Page 119 of Stars in Mist

‘I don’t know how we missed it.’

Ki’Remi’s face was stunned as he stared at the man at their feet.

Zane pushed a hand through his hair, misery crowding his handsome features. ‘It couldn’t be imagined. Everything about Ankis was unfathomable.’

He turned to Élisa. ‘To answer you, his name is Kisan. He was, is, one of us, a Rider. A Sable squadron member we thought died during our five years of captivity with the crats.’

Élisa’s breath hitched in shock, even as Riv snarled in frustration as his fellow Riders surrounded the fallen man.

The heart-wrenching form on the ground was skeletal, from his jutting bones to his hollowed face with skin that molded to his skull like thin, worn papyrus.

The Riders strung arms around each other as the truth of who they were looking at flooded over them.

Xion pounded the air. ‘Fokk! He came hard for us. Why?’

Zane made a calming sound in his throat, wrapping a hand on Xion’s neck to embrace him. ‘If he’s alive, he may have thought we abandoned him on the crat’s ship.’

Riv groaned. ‘But he was dead. We witnessed it happen. They tortured him to death and took his body away. If we’d known he was still living, we’d have searched all corners of Pegasi to find him. It’s what we do for our loved ones,’ he added, flicking angry tears from his eyes.

A sorrow so deep hit him, and he punched the ground beside the unconscious man. ‘Damn, why did he think we’d do him like that? We would never abandon our own!’

Élisa’s heart broke as she witnessed the Riders’ utter despair.

She and Killen stood back in respect, giving them the space they needed.

‘Is he alive?’ Riv thought to ask.

‘Naam. I sense, though, that his consciousness that shattered it will take a while before it is untangled by medical means alone.’

Zane’s utterance was heavy with sadness.

The Riders mulled his words.

After a few long moments, Zane stirred. ‘There is one thing we can do for him. We can petition a psionic restoration to his former self.’

Riv jolted. ‘How and from whom?’

‘I happen to have a way of speaking to Shards.’ The sapphire-eyed Rider rose to his feet and stalked toward the still whirling, spiraling finger of the nebula touching the ground. ‘But it’ll be challenging to unravel it from the storm it’s in.’

‘I’ll help.’

Zane whirled around at Killen’s announcement. ‘You will?’

‘Naam. I have a complementary power. I can stabilize whatever emotions it’s giving out, so you focus on connecting to it psionically.’

Zane studied Riv’s son. ‘Perhaps then we can ask it to heal you three together.’

Killen nodded. ‘This was foreseen in the hereafter.’

All this time, Élisa had stood to the side, and now she stepped forward. ‘Are we sure this will be safe?’

‘Nothing’s assured, Mother. I only lean on what I feel.’ Killen tapped the glowing jewel on his forehead.

She touched his arm, concern all over her features. ‘The hawkstone speaks?’

‘It does. It agrees.’

Élisa retreated. ‘Then that is all I need.’

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