Sentinel

Chapter 42 - Calling light

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Chapter 42 - Calling light

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Kiarae’s eyes flickered open, and with them, the last of the energy keeping Tayne upright dissolved.

He slumped sidewards, unable to hold his head up. The sudden drop was too much to handle. Two hours sleep on the hard group while pursuing a missing Sentinel, even combined with the Silverborn blessing was not enough to compensate for what he’d lost in the last few days.

Tayne fought to keep his eyes open. He willed himself to stay awake, at least until Kiarae could stand.

Then... then he could sleep.

Kiarae awoke quickly and gracefully repositioned herself on her shins. She held the sides of her head with open hands, threading fingers through her silvery hair and closing her eyes in concentration. Tayne wanted to tell her to hurry, that there wasn’t any time, but his lips refused to move and form the words.

He watched her in silence. His eyes drifted to the silvery glow of Kiarae’s Sentinel mark on her upper arm. It was the same as Skye’s; a rotated ‘3’ that glittered with magic except where Skye’s had a flower, a shimmering moon was nestled in the indent.

It pulsated silver, drawing in the fractured light from her hair. Every time the mark seemed to grow brighter, it flickered and faded to a dull glow. As he watched, the light died once more, but this time it didn’t come back.

Kiarae made a frustrated growl from the back of her throat. Her brows drew together and she opened her eyes. Her gaze shifted to meet Tayne’s. The anger melted, replaced by concern.

She grasped his shoulders, digging her fingers in. The feeling spiked a moment of clarity in Tayne’s mind, but it quickly retreated back into blurred vision.

 “Deities be damned,” she said. “Stay with me, Tayne.” Her grey eyes lifted and focussed on something in the distance. “Resist the Citadel’s pull, Silverborn. Fight.”

Kiarae raised her hands, palm facing away from her. Her lips tightened into a thin line as she closed her fingers around something Tayne couldn’t see and pulled. The slender muscles in her arms flexed from the effort, but to him, it looked as if she were pulling on air.

Eyes sore and threatening to close, Tayne made the mistake of blinking.

Letting the muscles relax was bliss. His head sank further into his neck, and it was only when his cheek pressed against something flat, cold and hard that he struggled against the heaviness weighing him down.

“Silverborn, wake! Skye requires your aid, do not fail her!”

Kiarae’s voice drifted through his mind and he latched onto it for all he was worth. He clung to the words, using them to find his way out of the sleepy fog clouding his mind.

His eyes cracked open, and the sight caused them to widen further in surprise. 

A long, silver shaft with thousands of intricate grey lines woven around its surface had solidified into Kiarae’s waiting grasp. At the far end, a half moon shimmered into existence. A crystal coalesced between its two curved points and blossomed with a bright light which ran down and encased the entire head and body of what Tayne realised now to be a staff.

Kiarae stood. Her dress, though ripped and torn around the edges remained modest and regal around her slim frame. She kissed the glowing crystal and lowered it to rest on Tayne’s head.

She was standing and strong. Tayne felt his control slip, his consciousness kept afloat only by the warmth of Kiarae’s staff.

Her words ran through his mind. Infuse the Silverborn, light of Taldorei. Bless him and heal his injuries.