From the Ashes (The Elder Blood Chronicles, #3)(84)
“Squeamish for a predator, aren’t you?” Jala teased as she neatly chopped the end off the stump of her second finger.
Tearing apart prey is one thing. Self-mutilation is quite another, Marrow grumbled back in defense.
“I want my fingers back Marrow and I can’t heal what has already been healed. It has to be an untouched wound,” Jala explained calmly as she focused on the magic once more. Rebuilding a bone was beyond most healers, but Jala had no doubts that she could do it. Rose had trained her on the essential magic needed to do it. She simply hadn’t had opportunity to try it before now.
The sound of the door opening behind her nearly broke her concentration, but she kept her focus and willed the fingers to grow. Slowly the pale white of bone become visible at the ends of her fingers as her magic took effect.
“Interesting and disgusting at the same time,” Jail said in a mellow voice as he crossed the room. “Don’t bother with answering, we will talk when you are finished,” he added as he sat at the table opposite her and regarded the scattered shards of crystal and the blood soaked dagger.
Jala waited until she was sure the healing spell was fully in place then glanced up at him and smiled faintly. “I missed my fingers,” she explained with a shrug. Her eyes moved past him to the large package he had brought with him. It was roughly six feet in length and wrapped fully in brown paper. “Might I ask?” she began and nodded her head toward the package.
“A gift for you from Valor and Sovann. Valor crafted it. Sovann added the finishing touches and then asked me to deliver it,” Jail replied with a faint smile. Turning slightly in his chair he started to hand it to her but paused as he glanced at the still healing hand. With a sheepish smile he shrugged and sighed. “Shall I open it for you or would you like to wait?”
“Open it please,” Jala said and then paused. “May I ask why they didn’t deliver it themselves? It’s not that I mind a social visit from you of course, but are they avoiding me?”
“Valor is at work in the forges night and day trying to replace his sword and armor and Sovann…” Jail’s voice trailed off and he glanced up from where he had been unwrapping the paper. “Well, Sovann feels that it is painful for you to see him given how much he looks like Finn. He is giving you time before he visits,” Jail finished in a softer voice. Looking back down, he continued with the unwrapping. Slowly the form of a black staff became visible. Typically, the weapons were made of basic wood. This one however had the sheen of metal about it and was covered from top to bottom in golden runes.
Jala nodded slowly and leaned back fully in her chair. “He is right you know,” she said softly and frowned at the admission. It was hardly Sovann’s fault that he looked so much like his brother, but emotions rarely had logic to them. “I don’t see how it is going to get better with him avoiding me though. It will be something that I will have to overcome.”
Jail nodded as he tore the last of the paper from the staff and handed it over to her. Taking it carefully in her good hand Jala nodded her thanks and admired the gift. The top of the staff was crowned with a large deep purple globe that appeared to be glass though she couldn’t be sure. Gold runes lined the staff as well as mana stones. The sheer amount of detail that had gone into the piece was astounding. It looked more like a work of art to her eyes than anything she would ever actually learn to fight with. “Is it for when I am at council?” she asked hesitantly as she traced a finger over one of the gem-like mana stones.
Jail smiled and shook his head. “It is for when we are kicking nine levels of hell out of Avanti,” he said with a wink. “Look. See the gold tracings in the center of the staff?” he asked as he indicated the area with his hand. Jala nodded and he smiled wider. “Put one hand above that and one below and twist.”
Jala raised an eyebrow in question but did as directed. The twin parts of the staff rotated in her hand and the runes on the side shifted from bright gold to a dull grey. “Is that Barllen?” she asked softly as she stared at the staff in amazement.
“It is. This weapon was solely crafted for you Jala. With that much Barllen you should be able to absorb any spell thrown at you with the staff and only you can access the energy stored in Barllen. I’m truly not sure how Valor managed it. Typically, only commoner smiths will work with Barllen as the metal drains magic whenever you touch it,” Jail explained. He smiled and carefully adjusted his tunic before leaning back to watch her.
“But when I twist it back,” Jala began as she twisted the staff once more to show the gold runes. “You can’t sense any Barllen on it at all. It must have lead lining in it,” she finished as she stood and lifted the staff, testing its weight. “And it’s really not that heavy at all,” she said after a moment, looking to Jail with delight on her face. “This is truly amazing, Jail. I can see runes of protection all over this thing. Sovann and Valor must have worked day and night to finish it so quickly.”
“Then you should probably thank them, and be sure and let Sovann know that you don’t want him to avoid you while you are at it,” Jail returned with a faint smile.
Jala nodded her agreement and started to speak but fell silent as a flash of light through the window caught her eye. Frowning she moved closer and peered in the direction she had seen it. A long moment passed before she caught it again, the gleam of sunlight on metal.