Frey (The Frey Saga, #1)(52)

The next morning, the group seemed in unusually high spirits. I had no idea why the mood had shifted, but I enjoyed the laughter and joking anyway.

We rode past a small waterfall and the crashing water made me curious. I figured Ruby was my best bet. Chevelle gave me no answers and though hers were sometimes cryptic, I knew she’d been reading books on magic. “Ruby, is there a way to harness the power of things… like that waterfall?”

Grey was riding beside us and I noticed him look at me like I was an idiot. I saw that look all the time, but I never really got used to it.

“Not that I know of,” she said. She got her mischievous grin then. “Though I did read once that there was a way to steal life force and use it for yourself.”

Chevelle shot her a stern rebuke from the front of the pack.

She continued as if excusing herself, “But it was merely a fairy’s tale and probably not entirely accurate.” Then, in a lower voice, “It is fun to speculate, though.”

I mirrored her low tone as I questioned her, “How would you steal life force?”

“Well, like I said, probably not accurate… but you would have to take the other's life in order to gain their power. Take it in a specific manner.” She noticed Chevelle glaring at her and overemphasized the act of clamping her mouth shut.

I waited until he turned back around before I whispered, “Ruby, did you bring the magic book with you?”

She smiled.

“Can I read it?”

She winked at me.

I started to smile back at her but before I could process the notion into action, Chevelle was in front of us, his horse blocking my way. I was almost thrown from my saddle when we stopped to avoid running into him. He was angry again. “Frey.”

“What?”

“Do you remember the last time you used a spell?”

I recalled the smell of burning flesh as the maps cut into my palms. “Yes,” I said, defeated.

He looked at Ruby and she understood his direction. There would be no magic study for me.

But I did know she had it. Maybe I’d be able to steal it…

As I wandered around my thoughts, I started to fall behind the group. The higher we rose up the mountain, the rockier it became, preventing me from seeing much of anything interesting ahead while a heavy mist kept me from looking down the mountain, which I’d found I didn’t like anyway - it was unsettling. So, I decided to practice as we rode. I closed my eyes and sank partially into my horse, keeping alert enough in my own mind to hear if anyone was speaking to me.

It was there, leading my horse and seeing through his eyes, that the pain struck. It came on instantaneously, hitting me like a blade, cutting, shearing. It was accompanied by sharpness of sound as well. My ears, not the horse's but my own, were in excruciating pain. Suddenly I felt the horse drop, its head smacked to the ground and I watched, even then, through his eyes as he hit. Its thoughts stilled, not panicked as my own. I didn’t understand what was happening, couldn’t quite form a thought.

I yearned to retreat completely into the horse, run from the agony, but the severity of it tore me back and kept me there in my own head. It felt and sounded like metal bands inside my mind, inside my ears, screeching. I hadn’t opened my eyes again and now I couldn’t. I couldn’t find my body; I wanted to bring my hands to my head, cover my ears… something. But I couldn’t feel anything aside from the pain in my mind.

I focused all of my energy on finding some feeling somewhere and finally, though the terror was unrelenting, I felt my body again; knew it was there. It still didn’t respond, but I knew I hadn’t fallen with the horse. Something had caught me. Not the ground… not a rock. Someone was carrying me. The horror must have stretched time, making the few seconds seem like minutes.

I struggled to bring myself back. I could hear nothing but a piercing squall. I willed my eyes open, though only a fraction. I was looking at the back of a horse, slung over someone’s shoulder. My eyes closed once more as the pain doubled and I lost my body for a moment. I concentrated until I got it back and then realized I was bouncing. I worked my eyes again, using every ounce of control I had left. I was on a horse, running. Not my own. Chevelle was holding me in front of him, my body limp and useless. I fought to focus on more but was overtaken by pain. We were running… away?

I could control nothing but my mind and that just barely. As my eyes closed again, I reached out and found my horse as it lay motionless on the ground, my Steed. He wasn’t dead. I asked him to stand and tried to impress upon him to follow. I hoped it had worked as I faded into blackness.





Chapter Fifteen


Fortress





My mind regained consciousness very slowly. I was hit with blurry images first, then they became dreams. Eventually the dreams were clearer, though they didn’t make much sense. After a time, it occurred to me the problem was the images were mixing with the wrong sounds… real sounds. Panicked sounds.

I thought I recognized Chevelle’s voice, I tried to focus on it. It was filled with agony as he spoke. “Frey.” I felt something on my face, a warm, light touch. Lips?

I gasped, shocked at the idea someone might have been kissing me. I felt the air as those surrounding me moved in response. I forced my eyes open and found Ruby, Steed, and Chevelle. They looked for a moment as if they were suffering my pain… and then I realized the pain was gone, the siren was silenced. I breathed deep, relieved. Their faces relaxed, relief washing over them… though not entirely. I noticed their postures then, stiff, alert, almost their training stances. I started to raise my head, find the source of the danger.