Page 8 of Blood of the Fallen
Ila took them and set to work, applying a thick brown salve to Kall’s ruined eye and wrapping the bandages around his head to cover the gruesome wound.
“Will he…?” She seemed unable to ask the question that must be on everyone’s mind.
“I did all I could to restore his eye from what was left,” Bethel said. “If he wasn’t part of a triad, I would hold no hope for it, but maybe…” Her dark gaze roved over Maki and Novuk’s motionless shapes. It was up to them to lend Kall the strength needed to repair the damage.
“Maybe that’s why they are unconscious,” Ila ventured, echoing the same thoughts I’d had just a moment ago.
Bethel shook her head. “I don’t believe that’s the reason.” She sounded as if she had a theory of her own.
“Then why?” Ila asked.
“I sensed something fromhim.” The hateful way Bethel saidhimlet me know who she was talking about Val. “There was an unrestrained quality to his outburst of magic.”
“He isn’t…” My voice came out hoarse and brittle. I cleared my throat. “He isn’t supposed to have magic yet. He just became an apprentice.”
“Whatever it is,” Bethel continued, “it was strange. It was as if his magic was able to travel through the triad bond.”
Ila nodded as she finished tying a knot in Kall’s bandage. “And that’s why Maki and Novuk fell, too.”
“Has that ever happened before?” I asked.
Bethel shrugged.
“He got away,” Ila said, “and with that power.”
I hadn’t finished the job. He’d gone free, and it was my fault.
The witch shook her head. “No, I think he was able to do that because his magic was trapped for so long, and suddenly it had an out. But I don’t think he will be able to repeat what he did here. The Academy would’ve killed him if he was truly that powerful.”
She was right about that.
A branch snapped behind us. I whirled, eyes roving over the ground as I searched for my discarded knife.
Ila scented the air, her head lifting as her nostril flared. “It’s fine, Sheela. It’s Mother.”
I barely had time to register that she’d called me Sheela and had referred to the Chieftess as our mother when the imposing woman pushed past a thick bramble and entered the clearing, followed by five massive wolves.
She saw the triad on the ground, and the edge of panic sliced through her expression.
Her threat from a few nights ago rang in my ears,If you don’t do as I say, I’ll kill you myself. I’ll slit your throat so fast, you won’t know the warm stuff spilling around your neck is your own blood.
I wondered if she would slice my throat now. At least it would be far less painful than burning to a cinder.
CHAPTER 4
Slowly,theChieftess’sdarkgaze swept over the horrible scene that lay before her. The burned tree, the dead guards, and the fallen triad.
Quickly, she reigned in the flash of panic in her expression and composed her features into that stoic mask she always wore.
She walked to Ila and kneeled by her side. “What is the matter with them?”
Ila quickly explained Bethel’s theory about Val’s magic traveling through the triad bond. Chieftess Yura’s demeanor darkened.
“Is that possible, Mother?” Ila asked.
“If the magic is strong enough.” Her voice was quiet, cautious, and it made the fear I already felt seep deep into my bones.
The Chieftess’s hand, which rested on her bent knee, tightened. Her eyes flicked to me then quickly to Bethel, who gave her a nod. Something unspoken passed between them, and not for the first time, I felt the weight of many secrets in their exchange.
