Anna and I woke up silently first thing and began packing our things for our trip back to Storm Cove. By the time we were ready, Abigail was waking Petal up. The poor girl looked so dazed and tired. She struggled to step into the pants her mother held out for her, despite their loose fit, and looked seconds away from teetering over.
She couldn't be any older than six years old, with fair blonde hair and a slight frame. Her button nose, those hopeful eyes, were a near match to Erika's. My heart clenched.
Abigail knelt in front of her, taking her shoulders firmly; it looked like that was all that was stopping her from collasping. She was so pale and clammy. "You'll be good for these young women, won' ye, Petal?"
She looked up at us with bleary eyes. "I don' wanna go with 'em. I wanna stay with ye."
Struggling to hold back her tears, Abigail brushed her daughter's hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. "I know, sweetie, but these women will take you to a healer. You want to feel better, don't you?"
The girl nodded, sniffling. "Mama. . ."
She reminded me so much of Erika, I couldn't bare to stand and watch her cry. I knelt in front of her, offering her a gentle smile. "My name is Eva. You see my friend? Her name is Anna. What's your name?"
Bottom lip trembling, she wiped her tears away sloppily then extended her hand. "I'm Petal. Are ye a friend of my mommy?"
"I am. Have you ever ridden a horse Petal?"
She shook her head, looking a little less distressed. "No."
"No? Then I'll teach you. Come on."
Forgetting all about her worries, she took my hand with a bright smile and followed me to the gelding I rode here. Stirward was outside with a few other villagers; a sullen expression on his face, he hobbled to Abigail and squeezed her hand. She leaned into his side, doing her best to hold a brave front for her daughter.
Petal blinked up at my gelding in awe. "She's pretty!"
"He certainly is," I corrected her gently. I was just happy to see a smile on her face. "Are you ready?"
She nodded, now more eager to ride the horse than she was scared of this trip. I gripped her sides then hoisted her up into the saddle. She giggled, swinging her feet freely. "I'm so tall!"
"Taller than me!" Anna cheered, giving the girl a goofy face. "You're as big a dragon!"
She roared in the most adorable attempt of a dragon's cry I'd ever heard--then she erupted into a coughing fit. All thoughts of fun swept away, I quickly swung into the saddle to hold her steady. Her fit went on for several minutes before she sagged against me, exhausted. The animated girl was replaced by a frail, almost ghostly-looking, girl who's life was one bitter moment away from crumbling in my arms.
Worry etched into her features, Abigail reached up to Petal with a trembling hand. "I love ye, baby girl."
I had to help her lean a little closer to her mother. "I love ye too, mama." All the air in her lungs had been sapped out of her. Her voice was hoarse, just above a whisper. "When I get back, I'll show ye how to ride a horse."
That just about broke Abigail's heart. She had to swallow the lump in her throat. "I look forward to it."
Stirward stepped up to the horse, wrapping a strong arm around Abigail. His gaze was a fierce, unrelenting force when he looked at me. "You look after her, you hear me?"
"I could say the same to you." I raised my eyebrows, daring him to say otherwise. A pink hue rose up in his cheeks when he looked down at Abigail. He cleared his throat then nodded to me.
I kicked the gelding into a canter. They raised the gates for us and no sooner dropped them behind us. At the thunderous sound of solid wood clashing with the earth, Petal exploded into tears.
"Mama! I want my mama!"
"I'm sorry, sweetie," Anna crooned. "She couldn't come with us, but we'll get you home soon, okay?"
Petal wailed.
"Listen, Petal," I said sternly. The tone worked for Erika when she became hysterical; it seemed to work for Petal too. She snapped her mouth shut instantly. "You're sick. Your mom asked us to take you to a healer. In the meantime, I have a very important task for you: I need you to watch my back, look for all the wildlife we pass, okay?"
Petal nodded, determined to find anything that moved. However, we were going too fast and the desert was fast approaching; the chances of her seeing anything was slim to none, but it would at least keep her preoccupied and she might even fall asleep.
Annalyse gaped at me in amazement then watched as Petal's eyes slowly closed after looking for animals for an hour. "You're great with kids."
"Erika was her age," I admitted, feeling a hard lump in my throat. "The best way to calm a child is to distract them with something else."
Annalyse's smile faded. "If it becomes too much for you, Eva, I can-"
"It's fine. I'm fine." And it was true, weirdly enough. I thought seeing Petal, looking after her just as I cared for my sister, would have been difficult for me, but it actually had the exact opposite affect on me. Treating Petal like how I treated Erika reminded that I had been a good big sister. I might have not been able to save her from Darius, but I had done everything I could to protect her and she would have been proud.
We rode in silence, afraid to make a sound in case Petal woke up. I tried to shelter her from the heat as much as I could; she was already feverish, the last thing she needed was for my body heat or the merciless sun to make her condition worse. Anna had given me her shawl to drape over her, which kept the sun off her skin, but there was nothing I could do to protect her from my own heat.
Thankfully a reprieve came into view on the horizon. Storm clouds. It had to be Sasha's doing. It was all her people could talk about before we left Storm Cove: the Tempest Festival.
Every three months Sasha and Syran summoned a storm and let the rain saturate the land. Apparently it was quite the celebration; everyone from the Under City participated. There was dancing and food. For one moment, everyone forgot the abusive land and rejoiced in Sasha's gift.
Even from this distance, I felt the static in the air, the weight of the clouds as they rolled in, filled with rain. Our last night out here might be a rough one. It was just as well the dragons didn't come with us; Aster wouldn't be able to fly in this weather, too much risk of being struck by lightning.
When nighttime began its approach, we made a camp, lighting a small fire to cook up some lizards Petal spotted when she woke up. The wind had picked up, thrashing our tent around like an angry beast and threatening to blow out our fire. Still no rain, but it was only a matter of time. I almost tasted it.
Petal's skin looked lighter, healthier in the firelight. She was content to snuggle into the coat Abigail had packed for her and nibble on her part of the lizard. It took some coaxing to get her to try it--she was much more used to eating birds and small game, lizards were yucky--but once she saw Anna and I eat our lizard and realised there wasn't going to be anything else, she suddenly decided lizards weren't too yucky to eat. She beamed with a big toothy grin, proud to have tried it--but then she fell into a violent coughing fit. When her hands came away from her mouth, her palms were spotted in blood.
Tears welled in her eyes. "Am I dying?"
"No, of course not, sweetie," Annalyse rushed to coddle her. She wrapped her arms around her, giving her a gentle yet fierce hug.
In my experience, children knew when they were being lied to, and Petal was no different; the look she aimed at Anna was skeptical and hopeless. The tears ran down her face, leaving trails down her dusty cheeks.
"We're taking you to a powerful healer," I comforted her. "You'll be better in no time. No need to worry." Sasha better not have been lying about being able to heal her. After seeing this storm, though, I certainly couldn't deny she was powerful--so why not be powerful enough to heal her?
Little Petal wiped the blood from her mouth, giving us a weak smile. "Thank you for helping me. I don'na care what people say about Sasha's people, you're good people."
I smiled. This was the kind of stuff I did my job for, saving lives, making the world a better place. "We're just doing our job."
Petal's eyes suddenly widened, gaze turning behind me. I sensed it before I saw it with my Dragon Vision.
Annalyse scooped Petal up, leaping to the side when the giant scorpion erupted out from the ground and dove for the horses. On instinct, I whipped my dagger out and cut them free. It would be better to have to find them later than to have them eaten. Before it could chase them down, I loosed an arrow into its thick hide; it didn't appear to notice as the arrow bounced off its armour. Weapons weren't going to cut it here.
The horses were too fast for the scorpion to catch. Naturally, it turned for easier prey.
Us.
Realising the same thing, Anna handed me Petal and sparked the flintstone. Only her magic could melt through the thick exoskeleton. A heavy gust of wind blasted past us, snuffing out her flame. It kept on coming, brutally, blowing out every attempt she made.
The scorpion's tail lashed out towards us. We jumped away from each other, barely fast enough to dodge its attack. Annalyse, desperate, tried the flint again. A small spark ignited--all she needed. She grew the flame-
The rain began to pour, dousing out any fire she could have used to save us. She swore viciously.
The scorpion whipped its tail around, catching her chest; she went flying into a nearby sand dune.
"Anna!"
I tried to run for her, holding Petal close, but the scorpion stood in between, tail high for another strike.
Petal screamed.
Thunder roared.
Something inside me broke free.
I pulled Petal behind me and held my hand out to the sky. The static in the air connected to my fingertips instantly. Lightning crackled in the air above us--right before striking the ground between me and the scorpion. Somehow, when I reached out, the lightning coiled itself around my arm; it prickled my skin but didn't harm me. I held the string of lightning in my hand like a whip then swung my hand, aiming for the scorpion. Light filled the clearing, blinding me. When the light was gone, the scorpion had been split in half, head to the tip of its tail.
Gasping, I dropped the lightning whip; it shot up into the sky, rumbling in the clouds.
Annalyse ran to Petal's side.
I couldn't take my eyes off the two halves of the scorpion. I did that. Somehow. There was thunder and somehow I just knew how to summon the lightning.
The cold rain finally seeped into my clothes, snapping me out of my trance. I turned to the others. "Is everyone okay?"
Annalyse gaped at the scorpion. "We are now. That was awesome, Eva!"
Petal ran out of her grasp and hugged me. "You're my hero!"
"Oh, I wouldn't go that far. Petal!" She collapsed in my arms. I wanted to shake her awake, but she seemed so delicate already, I didn't want to snap her in two. "Petal! Anna, what do we do?"
She felt the girl's forehead then picked her up in her arms. "We can't wait 'til morning. We have to get her to Sasha before it's too late. Call for Arkon. He's the only one who can fly in this storm."
Arkon! I called out to him. We were dinally close enough for our minds to connect instantly. We need you! Can you find us?
I sense you, Little One. Are you hurt? He made it sound like my condition determined how fast he was.
No, but Petal won't survive the night without you. Sasha had said to not let her fly, but she would die if we didn't do something. It was a risk we were going to have to take.
He was silent on the other end, but I sensed he was on his way. While we waited, we took shelter in the tent, trying to keep Petal warm. She was so pale in the lightstone light and shivering. We did everything we could to comfort her, but nothing we did seemed to matter; her condition grew worse and worse.
Lightning flashed in the clouds above us, and Arkon's silhouette filled the clouds. We rushed her to him, placing her gently in his claws.
"Go!" Annalyse pushed me to get onto Arkon. "Save her. I'll see you tomorrow."
She'd have to be crazy to think I wouldn't notice her wincing when she moved.
"Go without me, Arkon," I urged him, pushing him in Storm Cove's direction.
He bowed his head, touching my chest for just a brief moment. I will see you tomorrow. He pumped his powerful wings and disappeared into the night's sky.
Annalyse slapped my arm, a sharp glare pinned on me. "You should have gone with them! What if she needs you?"
I gripped her arm, leading her back into the tent. "She'll be fine with Arkon. He'll get her to Sasha safely. You're hurt, Anna."
"I'm fine." She brushed it off so easily while she settled down on her bedroll. Someone else might have actually believed her. But I knew her, and normally she would fold her arms behind her head, using them as a pillow. She didn't reach her arms over her head tonight.
"Come on. Show me what's wrong," I insisted, almost groaned. Was it always this annoying for other people when I was feeling stubborn? It was easier when our roles were reversed. "We're partners. How am I supposed to have your back if you don't tell me what's wrong?"
She grumbled, but deep down I knew she was smiling.
She lifted her shirt, showing me a forming bruise on her ribs. The scorpion had hit her pretty hard. Unfortunately, I didn't know what to do with it. We'd done mostly combat training, no first aid. A couple of the books I read covered knife wounds, but not internal injuries.
"Don't worry," Annalyse said to my alarmed stare. "It's not that bad. I won't be much help for a couple days, that's all."
I eyed her warily. "You'd tell me if it was worse, right?"
She rolled her eyes. "Duh. I don't feel like dying, Eva. Do you mind keeping watch, while I get some rest?"
I nodded. Obviously, I was taking watch, whether she wanted me to or not. She'd have to be stupid to think I was going to make her lift a finger with me around.
While she slept, I gazed outside the tent, watching the rain fall. It streaked down the sand dunes, streams making their long, long journey back to the ocean. The land reacted to the water's presence instantly. Plants grew out of the ground, spreading far and wide at an incredibly fast rate to take advantage to the sudden downpour. Buds sprouted from their perches; they were practically bursting at the seams, just begging for the sun to come out. One succulent had large, broad leaves that siphoned the water towards its center where there was a glowing bulbus sac waiting to collect the precious sustenance.
I'd never seen anything quite like it. One minute we sat on a lifeless plain, in the next, with just a single rainfall, the land had come to life, revealing the beauty hidden beneath the sea of sand.
To be able to summon a storm of this magnitude must have taken Sasha years of training, honing her skill.
Maybe she had every right to be arrogant and wary of me. It was blatantly obvious to me now the kind of power Sylus--and many others--wanted to control. I didn't blame her for not wanting to be the one to train someone unworthy. Hopefully, by helping Petal and Abigail, I showed her that I was worthy of this power, that I wouldn't abuse it. Like her, I defended the helpless, and if the cost was that I had to be hunted for the rest of my life, so be it.
°•° °•°
We made it back to Storm Cove mid day. We would have gotten back sooner had it not taken me so long to catch the horses. Finding them was the easy part, despite the light rain and winds, but whenever I tried to take their reins they'd run away from me. Eventually, fed up, I found some rope at camp and made a lasso to catch them.
Annalyse tried to help, even as she held her side and limped with every step; I wouldn't let her lift a finger. She'd done so much for me, catching a few horses and taking down camp was the least I could do for her until she recovered.
The storm had cleared by the time we arrived at Storm Cove. Remnants of the festival was strewn everywhere, from the Under City to the cove in the south. Stalls were partially taken down, pots and vases were left out to catch every last drop from the sky. It looked like there had been paint at some point in the night, as the sand was spotted with colourful dust. Kids still played in the rivers, laughing and splashing water at each other. Only a few petals littered the ground but not a single flower was in sight. A shame. I wanted to see them. Judging by the petals, they were large and surely beautiful, nothing like the dainty dandelion I grew up with.
Sensing our arrival, Arkon and Aster greeted us eagerly. Arkon pressed his muzzle into my chest, a soft purr rumbling in his chest. I never took him as an affectionate dragon, but it had been the longest we'd been separated since we became Knights, and I even found myself grateful to be in his presence; I rubbed his chin between horns where he could never scratch. He almost keeled over, it felt so good.
"Where's Sasha and Petal?" I asked him.
He nodded towards the cave entrance for the Under City. "She took the girl to the lake by the Under City. They've been there all night."
I patted his snout in thanks then followed Annalyse to the cave. The city was deserted. I'd thought they were all still outside somewhere until we found them crowding around the beach.
Sasha was in the water, waist deep with little Petal floating on her back in front of her. Seeing us, she welcomed us into the lake. As always, the lake felt good--heavenly, honestly--against my skin after being out in the sun. It filled me with energy the sun had drained from me and I felt like I could practice Anna's ruthless routines all day long.
When the water reached our waists, Annalyse gasped, touching her ribs.
"Are you okay?" I whispered to her. The entire cave was quiet, like we were in the middle of ceremony or something; it didn't feel right to break the silence.
"Yeah." She sounded surprised, then she raised her eyes up to Sasha as she held Petal; the colour was gradually returning to her cheeks. "How are you doing this? I thought only people with water magic could heal."
Sasha smiled softly at us. A first. Heavy bags darkened her eyes, the wrinkles around her mouth more prominent today. She actually looked fifty. "Lightning and water magic are intertwined," she explained, her voice just as soft as her smile. "Syran and I used magic to summon the storm, bringing lightning to recharge Syran's powers and rain to rejuvenate the land. The rain in the storm was created by magic, thus has magical properties. This lake was made after years and years of summoning storms; it's filled with the magical energy we used to make the storms."
So this lake was a magical lake, one that could heal the ill. I never thought about my magic being used like that. Then again, I hadn't considered using it to make a whip out of lightning either and I did that last night.
There was so much I had to learn from her. I could use my magic to heal or destroy. Sasha was the only person in this world who could show me how to master the delicate balance.
"Sasha," I said, watching Petal sleep soundly on the surface, "we spoke to Abigail. She told me what people think of you--what people have done to control you."
Sasha peered at me warily. "And?"
I took a deep breath. There was no going back after this. I was about to step into a dangerous world filled with fear and uncertainty, but if I wanted to protect the people I loved, I had to do it and become a beacon of hope in the war to come. "I understand the true power of our magic and the consequences that come with it. Teach me everything you know."
She held my gaze steadily. A light grew inside of them, giving her a newfound energy. Or maybe it was hope? "Good. We'll start training tomorrow."