BloodStone: Ice (Book 1)(Completed)

Chapter 6

"I believe we have done all that we can for this night." Quintus said as he placed a small piece of chocolate onto her tongue, waited for it to melt, then stroked her throat to make her muscles swallow. When he had finished with half of the bar he drew forth water into his hands and forced it also to go down. As it had before, it seemed to take on the appearance of mercury as it slid into her mouth. He wondered if it were being converted into some form of elemental energy that he did not understand.

Carefully he checked her wounds again. The small bite marks seemed to be bruising, but otherwise were closed and healed. Her skin seemed more supple, as Titus had pointed out, and she was not nearly as pale as she had been. Still, he could tell that her soul was not anchored to her body. Her great energy was just a small mass huddled somewhere deep inside. Picking up a few candles from the shelf next to where she lay, he motioned his brother to bring her down into the cellar. The sun would be rising very shortly and they needed to be below ground before it did. They both needed rest. It had been a very tiring night. Sadly, he knew that Titus would not be able to sleep restfully as long as he needed to keep her anchored. He would be fine for a few nights, but beyond that it could be dangerous. Also, the longer she stayed out of her body, the harder it would be for her to come back into it. Now, he feared too, that anchoring her back would revive those memories and knowledge hidden away from her. He did not know what that would do to her psyche. She seemed strong enough to handle the knowledge, but the human psyche was a precarious thing. And she was human. Not completely, but still human.

He lit the cellar softly with the candles. Titus laid her out on a pile of quilts he had scooped up under her. He watched as his brother gently rewrapped her small body in its covers and lay down next to her on the soft soil of the cellar floor. He kept her hand on his heart, and Quintus marveled at how tender his brother could be. He seemed to be holding her so reverently, almost as if he were holding something he truly cherished. For a moment, the memory came back to him of his twin's mirror self holding her tiny soul cupped in his hands. The words he had spoken had been so strange. How could she be their life and death? How could she be so important to them? They were so ancient and she was just a tiny newborn thing. It was true she held great power, and she probably had some great destiny, but how could it be their life and death. He thought back to the BloodStones in the jar. There were three of the last four drops in there now. Only the one remained. That was their death. They both knew that. But what was their life, and how did she connect with it?

He walked over to the spot he had chosen the night before. The soil was churned and her plants were completely destroyed. He frowned. Hopefully she would understand. Better to save her life than the plants though. He puzzled for a moment, trying to think back on something he had meant to ask his brother. Titus had been very frustrated with the situation of being inside his own mind. It had been amusing to feel his brother's annoyance at the whole idea. Still, he had handled it quite well, just as he always did.

"How did you know that she concealed something?" He cocked his head at his brother. "When she spoke first, you knew what she meant." He had been trying to understand the meaning of the single comment the being had said, and before he could comprehend, Titus had known. It had been a very complex situation.

"You called her Cella, and she replied C'ele. C'ele seemed to be a different pronunciation. I immediately thought of French because her ancestry made me think of French, or Old Gaul. Celer is to conceal in French. The conjugation could be pronounced very similar. It just seemed to make sense to me." Titus flashed a toothy grin at his brother in the candlelight. He had always been good with languages. Quintus shook his head.