Page 69 of Take No Prisoners
"No. Because she's a spectral weaver like you."Vadim's laugh sounded more genuine than any Niall had heard yet. Niall laughed with him, and it was even more of a relief to hear his grandmother laugh, too."Elder Beatrice, please tell your grandson you're not dying."
"I am not dying any more than anyone else,"she said."Less than Klaus, though I think he can be healed sooner rather than later. Coryn dredged some memories about Martiz I would rather have forgotten. I'm sorry for what he did to you, Vadim. I apologize if I've never said those words to you before."
Vadim swallowed hard but said nothing.
"How can I free you?"Niall asked.
"First, you must learn to harness ice and fire."She held out her hand, and he felt the cold as she formed an ice crystal the size of his fist."Can you sense it?"
He did, but he didn't know how to harness the weave.
"Watch again."More slowly, she weaved the shimmering light until it slowed, the temperature dropping with it. Unlike the fury that fueled his wind and the calm that controlled his water, ice was pure sadness, as though every good thing in the world ceased to exist. He could slow time, freeze matter, and deliver an endless winter to their lands.
Niall had only seen snow once on a rare trip south of Landale with a wagon train when he was a child. He'd loved the beauty of giant flakes falling from the sky, but now he only felt their utter hopelessness. He pulled on the cold within him and solidified the ice particles in the air. Snowflakes swirled around them.
"That's it,"his grandmother praised.
"What is this?"Vadim asked."Snow? I've never seen an ice weaver create a snowstorm."
"It's beautiful."his grandmother sounded as awed as Niall felt.
"It's not an act of war."Vadim grinned."I didn't know ice weavers could create anything so innocent."
"It's ice,"his grandmother said."That's all that matters. Now, for fire."
Fire sprang from her palm so quickly, it seemed as though she manifested it without a weave.
"Fire was my first and strongest element,"she said."It's also the most volatile and hardest to control, which is why it's hard for me to slow it down for you."
"I have an idea,"Niall said."How long can we wait before Coryn ...He didn't know how to describe what the general had done by taking over his grandmother's body, let alone how to ask if it would happen again.
"If I had to guess, she's arranging passage from Stony Eel Island,"Vadim said."She doesn't have as many wind weavers as I did, but she can act as one, herself. She could be here within the week. We may have bought some time by hiding Beatrice here, but she's not stupid. She knows where we are."
Niall hoped his idea would work, and quickly, but first, he needed to learn how to harness three more elements. None of them were easy, and Niall was far from proficient in any of his skills, but with his grandmother's help, he was willing to unleash the full torrent to break the trap.
"Show me how to harness earth."
If water was calming, earth was stable. It was difficult to find that stability within his shifting psyche, but Niall thought of Stan. He was unflappable, even when Tovey shouted at him for damaging their shared wind weaves. Niall had wondered if the man had fallen and hit his head too hard as a child, but now he recognized the deep grounding magic within him.
Niall harnessed his own stable core, wrapping it into a weave and pulling one of the rope coils from the cell's cot through Efren's water weave and into their circle.
"You shouldn't be able to move the ropes with any kind of magic,"Vadim said, his voice a mere whisper in Niall's mind."That's astounding."
"That's a true balance of power,"his grandmother said.
"I don't have balance,"Niall said."I am still missing fire magic, and I don't know how I harnessed my life force to save Renald."
"Knowing how to use all eight powers and finding your perfect balance are separate skills,"she said."You already have a strong sense of balance by instinct. I can show you life magic. Vadim taught you death weaves yesterday. Is that right?"
"Aye."
"Then you already know the push and pull of life and death."
He glanced at Vadim, who paled."What does she mean?"
Vadim shook his head."I don't know."
She held up her hand and reached for Vadim."Both life and death have strong narcissistic tendencies. When you have a balance, you have empathy. Vadim, you used empathy to create your link with Klaus."
