Page 127 of Thorns & Fire
Wren’s heart seized as she watched it unfold.Her lightning was encased by the strange, shimmering substance that had spilled across the floor.A silvery, fluid-like essence began to separate from the rest, moving with an almost sentient quality.It started to glow faintly, pulsing in a rhythm that reminded her of a heartbeat.
Realization hit her like a blow.
The silvery essence represented pure magical energy, distinct from any royal blood itself.The enemy’s alchemy didn’t target the blood directly, but rather the magic intertwined with it.It was happening before her very eyes, penetrating the magical element, showing her just how her cure worked against it.
Wren threw another small bolt of lightning, watching the alchemy react.It wasn’t built on royal blood and bloodlines.It was built on the very fabric of magic itself.
Seeing what she was discovering, some of their opponents attempted to shatter the surrounding equipment and work.
‘We can’t let them destroy the workshop any further,’ she shouted, noting the array of volatile potions bubbling in crucibles.She couldn’t stand by and watch it destroyed, not when she needed it—
A lanky alchemist with a shock of white hair caught her eye.He was working furiously at a table, mixing reagents with trembling hands.Whatever he was concocting, Wren knew it couldn’t be good.
‘Thea!’she called out, gesturing towards the white-haired enemy.‘Cover me!’
As Thea nodded and moved to intercept anyone who might interfere, Wren sprinted towards the table.The alchemist looked up, his eyes widening in recognition.He reached for a beaker of swirling, opalescent liquid.
Time seemed to slow.
Wren threw her dagger.
It caught the man in the neck.
Blood sprayed, and suddenly the Bear Slayer was at her side.Not shielding her with his body as he had done so many times before, but fighting with her, a partner, an equal.
Together, with iron and alchemy, with Furies-given strength and lightning, they brought the last of the enemy down.Wren felt Torj’s power surging through her as he swung his hammer and she cast bolts of lightning in its wake, more in control of her magic than she’d ever been.
At last, when the chaos around them waned, Wren saw it.
The gold thread.
The soul bond that linked her to Torj Elderbrock.
His pain was her pain, and hers was his.
The bond was still there.Still intact.She understood why he’d tried to sever it.Understood why he’d done what he’d done.
But that wasn’t the only way...She saw it so clearly now.
Instead of tearing away from the bond, Wren clung to it, watching as its shimmering cord became more solid beneath her touch, as the connection between them grew anew.She poured all her love for the Warsword into every one of its fibres, and they shared strength and power as one.
Everything else faded away.
Wren went to his side and pulled the mask from her face.‘We were always stronger together.’
CHAPTER 51
Torj
‘Magic knows its mirror – in resonance, two powers become one song’
– Tethers and Magical Bonds Throughout History
‘WE WERE ALWAYSstronger together.’
The words settled in Torj’s chest, a fragment that had been missing all his life sliding into place.
He looked at the woman who stood at his side, where she belonged – where she had always belonged.Radiant, beautiful, fearless.
