Bleeding Ink

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Dessa had used magic to go from one place to another before. Not her own magic, of course, but rather her parents'. Though Lyv and Jai had no dark magic within them anymore, they were still sensitive to the shadows, just like they always had been, and could use them to go from one part of their land to another.

This...this was different, though. It wasn't like stepping into those welcoming shadows, feeling their caress around her and how they gently held her. Instead, it was like she was being ripped in two, thrown this way and that as the air was pulled straight from her lungs. She couldn't even scream. All she could see was darkness, then pinpoints of light as she was flung through space with no destination predetermined.

Not when this was the first portal Dessa had created herself.

So, she squeezed her eyes closed, willing everything to stop spinning as the wind howled in her ears, and yet one face came to mind.

Elys.

He knew. He knew and he didn't tell her a thing. Not what to expect, not what was going to happen. He only thought of telling her what would happen after, how he and Cleo and her mother would help her with her magic.

If it didn't end up killing her first.

Dessa landed with such force it knocked the remaining air from her lungs. Dropped from a dozen feet in the air right down onto a flat, stone surface.

It wasn't just the sound of the air leaving her, but also the cracking of bones, the sharp pain in the back of her head as it smacked against the ground. Stars burst in front of her eyes, blocking out the blue sky above her, the bright yellow sun, the puff white clouds that dotted across it. Everything, everything hurt and yet she still couldn't move.

A feeling so unfamiliar spread through her. Magic. Healing magic that swept through her every limb, healing every facture, making every scrap and bruise disappear in a matter of seconds.

Her own magic.

And then, just as she was able to finally suck in a breath, two familiar faces appeared above her, though it took her a moment to recognize them as everything slowly stopped spinning.

Before Dessa bolted up onto her hands and knees as her breakfast from that morning made a reappearance.

A male voice shouted over the shocked murmurs of the others. "Someone get us some water! Now! Don't just stand around like a bunch of idiots!"

Gentle hands were rubbing circles on her back as she heaved even more as a soft, soothing voice sounded in her ear. "Dessa? Can you hear me?"

More voices. More shouts that ricocheted in her already pounding head.

"Isn't that...?"

"Where the hell did she come from?"

"Go get the queen. Now."

The other person who'd been beside her gently reached forward to take her face in his hands as she sat up on her knees, stomach still reeling. It took her a moment to focus on him, but then Balian appeared.

"Dessa?" he pleaded, blue eyes sweeping over her every feature. "What the hell happened? How did you...?"

The sweat that dampened his golden hair and beaded along his temples from the morning training session rolled down the side of his face, but his hands were cool against her flushed cheeks. It was one single drop Dessa was focusing on then as her magic continued to rage inside her, finally free of its constraints.