Chaos Looming

Chapter 5

The ride home was not exactly a pleasant one. Keira had tried her best to explain to Danny why she'd had to save that little girl. She'd sought to paint a picture for him of just how amazing it had felt to be inside Anya's body, sending her pneuma through muscle and bone, healing as she went. She tried to articulate the feeling of power and purpose, the certainty that this was what she was meant to do—that her ability was the reason why they'd stumbled upon Anya in the first place.

Danny had not been entirely convinced. She knew he'd tried to understand her thinking, but somehow the conversation kept coming back to the not-so-insignificant detail of what—to him, at least—seemed burgeoning masochism. She couldn't blame him. When she'd returned to her right senses, she had to admit that the sight of her callously slicing into her own arm to save her dead cousin's doppelgänger had probably not been the most comforting of images. He was right to be dubious, she decided.

Yet when she tried to explain the potential of her discovery for the future of pneumonancy, Danny's doubt quickly became vehement opposition. He was convinced that this was a dangerous precedent, and if she continued on in this direction, there was no telling what damage she'd do to herself along the way. The discussion was nowhere near resolved when they turned the corner and began the last stretch toward home.

A sense of dread began to mount as Keira thought about what awaited them there. Nazor would kill her. She'd disobeyed a direct order, the primary directive that guided their actions in Loren, and the one thing Nazor cared about more than anything: Do not expose the Legion. There would be no talking her way out of this one. And Elliott...well, Elliott would be worse. He wouldn't yell or curse, just stand there, looking disappointed, wondering if a mistake really had been made, if Keira wasn't right for the Legion. Maybe Pneumos had been wrong to bring her here.

Keira shifted nervously, chewing on her lip as she tried to think of how she'd break the news to them. Maybe at dinner, she decided. She'd wait until all the day's chores were done, and Nazor had had her evening mudlo. That ought to put her in an excellent mood.

She had no more time to think about it as they rounded a corner in the path and came upon the distant, yet unmistakable figures of Elliott and Nazor. They were arguing vehemently outside the barn. Danny looked at Keira and opened his mouth to say something—probably to ask if they should try to sneak by. He never got the chance.

"What have you done?" The question was not yelled, but spoken, deadly in its calm. Danny and Keira were still twenty yards or more away, meaning Elliott had used pneuma to make his voice sound as if he were standing just beside them. Danny reached up to push his hair off his forehead, obviously as nervous as Keira.

This is bad, Keira thought. I've really done it this time.

Deciding to accept the inevitable, the two slowly made their way toward the barn. Keira's mind was racing, trying desperately to find the right words.

"Look, I know you're mad," she said apologetically. "I know we aren't supposed to use pneumonancy in front of people. I broke the Legion's rules, and I'm sorry."

Elliott gave her a considering look while Nazor remained unfazed, face hard as ever.

I have to make them see, Keira thought, to know the value of what I've discovered.

"But you have to understand—the girl, she was dying, like really dying, and I, well, I—I healed her."

Nazor's face blanched, and Elliott's brow furrowed. He leaned in slightly. "With herbs and medicines?"

Uh-oh. Keira paused. Hadn't they heard? What else were they angry about, if not that?

"I mean...I healed her. With my pneuma."