Page 90 of An Archer's Redemption

“Declan,your eyes—”

“I know, but it’s all right. Órla warned there would be changes when I entered the currents. She doesn’t know if this is permanent or not, or if there will be other side effects later on. Nothing else changed—at least that I can tell—other than people’s reactions back home.”

She released Atikus and stepped past him toward me, concern creasing her brow. “What do you mean,people’s reactions? Last I heard you were being hailed as a hero everywhere you walked.”

I shrugged as my eyes fell. “They’re scared of me, like I’m going to attack them with my eyes or something. I don’t know. Even the kids wouldn’t come close. They run or hide behind their parents.” My gaze strayed to meet hers, then shied away. I muttered, “Guess I’m alone again—”

Kelså closed the gap between us faster than an adder could strike. Her palms cupped my cheeks and forced me to look into her eyes. “Declan Rea, you areneveralone. You hear me?Never.”

I stared and lost myself in my mother’s ideal reflected through her vision.

She saw something I couldn’t fathom, someone I didn’t recognize. How could anyone believe in another person with such reckless abandon? I wished some measure of her confidence in me would take root in my own heart and grow—but I knew it was likely too late for that, especially with magic literally seeping out of my eyes every time I blinked.

Self-conscious under her maternal gaze, I said, “For whatever reason, Atikus was unaffected by his trip along the currents.”

Kelså gave me a look I couldn’t interpret but said nothing, turning back as Atikus coughed.

“Unaffected? I can barely walk after bouncing from the continent to this island!”

I snorted, relieved the spotlight shone elsewhere. “I meant magically. We can’t help that you’re old and frail.”

“Hey!” Atikus smacked me on the arm. “I amdistinguished. And hungry, now that we are talking about our feelings.”

“Of course you are.” I rolled my eyes.

“You boys come with me. I can take care of your stomachs while we talk about fixing Atikus’s magic. As much as I would love to catch up, Órla’s warning has me thinking there is little time to waste.”

Nothing worked to restore Atikus’s magic.

We tried Healing, then Healing combined with air, hoping I could somehowbreathelife back into his Gift. It had seemed a silly idea at the time, but Kelså swore she remembered something akin to it working to Heal another Mage many years before. We were growing desperate, and Kelså’s wild-guess theory failed as all previous attempts had.

On our fifth morning together, Atikus, Kelså, and I sat around the table on the landing overlooking the standing stone circles. Our bellies were nearly as full as our wine glasses.

As we transitioned from lunch to wine on the ridge, our conversation also shifted from Atikus’s perpetual questioning of all things magic toward possible treatments to restore Atikus’s connection. Kelså was disappointed the trip within the currents had done nothing to aid him and was surprised when Atikus described feeling none of the tingling sensation that assaulted me as I traveled. His lack of sensation, along with his inability to sense Órla’s presence or hear her voice, underscored how complete his separation from magic truly was.

“I was afraid to let go of him while we traveled,” I explained. “Maybe he needs to be exposed to the currents without me protecting him with my touch.”

Kelså shook her head. “No, we shouldnottry that. Putting him into the currents without you would likely kill him—or sear his consciousness so he would lose all sense of identity or self. You are the only person in my thousand years of life who has touched the currents and lived. We will save that for a last resort.”

“What if I Called to his spirit, like a summoning, but inside?”

“Now that is just plain creepy, and I have lived long enough to see many things that would make your skin crawl,” Atikus said.

“You might be onto something, ascreepyas it may sound.” Kelså chuckled at Atikus, then grew serious. “But you would have to be very careful. Interaction with a living being’s spirit is dangerous, and not just to them. The will of a spirit is a fickle thing, and Atikus might not be able to control what it does.”

“What are you talking about? It ismyspirit. Why would I not be able to control it?”

“Yes, it isyourspirit, as long as it is within you, but if Declan connected with it, there would be a path it could take through his consciousness to escape the bonds of your mortal body. In essence, Declan could be a conduit to allow your spirit to become sentientin itselfand then be loosed on the world to do who knows what. Freed spirits are incredibly dangerous. That iswhy we must be cautious when constructing summoning circles. Think of it as a conscience-free Atikus in spirit form roaming the land.”

“Sounds like another spirit I met recently, except without my sparkling personality,” Atikus said sourly.

Kelså ignored his attempt at humor. “Exactly. Irina’s spirit maintains her personality and some of her will but now lusts for vengeance of its own. The woman I knew would never kill innocents.”

“The woman you knew was entombed for a very long time. I expect that dark prison changed her, even in spirit form,” Atikus said.

I cleared my throat. “We’re wandering. Back to helping Atikus. I don’t like the spirit interaction idea anymore. Let’s shelve that for now. What else?”

And so the afternoon and evening went, each idea more audacious than the last, and each being added to a very large and growing scroll of unpopular suggestions. When night’s darkness fell and the stars’ light guided our vision, we were nowhere closer to an actionable plan than before.

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