Page 172 of The Eye of the Fifth
It surged through every pore, lighting the darkness that threatened to take Gedeon away. It balanced the empty black, gave it purpose, gave it meaning, gave itlife.
Then Kyra soared down the vines of her earth magic, reaching for the deepest part of him, the core of him that was becoming untethered to the world.
She willed her vines to snake around his soul, an ebbing light that was desperately holding on to his physical body, and pulled him away from the clutches of death.
The raw powers of sun and earth in the hands of Kyraena Daeiros.
Gedeon’s fire began to subside, the heat drawing closer. But with the enormous effort to wield her Warden magic, the protective ward around her began to fail.
Flames caressed her arm, and she screamed in agony as it burnt. But she didn’t break the hold.
Gedeon was coming back to his body, to himself. Those withdrawing flames were drawing back to their master, no longer out of control, no longer free from their mortal conduit with nowhere to go.
Kyra’s arm was on fire now. The stench of burning flesh seared her nostrils. But she couldn’t break the hold, not until-
The flames sputtered out completely.
Kyra’s eyes flew open just as Gedeon sagged to one side. She went with him, unable to hold him up as she gasped for air, not daring to look upon the mangled mess that was her arm.
Her power was spent, mortal and Warden magic alike gutted to nothing. Body barely able to do anything but simply breathe.
But Gedeon… he was breathing too. That was colour, the beautiful rosy pink colour oflife,blooming on his cheeks.
His eyes cracked open. Stars sparkled once more.
And Kyra smiled before exhaustion swept her away.
???
Naal.
‘You did not tell me about the curse,’ Naal said, surveying her Second with measured calm, though it did not reflect how she truly felt.
Neither of them had slept. Both Earth and Fire Warden were resting in separate beds in Maida’s chambers, the former’s arm wrapped in ointment-covered cloth for the severe burn underneath. The one that would never heal.
The latter, though still unconscious and exhausted, appeared utterly unharmed.
‘I did not,’ Maida admitted. ‘You had much on your mind already. Gedeon and I were dealing with it.’
‘That was not for you to decide,’ Naal bit. ‘You should have told me.’
‘Would you have done something differently?’
‘Evidently yourdealing with itdid not work. He could have destroyed the entire city.Again.’
‘What would you have done to rid him of the curse, that I had not tried?’ Maida challenged.
‘Besides the point, Maida,’ Naal said through gritted teeth. ‘Had I not been there, the ice would have melted and the city would have been flooded. The snow may have shifted, even. The very landscape of this mountain may have been compromised.’
‘So, I ask you, what would you have done to prevent it?’ Maida pushed again. Bold and brazen, qualities Naal usually admired in her Second.
Now they were the ultimate frustration.
‘Sent him away!’ Naal snapped. ‘Locked him in the ice cell again. Anything to stophim from harming anyone else.’
Maida’s expression hardened. ‘That curse was placed on him by his own brother. He could not control the effects it had on him, and you want to punish him for it?’
Naal narrowed her eyes. ‘You harbour a fondness for the boy.’
