Nolan caught it and shot Alec a skeptical glance.

“It’s time we used steel.”

Taryn, who had been sitting on the grass watching them, groaned. Up until now, she’d only healed a few bruises from the wooden swords, or soothed the sore muscles from Nolan’s shoulders after he could hardly move.

“Now don’t worry. I’ll keep it safe,” Alec said.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Taryn said.

Alec lunged.

Nolan blocked, and the clang of swords rang out.

“Nice one!” Alec said. He lunged again.

Nolan pushed back panic, concentrating on the fight. This was real swordplay, not the banging of two sticks against each other. It was metal upon metal, singing a song of real combat.

It was exciting and a bit scary.

His panic died as he concentrated on the moves. Alec tried to trick him, and Nolan compensated.

After a while, Nolan noticed others gathering. Daren. Rylan. And quite of few others he couldn’t name. Nolan’s body dripped with sticky sweat, and he gasped so hard he struggled to breathe.

“Giving up yet?” Alec taunted. A huge grin spread across his face. He was much more used to this sort of thing than Nolan.

“Not a chance,” Nolan said between gasps. Alec wouldn’t take him that easily.

Several observers drifted away. Nolan figured they’d gotten bored. But when he saw a larger crowd headed toward the central hall, he flared a bit of Perception, just enough to hear what was going on. Nolan dodged another strike then stopped mid-fight at hearing the name of Emery mentioned. Sudden, fiery pain shot through his arm.

“Crows, Nolan,” Alec said, throwing down his sword.

A deep gash cut between his wrist and elbow, and bright crimson blood gushed from the wound. Nolan pressed his arm against his chest trying to stop the flow, covering his shirt in red.

“Why didn’t you block?” Alec said. “Taryn!”

Taryn’s eyes opened wide. “You said you’d be safe.”

“He was safe,” Nolan said. “I was distracted; it’s my fault.”

“By Brim,” Alec said. “It’s a bad one.”

Nolan’s head swam as the red on his shirt spread. Taryn laid her trembling hands on Nolan—one on either side of the angry wound. Her head flew back, and she choked on a scream.

Healing coursed through Nolan’s body, and he watched helplessly as her wound opened and his closed. Her arms shook as she took in the gash. When her injury healed completely, she fell to her knees in the blood-soaked grass.

“I’m so sorry.” Nolan’s chest tightened and guilt washed over him.
So stupid! How could I be so careless
?

With a dazed expression, she nodded. “It’s what I’m supposed to do, right?”

Alec grabbed Nolan’s wrist and wiped the blood with his hand. “Crows, you’re amazing, Taryn. You can barely see it. I wish you’d been around when I fought my father all those years. Maybe my body wouldn’t be so wrecked.”

“Your body is fine,” Taryn said, still trembling. She froze as color rushed to her cheeks.

Alec stared as if he hadn’t quite heard her correctly.

Nolan’s hearing tuned to the distant conversation again. He wanted to flare Perception to hear better, but he wasn’t so sure he could do it without giving it away. He looked at Taryn and Alec. The pink tint to both of their faces was enough excuse to go.

“Well, I should clean myself up. I’m a mess.” He put a hand on Taryn’s shoulder, guilt prodding his gut. “Um … thanks.”

She nodded, though her eyes remained fixed on the ground.

Alec tore his eyes from Taryn. “You okay?”

“Don’t worry. It’s my fault. I’ll pay attention next time.” He took a few steps. “Tomorrow?”

Alec relaxed. “Sounds good.”

Nolan made his way toward the conversation, making sure no one watched before increasing his Perception.

“Where are they?” an older voice said. It sounded like it could be Jared.

“They’re going west for the Strength stone. Maska feels its pull greatly, so we’ve decided to continue and collect them both before coming back,” said another voice Nolan didn’t recognize.

“Where’s the Empathy stone now?”

“They kept it with them. It gives Emery and Flann comfort, at least enough to press on.”