A Touch Of Lightning (COMPLETED!)

Chapter 79 The Empaths Touch

"This is your fault, Ahleena! You're the one that drilled that move into my head!" She yelled. "And it's NOT funny!"

Draeken climbed to his feet, absently rubbing at his hand, watching Raina with a wide smile. She spun to face him, jabbing her finger at him so sharply he took a step back, even though she was now at least fifteen feet away.

"You better not laugh!" She growled, taking a threatening step towards him.

"Wouldn't dream of it." He said warmly. Warm enough to make Raina scowl even darker at him.

"Raina, you're the first person to put Draeken on his knees in over three hundred years." Ahleena said, obviously having gotten ahold of herself, though her voice still held a slight chuckle, making Raina grit her teeth.

"Three hundred years, huh? Hm. For some reason, you don't look that old. Must be all the good living." Raina said sarcastically, and perhaps a bit hysterically, still not pleased with being laughed at. Still not pleased with her reaction to Draeken.

Draeken couldn't hide a grin at that.

"You don't even know who I am, little wildcat. And it wouldn't matter one bit to you, even if you did, would it?" He said, more to himself, still grinning.

Raina scowled at him. "You got that straight." And to herself she thought about what she did know about him.

Ahleena's presence, her natural telepathic shield, was working. It was keeping her from being swept along in others emotions. But Draeken, she could still easily sense. She could easily follow his every nuance of emotion and sensation. She briefly considered telling him that if his big toes were aching like that, it was an obvious sign his boots were too tight. And she cursed herself for even caring about his discomfort.

"It doesn't matter who he is. What does matter, Raina, is if you can link your power with him. That may well be what it takes to stop the Berserker." Ahleena said.

Raina gaped at Ahleena for a moment, then shook her head emphatically, her short, black hair flying about her face.

"Nope. No way. Not going to link my power with him, not going to let him even get near me again."

Draeken climbed to his feet, his easy grace reminding Raina of Callin. That same, incredibly powerful, wild-animal grace. She felt jumpy inside around Callin, both nervous and excited at the same time. Draeken was the same, except somehow even more intense. Like he was even more dangerous than Callin, though Raina wasn't sure that was possible.

"And what's this Berserker business?" She asked, sidling away from Draeken, who noticed and smiled, making Raina grit her teeth.

"Callin is the Berserker. And he will destroy this world, and possibly ours, unless we stop him. The wards and the armies of this world won't be enough to stop him. We need to link up." Ahleena stated. As if she were talking about what toppings she wanted on her pizza.

"You know the Berserker?!" Draeken narrowed his eyes at Ahleena, the aura of danger around him seeming to increase, like a dark cloak of rage behind him billowing about, filled with power about to be unleashed.

Raina crouched, backing away from him, her power reaching out to snag the energy in the Draeken construct she had created, dissolving it, pulling it to her and wrapping it around her in glowing lines. An armor.

"Stay calm now, Draekee poo. No twitching or anything and nobody gets hurt." Raina said, still ready for anything. She wasn't sure what set him off like this, but she certainly wasn't going to be taken by surprise if he tried something.

Next to her, Raina heard Ahleena snort in surprised disbelief at her words. Draeken seemed to relax slightly, although he did arch one eyebrow at her, a new, dark look beginning to simmer in his gaze when he met her eyes. A look that made Raina feel even more jumpy and agitated inside. It immediately made her vow to punch him as soon as she got the opportunity.

"Draekee poo?" He asked, mouthing the words like they were foreign objects, like he couldn't believe the sounds coming out of his own mouth.

Ahleena chuckled, making Raina grin in surprise. Today, she had heard something she hadn't imagined possible. She had heard Ahleena laugh. And now, she had heard a chuckle from the normally terribly stoic Ninja. Maybe this land, this palace even, wasn't so bad for Ahleena after all.

Draeken ran a hand through the shaggy, brown mane on his head and sighed, the darkness of his power settling down, returning a semblance of calm to the room, as he studied Raina.

"I've been Master of this entire world for two hundred years. My word is law. The most powerful from tens of thousands of miles away send countless gifts of priceless value to me. Men of all stature fear and respect me...and then you come along and call me Draekee poo. And make an image of me kneel at your feet. And expertly twist my hand up in a move I believe only three others know about. Making me kneel at your feet. And then you wave your hand about and weave the wards of our very life force like you're playing with silken strings. Who are you, little wildcat?" Draeken was very quiet as he spoke, stalking forward, his tawny yellow eyes holding Raina still, even though her instincts screamed for her to back away, to punch or kick, to run. To do something other than just stand there like a petrified rabbit!

He stepped right into her personal space, still holding her captive by the intensity of his gaze, somehow cloaking his intentions from her empathic power, making a distant part of her mind shiver in anticipation. A part of her mind at war with the part that wanted to strike or flee.

"Uhhmm...Rainee poo?" Raina squeaked, nervously going up on tip-toe as his hand came up to cup her jaw, tilting her face as his head lowered. His lips brushed against hers, sending fiery jolts down her spine, and she could feel him smiling as he sensed her response.

"I think you're a wildcat. Are you wild enough for me?" He whispered. And then his lips claimed hers fully, and she was lost.

"Is that how you link with your other telepaths?" Ahleena asked nearby, her tone flat and cold. Biting.

Draeken lifted his head very suddenly, as if he had just come to himself, and glared at Ahleena.

"I've snapped spines for less an interruption than that." He stated flatly, holding a trembling, and very dazed Raina to his chest.

Ahleena narrowed her eyes at him. "Whose will you snap when the Berserker interrupts you?"

Draeken stiffened at the reminder, then looked down at Raina as if in disbelief.

He let go of her quickly and stepped back. "Are you using your powers on me?" He asked, rather calmly but still with an undercurrent of darkness.

Raina blinked, then blinked again. She reached up one hand to try to still her pounding heart, then glanced about her, her senses coming back in a rush. Her eyes began to glitter as she looked back at him.

"Oh, trust me. When I use my powers on you, you'll know it!" She snarled, taking a step towards him.

"Raina..." Ahleena warned.

Raina spun to face her. "Oh stuff it, Ahleena! That...that dog touched me!"

Draeken raised an eyebrow and mouthed "dog?" questioningly at Ahleena, who was clearly ignoring him.

"Raina. His power and yours are compatible. You both should know this very well now. We will form a three-way link and see what we can do to stop the Berserker. Now!" Ahleena was sharp, her words commanding, her will blazing bright before Raina's empathic eyes.

It startled Raina for a moment. She normally couldn't sense anything about Ahleena. But then she thought about the way her power acted here, and the way others powers interacted and were visible, tangible even, and wasn't surprised.

Before she had even processed Ahleena's words, she felt it. She felt Ahleena in her mind, her power entwining with her thoughts. Reaching out and touching another. Pulling him within, entwining the strands of all of their thoughts together. Draeken! Raina realized, beginning to struggle. But it was impossible, her will was no match for the Ninja. Ahleena had begun to weave all three of their minds together and would stop at nothing now.

Then, before her mind's eye, Raina saw Ahleena reach into the very heart of all of their powers. Reach in and begin to tie it all into one piece, in strange and fantastic loops and patterns. Raina was transfixed, hardly aware of her physical surroundings as she stood perfectly still with her eyes shut, watching inside.

Watching a Master Weaver create a suit of armor from the very heart of their powers.