Page 120 of The Eye of the Fifth
Naal cast invisibility around herself, Kyra and the rowboat. She recognised the hand movement almost instantly; she’d seen Naal perform the spell countless times now. A familiar, sticky sensation tingled her skin, obscuring them from the view of anyone or anythingthat might view them as a meal.
Kyra took out the scrunched up parchment Kawai had dropped last night from her breast pocket.
She skimmed the words, not really taking them in. Despite the events of the night before, she found herself deeply humbled by his kindness, his thoughtfulness. She should have been reading the notes intensely, searching for meaning in the research he’d painstakingly done for her. Instead, she found herself assessing his handwriting. The way none of the letters connected. He was certainly no literary master… his hand was awful.
For some reason it made her smile.
‘What is that?’ Naal asked.
Kyra stuffed it back into her pocket, promising herself she would properly scour through his notes as soon as she had the chance. ‘Nothing. Just a letter Kawai gave me. From… from before.’
The pity on Naal’s face made Kyra want to throw herself overboard. ‘You’ll see him again, Kyra.’
‘I don’t care if I don’t,’ she retorted back, slipping on that angry mask of indifference. It was either anger or damning sadness… anger was the easier choice.
‘Staying in a state of irritation will only hinder your progress with your Warden magic,’ Naal said sternly. ‘Anger, hate, doubt… they are all catalysts for failing to connect to your spirit, the very essence of your power.’
‘I don’t need reminding of how shit of a Warden I am, Naal,’ Kyra snapped. ‘I’ve already been told.’
‘Who said you-?’ Naal began, then realisation dawned on her pointed face. ‘Did Kawai tell you that?’
‘Yes,’ she said bitterly. ‘Right after I accidentally slipped into his memory.’
‘Ah,’ Naal said. ‘That is how you found out that Kano is in Nevatis.’
Shame, hot and thick, seeped into Kyra’s blood. She rubbed at her face with a hand, as if the movement might dispel the guilt stuck under her skin. ‘I didn’t mean to do it, Naal,’ she admitted. ‘I never would have forcefully obtained that information from him, even if Iknew Icoulddo it. I would never do that to anyone.’ She paused. ‘Did you know it was possible? For me to see people’s memories? Is it like being imperi?’
Naal cast a ball of light, letting it hover in the air between them. It sent comforting glowing ripples across the darkening water. ‘It is a power that only the Earth Warden has. The earth is constant. It holds infinite memories of times past. You can access those memories through physical touch of people, places and objects. Most things are made from the earth. Roheia is the Earth Goddess, the mother of creation, and you saw Kawai’s memory because your spirit was truly content in that moment. You weren’t forcing yourself to connect because you already were. Your guard was down, as was his, and you saw what your subconscious needed to see. And no,’ Naal continued. ‘It is nothing like being imperi. You are merely a spectator in the memories of time. An imperi’s power is control. Complete domination of another’s mind. An abominable power, in my opinion, and one that should never be used lightly.’
Kyra could not let it happen again. With him or anyone else. ‘When it happened, we were… intimate. Very intimate. How do I control it?’
Naal gave a smirk. ‘I think you know the answer.’
‘Practice,’ Kyra said, disgruntled, with a slight roll of her eyes.
Before Naal could give her a wise-ass reply, a greatwhooshingsound whipped through the air, and Kawai appeared out of nowhere between them, extinguishing the light in the chaos.
Kyra could do nothing but stare at him as he puffed from the effort of his leap.
‘I have to be there when you find him,’ he said quietly, speaking directly to Naal. ‘I want him to see me first. I want him to know that he’s safe.’
He glanced at Kyra then, and it was not the forgiveness she craved in his eyes, but bitter resignation.
‘As you wish,’ Naal said with a small nod, completely unfazed, as though she’d been expecting him. ‘Sit down and hold on tight. And when we arrive in Nevatis… I will do the talking.’
Kawai obeyed, sitting between them. He deliberately avoided Kyra’s gaze. As though she no longer existed to him.
But it didn’t make her aggrieved with guilt this time. It just pissed her off. If he wasn’t going to believe her innocence in this, then he could stew on it all he wanted. She would not beg for his forgiveness.
‘Hold on,’ Naal warned them one last time, before creating a gust of wind so strong that it made the little rowboat soar, gliding so fast it barely skimmed the water’s surface. Had Naal not given the warning, Kyra was sure she would have been spluttering for breath way back somewhere in the Birlissus ocean by now.
It was like that for a time, a couple of hours or so. Faster than any ship could sail, or any bird could fly. Kyra’s face was covered in sea salt spray and streaked with her own tears, the wind harsh enough to keep her eyes in a constant state of watering.
And then finally,finally,the boat’s speed slowed to a steady halt. Kyra peered at Naal. Not a hair on her head nor a feather on her wings was out of place.
As the rippling water stilled beneath them, so did any sound. The crescent moon was the only source of light, a tiny sliver of gold in the sky, shedding its thin reflection to the silky ocean below.
Amidst the black water and sky, it was unfathomably eerie.
