Page 86 of Sun Elves of Ardani

Neiryn looked down at himself, shuddering. His arm had taken most of the weight of the shield, and there was a strip of scorched flesh from his elbow to his wrist. Bits of his vest had been burned through here and there, leaving spots of torment behind. The pain was all he could think about.

He should have been used to the torture of burns by now; it was a part of being a sun elf. It was the glory and pain of Aevyr’s fire, the gift that he had begged for for days at her temple so many years ago. But he wasn’t used to it. He would never be.

He realized Kadaki was speaking to him. Her voice seemed far away, and he struggled to focus on it. His head felt heavy. Perhaps he had a concussion.

“Neiryn. Are you all right? Can you hear me?” It sounded like it was the second or third time she’d said it. She set down her shovel and knelt in the muddy water in front of him, putting her beautiful face level with his. She didn’t look at the humans on the ground. She was not horrified by what he’d done.

She did not often look frightened. Frightening situations only made her angry. They made her narrow her eyes and glare until she found a way to deal with the frightening thing. But now, her eyes were wide with fear for him.

She reached out to grasp his shoulder. For once, her touch wasn’t hesitant. It was gentle, but completely lacking uncertainty.

“Yes,” he said belatedly, his voice hoarse.

“I can’t heal you,” she said, pained.

“I know.”

He lifted a hand to his forehead, shaking slightly.Aevyr, give me strength,he prayed silently. And perhaps it was the concussion, but he could have sworn he felt something in the aether silently respond.

He raised a hand to Kadaki’s collar. “I think it’s time to remove this.”

“You have the key?” she asked hopefully.

“No.” Slowly, he held up his hand, extending one finger. A small flame sprouted from his fingertip, and when he focused on it, it narrowed and condensed into a tiny bluish jet of flame, concentrated and powerful. “Novikke once asked me if it was possible for me to burn through a collar. What do you say we find out?”

He watched her watching the flame. She would refuse. It was too dangerous. No one would want a flame held that close to such a vital part of their body.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

She looked up at him, the image of the flame still reflected in her dark eyes. “What a foolish question,” she said, pulling her hair back away from her neck. She lowered her head to give him access to the collar.

“It will hurt you,” he said. “There’s no avoiding it.”

“I know.”

He cautiously brought his flame toward the collar’s lock. His head was still pounding and the burns across his arms were a pulsing beat of agony that he steadfastly ignored, putting all his focus on the tiny flame in his hand. Kadaki didn’t flinch as the flame hit the metal.

“What will Rhian say?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t care.”

The metal began to heat through, glowing red. He pushed the collar as far to one side as he could so it wouldn’t touch her skin, which was already glowing pink. She didn’t complain, but stared resolutely at the ground, her jaw tense. Neiryn pushed the flame hotter until the metal glowed.

“Have you done anything like this before?” Kadaki asked, and finally she sounded a little breathless, like she was trying not to breathe.

“No,” Neiryn said, picking up the dead human’s knife. “But I’ve always wanted to. Hold still, please.” He slid the knife between the heated metal and her skin, and used the flat of the blade to pull outward on the collar. The metal gave, bending and then cracking apart. He ripped the collar open and threw it to the ground, where it hissed, turning a puddle to boiling mud and sounding, appropriately, like some kind of demonic entity.

A violently red burn shone on the back of her neck. Neiryn winced. But Kadaki only sighed with happiness at the collar’s departure and held a hand over the burn. White magic clouded the air and threaded through her skin. When her hand moved away again, the burn was only a pale pink mark. She looked up at him. Her lips tilted into a smile.

“I’m sorry. I tried to—” he began, and she interrupted him by leaning forward and kissing him enthusiastically. Her damp skin was cold from the rain, but her mouth was hot and inviting. As she kissed him, her hands traveled over his body, lingering on his arms. Her fingertips trailed spells behind them. Soothing magic sank into his skin like a cooling balm, numbing the pain and shrinking the ugly marks on his skin.

She reluctantly pulled away when she’d finished healing him. “Thank you,” she said.

“I should have removed it sooner.”

“Rhian will find another collar, I think, if she wants me to wear one. This won’t stop her.”

“I think that if she does that, she may find the next one similarly damaged. And the one after that.”

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