Page 71 of An Empress of Earth & Darkness

Naya broke through the crowd, closely followed by Rhea, and they both hurried to Kellen’s side.

“Cover him,” Naya hollered as she rested a hand on his head.

Torin moved first and then Gideon, blocking the crowd’s view of the youngest Blacksteel and what was happening. Unexpectedly, Emara cast a rush of air around them, whirling like a pool, giving them a hint of privacy.

Emara knelt too, all three women talking and whispering. They could have been chanting for all he knew; Gideon couldn’t make it out for the buzzing in his ears and the pumping of his blood. Arlo rose to stand beside the brothers, unable to help the witches aid Kellen. Arlo’s normally cheerful face was frozen with worry, his body ridged.

“He will be okay,” he threw the comment to the Stryker Clan member. “I know he will be.”

“Is he dying?” Gideon heard one person from the crowd ask. Torin clearly heard it too as he swivelled to face the swirling wind.

“No one is dying here tonight,” he growled, and the crowd that stood behind the protective element pressed back, feeling his wrath.

“We need to move him to the infirmary,” Naya called out, pulling the brothers’ attention back to where the witches kneeled on the floor. Kellen was still unresponsive, but no longer screaming. Although he was no longer talking in an ancient tongue, he was panting, his face screwed up like pain had taken hold of his body.

Arlo moved first to help the witches lift him, but Emara placed out a hand, stopping him. “I will move him if Naya can help keep her hand on him to steady his heart rate. If I wrap my element of air around him, he cannot hurt himself or anyone else. We don’t know what is going on in his mind.”

Everyone looked at Torin for approval. “Do as she says.”

Gideon watched as Emara stood, raising her palms and chanting softly. The wind around them all dispersed and moved into the shape of a ribbon to hug around Kellen’s body. Her magic was so controlled now, especially her air, and it swelled around them like a blanket.

Kellen’s body hovered from the ground, and Emara’s gentle magic started weaving around his body like silk, ensuring no harm would come to him in his cocoon of air. A soft breeze lifted him higher as she moved her wrist, and Naya joined hands with Rhea whilst they both kept one on Kellen.

Whatever they were doing was working. Kellen began to soften and calm.

But none of that explained what had just happened to his brother, and Gideon needed answers.

Emara sat in the infirmary on one of the only chairs in the room whilst she watched Naya bathe a cold cloth over Kellen’s forehead. Her healing magic urged to help, but she knew he was in good hands with his mother and her sister. So, Emara focused on keeping everyone else balanced in the room, reaching out to them all and soothing their worries.

Gideon stood against the unlit fireplace on the right in silence, and to her left stood Torin, his arms folded across his chest, an uneasy expression still screwed into his features. She knew Artem and Breighly stood outside with Arlo, guarding.

No one knew what had happened to Kellen, and that was the way they wanted it to remain until they worked out what to do. She hoped that the whispers that would surely spread of Kellen’s condition only claimed that he was intoxicated or that he hadn’t eaten enough and the trauma of the day had taken over his body.

But she knew the truth.

Kellen had had a vision without sleep, and it had wiped him out, the vision so powerful, so destructive, that it had taken Kellen to his knees and rendered him unconscious. It had forced him into a nightmare.

Naya knew it too, and Emara hoped that the glances they exchanged were discreet enough for no one else to pick up on.

Emara now understood why the hunters deemed it bad luck to have a True Dreamer fighting for them; if Kellen had been hunting when the vision occurred, he would have been helpless, unable to fight. It was terrifying to watch him squirm on the floor, lost in the horrors of his own head. And if that had been on a battlefield, he might not have made it out of there alive.

Emara only wished that the clan would see Kellen’s visions as a blessing if they could stabilise them. They could be a tool, a skill and talent that could be honed to make the Blacksteels and their unit unbeatable. If Kellen learned how to control his visions, he would be an incredible asset and powerful weapon. He would not be bad luck or a hindrance. He could only make them stronger, but she had no idea what questions he would get when he awoke from his slumber.

“His temperature is coming down,” Naya confirmed as she removed the muslin cloth from his head. “Once Rhea comes back with the elixirs and I know he is okay, I will head down and tell everyone that it was a seizure caused by the stress of today.”

Emara nodded. “Is there anything I can do?”

Naya smiled woefully, her hair an unbound heap all around her shoulders. “You have done everything you can, my love. He will be okay, thanks to your protection.”

“And is that what it was, Mother?” Torin’s voice croaked out. “A seizure? Because there was an awful lot of whispering. If there is anything else going on, I should know.”

Emara twirled the ring on her left hand around and around, hoping it would take the edge off the frosty air even as the heat of the summer night swelled her hands.

Naya rose from the bed. “To the Gods above.”

Emara lifted her gaze to find Naya’s eyes planted on her hand.

She looked from Torin to Emara, her mouth open, eyes filling with tears.

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