Page 57 of The Lost Guard's Healer

I wait for her to say more.

She catches the question on my face and says, “I can connect with animals.”

That makes me raise my brows. “Can you elaborate on that?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Wills cuts in. “It isn’t helpful to anyone. Tell her she needs to stay here.”

Wini shoots him a violent look. I hold a hand up to calm them both.

“I can… see through their eyes, sometimes,” Wini says. “It’s like I’m in their bodies. I can hear what they hear and feel what they feel. Sometimes I… Sometimes it’s like I can control them. For a short while. I’ve been practicing, and I’ve been getting better.”

I regard her with skepticism, but things are starting to connect. That wolf who had been watching me sleeping in my tent the other morning. The crow in the tree who I’d caught staring at me. And a few other occasions where I’ve felt like I was being watched. They were her. Wini. Watching me through the eyes of animals. It’s a little disconcerting how easy it is for me to accept such a thing. The world really is a new place.

“Okay,” I say. “But we are still heading into a lot of danger. It’s no place for a young girl like you.”

“You don’t know me,” she says with her chin high, glaring. “I’m not a little girl. And I… I want to help. Please. I know I can help.”

Wills looks like he’s going to interject, but he catches himself and sighs, going back to pacing with agitation.

I look into Wini’s deep blue-green eyes, searching for the truth of the strength that lies within. Her determination is certainly admirable. “Very well,” I say. “If your mother allows it.”

“She does,” Wini replies quickly with a big smile and a bounce. “Thank you. I promise, I will be helpful. I think. I won’t let anyone down.”

Wini steps forward and looks like she’s going to hug me, but stops herself. She smiles awkwardly with a nod and rushes away with excitement. “Thank you,” she calls back.

Her brother glares at me for a moment with pure contempt and disappointment. As he turns to walk away, I say, “Wills.”

He stops and goes back to glaring.

“I will do everything I can to protect her. To protect all of you. I hope you know that.”

His face softens for a moment before he sneers and walks away. For a second, I thought I’d gotten through to him. But he has a rigid stubbornness that I’ve come to know as a common Shanti quality.

So, Wini can connect with animals. An interesting ability. I wonder who else in the village has been keeping their magic a secret, either from me or the rest of the tribe.

I turn and walk in the direction Galene had been going.

It takes me a while to realize she has gone past the rows of tents and ventured down the hill to the secluded glade below. A flash of her golden light tells me she’s down there.

I make my way down to find her hidden behind a dense collection of trees. The area is quieter, with the low din of the village behind us, beyond the top of the hill.

Galene is holding onto a square of light with one hand, her feet dangling a good six feet off the ground. The sight of her in the air gives me a strange sense of unease.

“There you are,” she says. “I… I think I’m stuck.”

I cock my head curiously and can’t help but grin. “Stuck? In the air?”

She sighs but doesn’t hide her smirk. “I managed to step up this high, using hard light steps, and I thought I would try holding onto the light with my hands, and… then I lost the light steps and now I’m here. It’s a long way down.”

I position myself below her. Her long layered dress wavers softly in the breeze. “I’m here.” I hold my arms out. “I’ll catch you.”

Galene focuses for a second, and the light in her hand vanishes. She falls into my arms.

I wince and hiss when her weight hits me. “Shit. My ankle.”

Her face widens with horror. “Oh, no, are you okay? I…”

“How much do you weigh?” I ask, grimacing in pain and hobbling. Then I drop the act and grin at her while lowering her down to the ground.

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