Sentinel

Chapter 9 - Tentative Bonds

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Chapter 9 - Tentative Bonds

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Skye was awake long before dawn. 

The Silverborn had given her a bedroll out of their spare supplies and placed her in the centre of the camp, well inside the ring of sentries. She suspected one of them was tasked with watching her specifically, which she wasn't sure how to take. Did they consider her a threat, or were they worried the shadows would come and steal her away? 

She snuggled down inside the blankets. She hadn't been this warm in weeks, hadn't ever imagined this kind of comfort would ever be possible again. Callum, the Silverborn's appointed doctor, had applied some kind of sticky green paste he claimed would help her wounds seal and prevent infection. Without the plants to make her own antiseptic, she'd reluctantly allowed it. 

Go with the Silverborn, Kiarae had told her, like she had another choice. The Master had been right about one thing--marked the way she was, the elves would never have taken her back in Naisha. She was already enough of a social outcast that they'd likely try to kill her for bringing corruption into their underground haven. 

Skye gave up on sleep, instead opting to play with this newfound energy inside her. 

She sat up, keeping the blankets around her shoulders as she brought her hands out in front of her. Unsure of how to go about it, she tried calling the energy to the surface. In response, a light green spark ran across a line on her palm. Encouraged, Skye pulled another to the surface, then another and soon enough, there were a multitude of sparks the same colour of her soul weaving in and out of her fingers. 

How did I heal Jesse? she wondered, glancing at the paste-covered injuries up her arms. Her hand hovered over them. I touched it, and then... She concentrated her gaze on a shallow gash. Heal.

The sparks obeyed. Green light flashed from her fingers and melted into her arm, setting it aglow beneath the surface. Skye watched in amazement as the wound closed, leaving perfectly unmarked skin.

She examined her arm, unable to stop the smile. I did it! 

"Was wondering when you'd start healing yourself," came a soft voice from behind.

Skye looked around to find the Silverborn who she'd pinned down watching her with a curious look. Feeling self conscious, she pulled the magic back and went back to staring at the ground. 

"Didn't know if I could," she murmured back. "Would have felt stupid if I tried in front of everyone. Your name was Tayne, wasn't it?"

He sat down beside her. "Tayne indeed, Skye." She liked the casual way he said her name, without any attempt to place a title around it. "Haven't been a Sentinel long then, I take it?" 

"First time I used magic was to heal your friend when you found me," admitted Skye. "Still not sure I believe it, but..." She tapped the place on her arm where she'd stared at the moving image for several long minutes. "Not much point arguing otherwise with that there, is it?" 

Tayne gave a quiet laugh. "Not much point indeed." Skye tensed as she felt the questions he wanted to ask about her captivity on his tongue, questions she wasn't ready to relive yet. 

Skye tensed as she felt the unasked questions on his tongue. 

How had she been captured? What had they done to her? Did the Master claim her with that mark on her shoulder? 

She wasn't ready to answer those questions yet. She wasn't ready to relive the three weeks of hell and fear they'd put her through, and she wasn't sure if she'd ever be ready.