Page 60 of In Darkness Forged

“And you were also correct,” she admitted ruefully. “We cannot wait too long. My lord will only give us till the end of the season, and if I have not returned by then…”

Talyn shook his head. “Does your face hurt?” he asked brusquely.

Aislin blinked and remembered the blood on her cheek. Raising her fingers to the side of her head, she encountered a large knot and winced as she probed at the wound—a small gash in her scalp, running from her temple up into her hair.

Her fingers came away tipped with blood.

When Talyn saw it, he cursed and crossed to her side of the fire, crouching beside her to brush back her hair with surprisingly gentle fingers. “You are fortunate,” he said darkly. “Had this blow struck even a hairsbreadth lower, you might never have awakened.”

He rose to his feet, retrieved the small tin of salve from where Aislin had spread the contents of his pack, and returned to kneel at her side. “Hold still,” he commanded, tucking her hair behind her ear and parting the strands with a care and caution she would never have expected. Then again, perhaps he’d done something similar for his sister.

Aislin felt the heat begin to rise, from her neck to her face and even her ears, as Talyn bent low to brush salve over the gash on her temple.

“I cannot bandage it,” he murmured, his breath warm on her cheek. “But this should prevent infection.”

“Thank you.” She couldn’t seem to look anywhere but at the ground.

“What of your ribs?”

Startled, she jerked her head around to stare at him. “My… ribs?”

“I can tell you favor them. Are they broken?”

She clamped her arm to her side. There was no way in all of Abreia she was letting him seethat.

“Bruised,” she said hastily. “I’m sure they’re just bruised.”

He was clearly not convinced but seemed content to return the salve to his pack and resettle himself by the fire.

“Your back…” she began to say, but he shook his head.

“Night elves heal quickly.” His tone was matter-of-fact. “It is painful, but the damage is superficial. I would prefer to save what little supplies we have for more significant injuries.”

“What of your magic?” she asked then. “Will it heal as well? Or did the old woman steal it for… for good?”

She realized too late that the question might be painful, but Talyn only shook his head.

“It is similar to overextending my abilities or reaching the end of my physical strength. It will return over time.”

“That’s why she was going to keep you,” Aislin realized, her voice hollow with the renewed horror of that memory. “She said you would last for months. She intended to do that over and over again.”

All those bones… How many had the ancient night elf lured in and trapped, only to steal their power and give them over to her pet when she was finished?

“She is behind us,” Talyn said firmly. “But the Darkspring is never safe. We must be more vigilant the deeper we go.”

Suddenly, Aislin couldn’t stop wondering how the old woman had captured him in the first place. With his magic intact, Talyn would have been more than a match for Crow, and neither the arantha nor his mistress could have touched Talyn without his permission.

“You stopped to help her, didn’t you?” she blurted out.

Talyn glowered and jumped to his feet. “I’m going to search for a way out.”

Aislin almost smiled as she watched him stride away from the fire. So much for that cold, forbidding exterior. Her companion was clearly hiding a far softer heart than he would ever care to admit.

* * *

She tried her best to sleep as the remainder of the day wore on, but sleeping on rocks proved to be just as impossible as it sounded. Talyn, on the other hand, fell asleep sitting up and awakened just as the last bit of daylight faded from the cracks in the rock overhead.

When she saw him stirring, Aislin stopped pretending to rest and sat up, stifling a startled yelp of pain as every muscle in her body protested the action. Everything hurt. Her face, her feet, and even her pinkie fingers seemed determined to join in the chorus of pain.

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