Ghost Fields - Book One of The Fields of Mendhavai Trilogy

Chapter Twenty One

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

The only sounds when I came to, face down in the prickly dry grass, was my harsh breathing, the pounding of my heart and blood rushing through my ears. Trying to bring my hand to my face, I found that I was pinned to the ground by a warm heavy body. I wiggled, trying to free myself and when the gritty noise of my scuffling broke the otherwise complete and utter silence, I began to panic.

Be calm, someone soothed, and peace settled in my mind. I stopped struggling. The weight on my back slowly rolled off of me to the side and I heard a groan.

Torsten. He’d been behind me when the energy barrier exploded. Afraid he might be hurt, I rolled to my back and snapped my eyes open and I regretted it the instant the white radiance of the nearly full moon sent shooting pain through my skull. I threw my arm over my face, lifting it slowly, a finger’s breadth at a time and letting the light seep in little by little until my eyes grew used to it.

How long have we lain exposed here? I wondered. I rolled my head to the west and there was still a haze of light behind the mountains, so it was not long after sunset now.

Looking around me, I pushed myself up on my elbows. No one was standing, not a blade of grass moved, there wasn’t even a breeze. Apethna have mercy! I rolled onto my side then picked myself up so I was on my knees. My head thrummed, pulsing as if my brain were trying to escape my skull.

“Goddess, but that hurts,” I mumbled, rubbing my forehead as I looked to the side. I reached over and put a hand on Tonsten's arm that he, too, had thrown over his sensitive eyes. We were the only two things stirring for as far as the moonlight allowed me to see.

“Torsten,” I whispered. I watched as the green light welled up from the ground around me, shivered over my skin and flowed down my arm into him. It surrounded him in a cocoon of light for a tiny moment and then flowed back into me; my headache disippated as it faded. Torsten raised his arm gingerly from his face and turned those soft brown eyes to me. He smiled.

“Rinda.” His physical voice was as serene and golden as the one in my mind and I returned his smile. We need to check the others, he said, and I nodded.

We both clambered to our feet, steadying ourselves on each other. The relief I felt with his presence in the frightening silence was nearly unbearable. I wrapped my arms around his waist and felt his hands gently smooth the tunic over my back. He bent his head and kissed the top of my hair.

We gazed around us in the darkness. It was as if the rest of the world had come to a halt. Neither a person nor creature yet shifted, even after we had disturbed the stillness with words and movement. The ravens lay scattered about the fields, as unconscious or dead as those they’d intended to feast on. Moonlight glinted off their blue-black feathers and from the armor of the still bodies. It reflected eerily in the pools of blood spilled throughout the field.

“Torsten?” I whispered, worried at the state of things. I looked up at him and stilled at the look in his eyes which I’d only seen in one man before. A soft, hungry look of wanting and determination. He put a finger under my chin, lifting it so my head tilted back and then bent his head down so our eyes met. He carefully brushed his lips over mine. He hestitated, the fear of rejection he had learned during his time as the hideous Quilbai. But I felt a hunger within that matched his. Though I was confused and astounded by it, I saw only that the world had changed around me; that my life had been altered this day. What would tomorrow bring? Grateful to be alive, to have survived, I pushed myself up on my toes, pressing my mouth to his.

“Rinda,” he murmured against my lips, tightening his arms around me. Then he stiffened and stepped back.

No, Rinda, that was wrong. I apologize. He sighed. ‘Tis not love. Only a connection on a deeper level than you’ve ever felt before. Our energies have melded, Torsten explained, smiling wistfully at me. This is a common mistake my people make when going through mage training.