Page 100 of The Stone Secret
“I will be fine.”
But he didn’t look fine. “I think you used too much juice too quickly.”
“Then he needs to recharge,” Shar said.
Derek held out his hand, and I took it, noting the tingle that passed between our palms. “Stay close.”
“Always,” Derek said.
“We should keep moving.” Sharniza waved everyone forward. “Move. The extraction point shouldn’t be too far.”
“About a mile and a half,” Palia said. “We can make that in half an hour.”
“Easily,” Hawke agreed.
We set off with Palia and Ginia as our navigators.
“Anyone hurt?” Shar asked Hawke.
“Not seriously.”
I looked back, searching for Curi to find him helping Waxen along. The goyle had a wound on his abdomen which was slowly healing.
Curi locked gazes with me for a beat and gave me a short nod, letting me know he was all good.
“Takes longer than usual for grotesque-inflicted wounds to heal,” Hawke explained. “He’ll be fine in a few minutes.”
“We did good,” Touron said. “Real good.”
“That shield move was genius,” Saffe said.
But it had taken a chunk out of Derek’s energy levels. “How is everyone feeling after using their shields?”
“I’m good,” Shar said.
“Me too,” Touron added.
But Derek wasn’t. “Do your shields feel…depleted?”
Touron shook his head. “I don’t think so. I feel energized. Drawing from the elements helped.”
Hmmm…maybe this was the downside of having a sentient shield that existed outside of my body. Maybe it took longer for him to recharge because he was a separate entity. Maybeheneeded to draw from the elements.
“Derek, can you recharge by drawing from the air? From the storm that’s coming in?”
Derek looked up at the rapidly darkening storm clouds. “I don’t feel a connection to the storm. My connection is to you.”
And I’d fed off the storm like Yarrow and Levi had taught us, but it seemed it would take longer for that to filter to Derek.
Sharniza’s lips tightened. “Let’s hope that whatever we go up against next doesn’t require heavy shield use.”
“I think that was the shield test back there,” Palia said. “I’m pretty sure we all passed.”
The sky rumbled, and a flash of lightning lit up the clouds in the distance. “Great, I think it’s about to—” The heavens opened, dropping a sheet of water on our heads. “Great.”
We picked up speed, vigilant of the buildings around us—of the alleys and dark spaces. The sun hid, leaving us in gloom, our vision compromised by the heavy rain, auditory perception muted by the thundering sound of the rainstorm.
“Left at the intersection!” Palia called out.
