Page 123 of The Storm of the Empire

The healers finished up and gathered their things to leave.

“Gran, can you stay for a minute?” Kiera asked.

Gran turned around, looking us over. “Of course, Firefly.”

The other healers left while Jaxus slipped in, giving us the room to ourselves.

“What is it? What are you all not saying?” Gran eyed us, clearly knowing this was more than just Kiera wanting to speak to her.

“She always knows,” Jaxus laughed and waved for Kiera to tell her. “Go on, Firefly.”

Kiera rolled her eyes at Jaxus, but she was smiling. “Luka and Hazel are soul bonded, and as his magic has started coming out, we’ve come to suspect it’s foresight.”

Gran’s eyes went wide, and she glanced between Luka, me, and Kiera. “That’s a new one. Or rather a very old one!” She muttered something I couldn’t catch, then walked over to Luka to inspect him. “Tell me why you all seem to believe this.”

We walked Gran through the parts of the story we could tell her, starting with the pendant he used to wear that kept it under control, and then Luka told her about the gut feelings and everything he’d just seemed to know. Finally, I told her about the dreams and when he lost himself.

“That’s not great.” Gran’s face told me enough. “But the truth is we don’t know a lot about foresight. We might have some scrolls on it in our archives, but they are all from before the Twelve Kingdoms were formed. I don’t believe there has ever been one with a flyer bond or a soul bond.”

“I had that thought.” Kiera tilted her head, thinking through Gran’s words. “But do you have something further?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Luka and I waited with bated breath.

“It’s a little like we talked about, Hazel. You may be able to syphon off his magic to lessen it when it overcomes him.”

“Well, syphoning is a start, but if they meld well…” Gran glanced at me.

“We have,” I told her.

“I thought so. So a good meld will allow, in theory, for Hazel to guide him and pull him back. If you learn to work together, it might keep him back from the visions completely taking him.”

I breathed a little easier but only a little. “How do we train for that?”

“No one knows,” Gran answered.

“And the risks?” I asked.

“We don’t know. But I’d start now because it’s only going to get worse.”

Luka stepped up behind me, sliding an arm around my back. “How do you know it’s going to get worse?”

“No one knows anything, but the memory is long. We’ve only had a few, and they color our perspective. There may be more we’ve never documented because they stayed like Luka was when he wore his pendant. We may never know.”

“So he could put the pendant back on?” I asked breathlessly.

“No,” Gran said sternly. “You see what’s happening here.” She waved at Kol. “Especially once you’ve melded, being blocked off from a soul bond will kill you both. You have to walk into this together with open eyes.”

I nodded, biting my lip so it wouldn’t tremble. “Thank you.”

“I will keep looking into it, as I know Kiera will.” She took my hand. “Have faith in the Goddess. She only gives us what we need, and that means we need his gifts.”

I pressed my eyes closed, fighting my emotion.

Luka half hugged me to him.

“Is there anything else all of you are up to? Or is that enough for one day?” Gran asked.

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