Wayfarers (Champions of the Crystal Book 1)

Chapter 19: The Disastrous Rescue

A few hours later, Tirqwin was sitting quietly, scanning in his mind for Khediva while the Devons, mostly recovered, did some meditations they'd learned on Allyria to try to erase the effects of Varla's control. Maratobia was still unconscious but beginning to show signs of waking when Tirqwin gave a sharp gasp and sat up straighter.

"What? What is it?" Sabrina cried.

"I thought I heard Khediva."

"What did she say?" Scotty asked.

"It was a general distress call," Tirqwin said. "She seems to be quite far away, and damaged." His fists clenched in unconscious reaction to his helplessness.

"Why don't you rest for a while," Sabrina suggested, frowning anxiously at him.

"We may not have much longer before they come back," Tirqwin replied. "If I can get through to Khediva, we may have a chance at escaping before any more harm is done."

"And then what? We just leave 'em here to do what they damn well please?" Scotty demanded.

"No. This must be stopped, and now, before they become advanced enough to leave their planet. But we must regroup and come up with a plan before we can do any good," Tirqwin replied.

Maratobia stirred restlessly, then woke with a little cry. "Where—"

"It is all right," Tirqwin said.

Maratobia blinked and sat up, feeling her head gingerly. "But where are we?"

"Stanos, somewhere in the palace still, I think," Tirqwin said.

"Stanos?" Maratobia echoed blankly.

He frowned. "You will remember in a moment, Mara."

"Mara?" she repeated, still in that same unrecognizing voice.

Sabrina laid a hand on Maratobia's shoulder and said in her best soothing tone, "Your mind's a little unsettled after what happened. Just relax, Mara. It's me, Sabrina. And that's Tirqwin, and that's Scotty. We're your friends."

Maratobia looked at her, eyes wide with confusion and desperation, reminding Sabrina irresistibly of the traumatized girl they'd rescued in what seemed an impossibly distant past.

"It's all right, Mara," she said, taking her in her arms and rocking her gently.

Something deeper than memory in Maratobia responded to Sabrina's comfort, and she relaxed a little. Tirqwin slowly reached out a hand and laid it on Maratobia's hair, concentrating. After a while, he looked at Sabrina, who was regarding him with an anxious question in her eyes.

"The link is there; it is not damaged," he said, relief lying behind his matter-of-fact tone. "She is not either, I think. Just shaken."

"Can you set her right?" Sabrina asked. "Through the link, I mean. We may not have much time, like you said earlier."

"Yeah," Scotty grunted. "We don't know how long it'll take the Wicked Witch to consolidate her power base—but from what she did to us, I bet it won't be long. She went right through our training, and I betcha those guards out there never had any."

"Give her to me," Tirqwin said, stretching out his arms. Sabrina hesitated only an instant, then gently pulled away from Maratobia and guided her into Tirqwin's embrace. "Relax, Mara," Tirqwin said. "Open your mind to me and let me help you."

It was only a few moments later that Maratobia let out a huge sigh of relief and put her arms around Tirqwin in a grateful hug. Sabrina and Scotty glanced at each other, their tension easing a little.