Page 98 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
Hallie shook her head. While she might’ve begun her quest into the city earlier to find and talk with him about that, this wasn’t the time or the place. Not when sudden cold filled herentire being and grew with each step she took into the Gate chamber. The quaking was gone, but the fury still radiated from the Gate.
THUMP-THUMP.
Hallie screamed as pain drenched her body. The Gate—the heartbeat was coming from theGate. She fell backward against the wall, her pack cushioning her.
“Hallie!” Niels bent down to her level, catching her by her shoulders. “What hurts?”
Why hadn’t her power stopped it that time? Why did it hurt so badly?
Niels didn’t look as if he was hit with anything. He just looked worried…and a little sweaty. How had he found her so quickly? Why hadn’t he caught up with her earlier?
She shook her head. “I…I think that’s the sword. Kainadr’s Shadow.”
Not one scholar believed the old Yalven folk tales were true…but the Cerl King did. And sure enough, a sword waited in the Gate.
Whether or not that wasthesword wasn’t clear. But at this point, it would seem odder to Hallie if it wasn’t.
She knew from her last experience with the Gate that it would take in Yalvs and somehow transform them into swords. She wasn’t sure why, and it was one thing she’d like to research further in the library, though she hadn’t been able to find anything in the week after Zeke died. She and Kase had gone to research and read every single day and had found nothing.
But having a sword would only help her position. She knew nothing about sword fighting, but having any weapon was better than having none at all. Maybe she’d get lucky, and any opponent they came acrossalsowouldn’t have a clue.
When she got back to Kyvena, she would ask Saldr about it.
She walked a little closer. The sword was dark as night with a nondescript cross guard. A vivid red gem sat in the pommel—a ruby. At the moment, Hallie couldn’t remember what gemstone Rodr’s had. She didn’t think this was the same sword. For one, Rodr’s sword had been made of Zuprium. This one looked like it’d been forged from ink.
It hung in the middle of the archway. Her ears rang as she stared at it. She could have sworn it was singing her name.
She thought back to the legend of Kainadr and Xera, of the statues in the ruined valley temple. Could it really be? The stories never described the swords themselves, only that Xera and Kainadr gave themselves over to become swords to help Toro defeat Jagamot.
No scholar knew what happened to the swords afterward. It was the main reason many scholars put it down to a nice myth.
But this sword beckoned to her, like it was a part of her.
Without waiting to second-guess herself, she reached for the sword. Her hand went through the odd golden water that didn’t feel like water, just like Ben had done back in the late autumn, just like her satchel with her copy ofThe Odysseyand sketchbook full of notes from her first journey to Tasava.
A torrent of invisible fire raced up her arm from where she stuck her hand into the Gate, grasping for the sword—but no matter how hard she pushed, she just couldn’t reach it. The ground shook once more, but she gripped the bricks on one side of the Gate and refused to let her hand move. She screamed at the anguish eating away at her flesh as her power responded and flooded the archway in a great whoosh.
Her fingers found the sword grip. She pulled. The sword came loose from whatever held it captive, and she stumbled backward. Niels caught her. She stiffened and tugged out of his hold as quickly as she could.
“Thanks,” she muttered as she inspected the weapon in her hand. The pain fell away like summer rain off the inn’s roof, and soon it was gone completely.
“What is that?”
The sword seemed to drink in the light from the Gate instead of reflecting it. It wasn’t too heavy. It felt just right in her hands.
“A myth,” Hallie whispered.
“I don’t understand.”
Hallie didn’t respond. The sword was cold, and her power responded only in the places where her skin touched the metal. She observed the Gate. The sense of wrong was still there. Her palm began to ache from where she held the sword. She switched it to the other hand. The first grew cold; the one holding the weapon, hot.
She held it out to Niels. “Tell me what you feel.”
He hesitated, his mouth opening as if to say something, but he closed it sharply and took the weapon. He held it awkwardly as if afraid it would attack. He shrugged. “Just feels like a sword, not that I ever held one before.” He handed it back. “Listen, Hal, I know this isn’t the best of times, but we gotta talk about what happened.”
Hallie’s power responded to the sword once it was back in her hands. It wasn’t painful, only uncomfortable.
Niels waited. If she made eye contact, they’d have to have the conversation. She didn’t want to. Not yet. Not when she had a mystery in her grasp and the world to save. Maybe it was cowardly of her, but she only had so much bravery. Even though she knew she had to break his heart. It was only fair. Fair to him, her, Kase. Everyone. If only he hadn’t kissed her.
