Page 14 of Of Stars and Lightning
“Cas?” Alix strode past to stand next to him. “What happened?”
“I’ve never seen a Mind Slayer play with tangible illusions,” Cas said, a muscle in his jaw twitching. “But this one managed to construct one.”
Behind her, Sawyer said, “They don’t. Their illusions are only visual.”
Standing, Cas wiggled his fingers, the substance he retrieved from the floor shimmering in the moonlight. “Apparently not.”
Four
SHE WAS THEIR QUEEN
THE STRANGERS DECIDEDto only answer two of the myriad of questions Sol asked on their walk back to the Hound. The first response was confirmation the four of them were Light Magic Wielders. To Sol’s annoyance, they didn’t provide further information on the topic. The second one was that the Mind Slayer they encountered had been a startling anomaly.
Sol asked if the Jinn lived amongst them and if the human race, as a collective, was just ignorant, which prompted a laugh from Nina before she responded.
The Earth Caller explained that Jinn were typically confined to their island, a lonely, deserted piece of land off the coast of Rimemere, where the sinister gate to their world lingered. Alix added they also typically dwelled around Rimemere, drawn to its magic.
Sawyer commented that the Jinn were now being found all over Erriadin, from the Lower kinds all the way to the Mind Slayers, which was apparently the branch of Jinn no one enjoyed encountering.
With each kernel of information, Sol’s nausea increased. They were almost to the Hound when she dared ask a final question, her chest in knots.
“Why are the Mind Slayers the worst ones? Aren't they all bad?”
They stopped at the beginning of the dusty, cobblestone walkway, the candlelight from within the guest rooms illuminating their path.
Alix’s face tensed, his sharp features outlined amber from the reflections. “They are experts in deception and illusions and can mess with the mind. The other Lower ones aren’t as cunning.”
“Not only that,” Sawyer added, tossing her braid over her shoulder. “They enjoy making their victims suffer. The more confused and terrified they are, the better. Sick bastards.” Sol’s stomach dropped.
The Fire Wielder frowned in response. “Please don’t throw up again.”
Sol bypassed the group to place her forehead on the double doors, inhaling the woody scent until her dizziness subsided. These creatures were all over Erriadin. We’re here, in Yavenharrow, where Leo and Lora and all her people lived.
The thought jolted her back to the present.
She shoved the doors open, remembering her aunt was meant to meet her inside. If Lora had been outside during the attack, if she had somehow gotten caught in the crossfire??—
Her aunt rose from a worn leather loveseat, a mug in one hand and book in the other. She blinked her lovely brown eyes causing wrinkles of age to crease her forehead as she examined what Sol could only assume was her appearance.
Lora said, “Gods, what is that all over you, Sol?”
Sol ran and crushed her in a hug. Lora was almost a foot shorter and comfortably plump, a combination that made her endlessly popular and approachable. More than that, though, it made her very soothing.
Sol dropped her head on her aunt’s shoulder and sunk into her warmth. “Lora, are you okay? Did you hear what happened? Did you see it?” Her voice was frantic and laced with panic.
Lora patted her back. “Hear what, dear?”
Before Sol could spill the night's horrors, her aunt chuckled beneath her. “You four were supposed to wait for me.”
Footsteps sounded behind her as the Wielders walked into the Hound, chairs scraping across the floor’s wooden panels as they presumably sat.
“We thought we had it handled,” Alix mused. “But then she decided to run.”
Sol whirled around, lips pursed and mind racing. “I don’t think my reaction was inappropriate.”
Her aunt patted her back. “We taught her well to be wary of strangers.”
Sol looked from person to person, from Nina’s assessing gaze to Cas rolling his arm as if in pain. Sawyer had her feet on a table, and she tugged at her braid with a bored look.
