The Raven and the Wraith Book 2 (Completed!)

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 25

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 25

The library was full of shelves, as I had expected. But the shelves were not full of books, they were full of rings. Gold, white gold, and silver, they all glittered with identical, dark red rubies. Talia noted my confused expression as I looked around.

"You do not have libraries in your realm?"

"We have libraries, but they're full of books, not rings."

Talia looked vaguely concerned. "Buuhks?"

"Yeah. Pages of paper with words written on them, all gathered together."

Talia shook her head. "I have never heard of any such things."

I shrugged. Another seemingly random difference between my realm and this place was not surprising.

"So...what are the rings for?"

"Reading..." Talia said, looking like I had just asked what a shovel was for.

I pulled a ring down and examined it closely. The deep red of the ruby was fascinating, tiny facets of crimson light flickering deeper and deeper the more I looked into it.

Talia snatched it from my hand, her mouth set in a thin line.

"Do not do such a thing! Do you wish to Blend with this ring?!"

Her harsh tone was surprising, but so was the dull headache the pounced on me the moment I no longer held the ring.

"What? What just happened?"

She sighed at me. "You're like a child. A dangerous child."

I folded my arms and waited. At least I knew how to be a patient child.

"The rings are made of the very Power of this realm. To study them, to send your thoughts down into them, is to Blend your lifeforce with the Power inside the ring. It would consume you, if you were to continue. To read a ring you simply slip it on your finger."

She held out the ring, which I warily eyeballed. I was no longer so ready to touch the thing again. She smiled at my apprehension and slipped the ring on her finger, waving her hand around casually.

"See? It's not something to be fearful of."

"Doesn't look like you're reading, though."

She closed her eyes and I saw a faint, sparkling red aura flickering on her eyelids.

"Now I'm reading." She opened her eyes and held the ring out to me.

"Ready to try it?"

I took an unconscious, half-step back from it, wary of any of the magic here.

"Probably best if I don't."

Talia had noticed my wariness, and she smiled at me. It was a familiar smile, somehow. A mother's patient look. So much like my own mother, it reached right past my defenses and ripped the coldest memories right up into the forefront of my thoughts. It made me feel off balance and defensive.

She narrowed her eyes as she saw me take another half-step away from her.

"I'm not going to hurt you, or force you to do anything you do not want to do."

I shook my head and took a deep breath. I suddenly felt a wave of frustration pounce on me as I considered how lost and unsure I felt here.

"Why am I here?"

Talia met my level question with a raised eyebrow.

"Your mood shifts as fast and as unpredictable as Kaviks did. You came here, I'm assuming, of your own will. So perhaps you should be asking yourself that question."

I knew the answer, but it told me nothing. I had come here with Kiera to bring the Shadowfall back to where it belonged. To restore balance between the two realms. But where? How? And most importantly, who? I was convinced Talia was entwined in this in some way.

"Why did the Cha'el scream and bow like that to me when I stared down your Kahlraugh?"

"Do you know what the Kahlraugh are?"

"I assume they're your mounts here. You use them for transportation, and most likely you use them in war."

Talia was quiet for a few moments, considering me and what I'd said. Then she leaned forward, her tilted, fierce eyes locked with mine.

"You stared down my Kahlraugh. You saw into its eyes, you saw into its heart. Look into my eyes the same way, tell me what you see."

I felt a nearly overwhelming urge to lean away from her, the force of her presence and the raw, primal power of her will sending my battle instincts into a frenzy. I clamped my teeth together and pushed those instincts down, and stared into her eyes.

After a few seconds I began to feel a bit foolish. Her burning, unblinking gaze was beyond unsettling, it was beginning to shake me in ways I had never felt before. And I was struck by the thought that her eyes were almost exactly like her Kahlraughs.

I saw the moment she realized I was feeling uncomfortable. The corners of her eyes began to crinkle up as she struggled to hold back a grin.

"Are you laughing at me? Was this little exercise a set up to see if you could make me feel even more unsettled?" I tried to sound upset but couldn't hold back the laughter in my voice. She was an impossible mix of dangerous, unknown predator, and gentle mother, and I found that I had begun to enjoy this, despite my frustrations and nervousness. She was too much like my mother for me to hold anything against her.

"You are such a youngster still. So much to learn. But did you see the connection to the Kahlraugh in my eyes?"

I nodded. "You...you are cousins, or related in some way, to the Kahlraugh."

"Yes, that's one way to describe it. Rahvin, you're so young, to be on your own. Where is your family?"

I blinked at the sudden topic change. It wasn't something I wished to speak of.

"They're gone."

Talia frowned at my flat tone. "You deny me?"

"I don't want to talk about my family."

She leaned back, her expression distant. "You lost your family. And you blame your mother. You're so angry with her I can feel it in the air around you. You even place some of that anger on me, even though you know inside that I'm not your mother."