Page 71 of Ecliptic

I laughed, shaking my head. I would have Pia and Xala, the ladies who put my wardrobe together, lend Maddock a helping hand. Looking good or not, he was still wearing a prison uniform. And if I truly thought about it, I didn’t want someone who shared a piece of my bond stuck in a cell. “I’ll see if I canfind you some proper clothes and maybe a better place to sleep if you don’t push it.”

Maddock smiled as if I had just given him the world. “Finally, some appreciation.”

Rowen chuckled, then turned his attention back to me, running his knuckles along the back of my arm. “Do you want to try a Hymma joining?”

I shook my head. “Takoda said our emotions affect the Hymma. You might sway the results of where I go. It’s something I need to do alone. I can feel it.”

“The last time you said that, you ended up hitching this guy to our wagon,” he replied, jabbing his thumb at Madds.

“I’ll be careful,” I said for the second time today. My panic attacks no longer resulted in lightning storms, death, and shocking people, which was a relief, but the impending war still weighed heavily on my shoulders.

Did the fate of Luneth truly rest on the state of my mental health? I prayed to the spirits that it didn’t because if it did, my mind might drag us all down with it.

26

The next morning, after breakfast and a quick chat with Pia and Xala, I went straight to work on Rowen’s plan. He was hopeful that I could infuse our weapons with the Alcreon Light. But after trying short blades, long swords, and arrows, I was no closer to strengthening our weapons against the Voro-Kai.

“It’s not working,” I said, dropping the knife to the table. We were in one of the weapon storerooms filled to the brim with pointy objects. The dome was bathed in the afternoon sun. The golden rays bared down through the wooden structure and onto my brow. A breeze had yet to pick up, and I was hot, frustrated, and tired.

The weight of the situation threatened to collapse my ribcage, just like the Crypts I dreamt about each night. The war, the prophecies, and the threats from Erovos loomed closer and closer.

“I’m sorry I didn’t have time to discuss this plan with you first,” Rowen said, sensing my stress. “The idea just came to me, and I had to get Driskell off your back. He was about to start making plans regarding your body and how to wield it. I had to sway the conversation and keep you in control.”

“It was a great plan, in theory,” I said, charging the Light into Rowen’s ax, but the steel heated and glowed briefly before dying out. “The Light goes in for a few seconds but then dissipates. It won’t hold. None of these materials are strong enough.”

After trying twenty different blades made from varying metals and using different strategies, I finally gave up, slumping in exhaustion.

“You look like shit,” Maddock said, appearing in front of me, wearing new clothes. Pia and Xala had done an excellent job dressing him in brown pants and a loose, blue linen shirt that brought out the warmth in his eyes.

He ran a hand through his jet-black hair, sweeping back the strands that had fallen into his face. He swung a leg over the bench and joined me at the table.

A piece of my agitated bond settled as Maddock appeared in the room,

“I’ve never felt better,” I said sarcastically, rubbing my temples.

“I thought my new clothes would make you happy. Pia and Xala have excellent taste,” he said, modeling his new outfit for me.

“You do clean up nice. Although the incarcerated look was growing on me,” I chuckled half-heartedly.

His eyes traced my face before roving over the piles of weapons. “Why don’t I give it a try?”

“You?” I asked incredulously. “My Light is your Light. If I can’t do it, you can’t do it.” Rowen shot me a stare, and I remembered I said I would go easier on him. I swept my hand over the broad array of weapons. “Be my guest.”

“Careful,” Rowen said, leaning against a weapon rack with casual yet deadly grace. “She’s competitive.”

Madds picked up a small blade and looked at me with a cocky grin that made a single dimple appear on his left cheek.

His broad hands became aglow, and my eyes widened. Watching Maddock wield the power he had stolen from me was marvelous yet jarring.

The metal went alight and held and then dulled back to normal.

I let out a breath, shocked he’d been able to hold the light longer than me.

I couldn’t let him hold the record for the longest-lit weapon. So with a newfound fire, I doubled my efforts.

Madds and I kept our techniques to ourselves as we battled to be the first to make an Alcreon Light blade. Sweat dripped from our brows as we tried method after method with no luck.

Rowen straightened his posture. “We will find another way. Or do you two want to keep battling it out?”

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