Page 38 of A Song of Air
“Vision impaired?” She tilted her head to the side, her lips turning up into a smile. The action made the jagged scars surrounding her eyes and the tops of her cheeks seem even more stark. “I know.”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“Really? That’s usually what everyone means. Then again, I guess you wouldn’t know that since you don’t knowme. It’s not very obvious.”
She stepped closer, skipping around the dead bodies on the ground. Basil sniffled and her attention cut to him.
“My name is Bryson Varik,” she offered with a smile. “Let’s get this net off you, yeah?”
Her arrows shot out, cutting at the net that kept them captive. A moment later, a gust of wind pushed it away and she stepped back quickly. Clay tossed the net aside, feeling instant relief as he pulled himself and Basil to a stand, stepping away from the contraption.
His body itched everywhere, yet he avoided clawing his nails down his skin.
Basil sniffled and righted himself before looking up at the woman. “I’m Thorne Basil Rhian.”
Clay put a hand on his shoulder, offering comfort. It seemed to relax Basil, as he leaned into him, wrapping his arms around his thigh.
“Nice to meet you,” the woman—Bryson—replied, smiling at Basil. It was disarming, how pretty she was. Just like it was disarming to see the white linked through the brown in her eyes. “Are you hurt?”
“N-no.”
“Good.”
“My name is Clay Valentino.”
Bryson smirked and the wind ruffled again, and it only confirmed what Clay had been thinking—feeling—this entire time.
She was the one they’d been looking for.
“You’re an Elemental, aren’t you?”
Bryson’s body tilted in his direction, and her smile was wide as she replied, “I am.”
Embers, ice, water, & air
The words echoed inBryson’s mind.
