The Elder Blood Chronicles – Book Three(77)

Damon nodded slowly, his eyes still on Finn. “Let me give you incentive to learn Finn. The sunlit world is about to be ripped apart and Death has been hoarding the souls of your wife’s allies. There have not been rebirths in those lands in years. Meanwhile her enemies have been breeding like rabbits. They are outnumbered and outgunned and if you don’t get your affairs in order their souls will be lost in the Darklands when they die. If you can manage to master your strengths you can spare some that might otherwise die. The power of life or death is quite literally in your fumbling hands right now.” His words began softly but gained volume with each breath until he was nearly shouting.

“Let me give you incentive that you might actually care more about,” War broke in with a faint smile. “If you can manage to contain your power, Fiona will show you a scry of Jala as a reward. With each lesson that you learn you can see another glimpse of the world above until you master that skill yourself,” he offered.

“That seems more like torment than reward,” Damon began but trailed off as he noticed the gleam in Finn’s eyes.

“A bite of food for a starving man,” War said watching Finn closely.

Finn pulled the memories back once more and focused with all his mind on everything that revolved around magic. Pieces of fragmented lessons flittered through his mind and he collected them quickly and sorted the information until he had something that bordered on useful. Closing his eyes he let out a soft breath and searched inside himself for the magical strength he had never had any use for. With a patience he had never known before, he gathered the power and carefully pulled it back. It took nearly all his focus to hold it in place, yet he did so without complaint. Looking up slowly he locked his eyes on the spirit of Fiona Veirasha that still stood in the open doorway. “Show me Jala,” he ordered through clenched teeth.

“Food for a starving man,” War repeated with a faint smile and nodded to Fiona. “Good luck girl, I’m sure you will need it,” he added, as he headed for the door.

“Your role here is extremely important, Finn. Do not forget that. Those in the sunlit world above depend on you now,” Damon said quietly as he, too, turned to go.

Finn ignored them both, his gaze still locked on Fiona as she hesitantly approached him. Grinding his teeth he forced the magic to remain locked safely away and nodded for her to continue. She stopped several feet back from him and held out both pale hands between them. The air stirred faintly and slowly an image began to take shape. His breath caught in his throat as he recognized Jala standing in her white coat, her arms wrapped tight about her. Valor stood just beyond her, his black and silver cloak pulled up against the snow buffeting the two of them. Everything surrounding them was shrouded in a blinding curtain of falling snow.

“Where are they?” Finn asked softly, his eyes searching the terrain for any landmarks he might know. He wasn’t familiar with Merro at all, but the place they stood looked nothing like Merro. Heavy snow rarely touched the southern lands and what they stood in resembled one of the northern blizzards.

“They stand on the border of Glis and Arovan,” Fiona informed him quietly, her attention focused more on him than the scry she held open.

“Why?” Finn asked. His breath caught again as Jala turned to look up at Valor causing her hood to fall back from her face. Dark circles hung under both of her violet eyes and she seemed far too pale. Her Bendazzi moved beside her and she rested a hand gently on his back. Jala’s face was normally so animated and filled with life. Her eyes had always gleamed with vibrancy and yet now she seemed so empty. The wind stirred a lock of her beautiful wine colored hair and she raised a hand to brush it away. In mute horror Finn stared at the mangled remains of her hand as it moved across her drawn face. Two of the fingers were gone completely and the rest of it looked little better.

“To save a life.” Fiona’s voice pulled his attention back from the image and the scry flickered out between them. “One that you could have spared had you more control over your power. She shouldn’t be where she is now. There is too much danger there. If you don’t learn swiftly she may be one of the lost souls roaming the Darklands very soon,” she added.

Finn nodded slowly, the last image of the scry still strong in his mind. Looking up he met Fiona’s gaze and nodded again more firmly. “Then teach me.”





Chapter 13





Glis





The wind tore at her coat as Jala struggled to blink the snow from her eyes. Valor moved carefully in front of her shielding her from the worst of the blizzard. Wrapping her arms tighter around herself she moved closer to Valor.