Page 103 of House of Embers
“And he has spirit magic because of your mating bond?” Zina asked. “Doesn’t make much sense to me.”
Kerrigan explained a Daijan bond and how it had been transferredfrom her mother to the mating bond. When it had all snapped back together, the bond allowed them to transfer powers. Now Kerrigan had some shadows and Fordham had some spirit, neither as strong as their own powers but handy in a pinch.
“If you say so,” Zina said. “Who are we waiting on? And are you sure you’re feeling up to this?”
Kerrigan had taken two days to rest her magic. She’d gotten the portal door closed. Dragons were choosing Herasi riders to add to their aerial arsenal. To try to not feel totally helpless, Kerrigan and Fordham had scoured the information Trulian had kept of his search for the crown. She’d learned a lot but still virtually nothing that would tell them where it was. If Trulian had spent several lifetimes looking and never succeeded, what hope did they have?
“I’m feeling well enough,” Kerrigan said, shaking off the impending doom of their last-ditch effort. “And I’ve actually never done this before. In the past, we’ve always had a set time to meet.”
“Great,” Zina said. A chair appeared in the sand, and she sank into it, resting backward as if she were going to fall asleep. “Let me know when it works.”
Kerrigan chuckled at her before turning her attention to the more pressing problem—how to get Cleora to the spirit plane. Kerrigan had used a magical signature to pull people onto the plane or into dreams before, but Cleora was literally in a different dimension. Domara might as well have been across the universe for all Kerrigan knew. How could she possibly find her signature here?
She blew out a breath and decided to just give it a try. After all, the spirit plane was the great equalizer. If Cleora could reach her on the plane and Kerrigan could reach Cyrene on the plane, then maybe she could reach anyone she really wanted to if she pushed.
It took a minute of controlled meditating before she felt centered enough to try something this drastic. She closed her eyes and reached with that thread of spirit magic. She knew Cleora—the fearlessprofessor of an academy on the outskirts of the Domaran capital. She’d saved Kerrigan’s life by training her, and she’d risked everything to help her when Kerrigan had been in the tournament. If Vulsan ever found out what she’d done, Cleora would be cast out or killed. That forged a bond of its own sort, and Kerrigan just needed to follow it to Domara.
“Cleora,”she said down that thread.“I need you. It’s urgent.”
Nothing happened.
Kerrigan concentrated harder.“I was noisy on the spirit plane, and it irritated you enough to come search for me. If you could come talk to me now, that would be most helpful.”
Silence.
Kerrigan huffed. She could almostsenseCleora on the other end. She didn’t know if that meant she was busy or if something was blocking it.
She tried again, reaching out through the spirit plane as she had done so many times recently in Alandria. She convinced herself it wasn’t that different to do it to Domara as well. Or at least she hoped so.
Kerrigan sat back into the sand with a sigh. “I don’t know if I can do it.”
Zina shrugged. “Yeah. Sounds right.”
“You agree?”
“I didn’t think you could talk to someone in Domara or walk through portals to the land of the gods either, but here we are. So if you say this is where things become impossible, then I believe you.”
Kerrigan narrowed her eyes. “Are you saying that because you believe it, or do you want me to try again?”
Zina winked at her. “What do you think?”
Classic Zina.
Kerrigan closed her eyes again to try contacting Cleora, frustration already settling in. Then she felt a sort ofpopon the plane. Her eyes flew open, and a person stood before her. Not Cleora.
“Danae!”
The girl rushed to her, wrapping her arms around her. “Cleora sent me. She said she couldhearyou. I don’t even know how that’s possible.”
“New tricks. Is she busy? We really need her.”
“She said to give her a few minutes and she would get out of her lesson to meet you,” Danae said. Her eyes flickered to Zina. “Who is your friend?”
Zina came to her feet and smiled at Danae. “I’m Zahina. You can call me Zina. Everyone does. I was Kerrigan’s first mentor, and you’re the truthteller.”
Danae’s mouth popped open. “Uh…yep. That’s me.”
“What an interesting talent. How does it work?”
