Page 160 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
Saldr gave her a deadpan look. “Which is the only reason I have allowed so much Vasa to be used. But others have taken a seed and grown the entire garden.” He looked pointedly at the older man who shrugged.
“I am only looking after the welfare of our people,” the man said, gracefully bowing out of the circle. “We will send another mining crew shortly to retrieve more.”
He and the other men left, bowing to both Fely and Hallie as well. Hallie curtsied back, murmuring the words of greeting.
“If we continue to use the Vasa at this rate, we can consider ourselves doomed,” Saldr said under his breath as Hallie approached, gesturing to the large moss-covered stones set in a loose circle outside his tent. “Please, have a seat.”
Hallie obeyed, easing herself down. The thick moss softened the seat, making it oddly comfortable.
A smirk flitted across Fely’s face as she said, “I see you finally gave in.”
Saldr’s brow twitched. “Yramr complained daily about having to stand too long while I’m in meetings. Of course, he would be the only warrior Called we have with us, but I digress.” He narrowed his eyes at Fely. “He does not easily accept being told no, and it was not a battle I wanted to continue fighting. Clearly, my approval led to other frivolity.” He waved his hand at the kudzu wall behind him. “As if the subterranean grotto the others grew for you was not enough.”
Fely’s smug look spoke volumes. “I’m not sure if I like that I’m no longer the only one who can get under your skin.”
Saldr didn’t answer that; instead, he pulled a small pouch from the band at his waist and handed it over to Hallie.
She peeked inside the pouch. Glittering bronze-colored dust winked at her.
Vasa. She’d nearly forgotten the reason she was there in the first place. It was quite entertaining to watch Fely bring out the typically stoic Lord Saldr’s jagged edges. They clearly had some sort of history, though she hadn’t been bold enough to ask either about it. With her own argument with Kase, she would rather not pry, though part of her was dying to know the story.
“Once you master the basics, you should not need Vasa to aid you. Most would need to save it for more complex tasks, such as healing or summoning your sacred weapon—however, with your power, you might not need to use the holy metal at all once you are fully trained. But that will take time.”
He still wouldn’t look at Fely. Hallie wondered if he knew the woman was smirking patiently, watching him like she was hoping for another chance to “get under his skin.”
Saldr continued, “Yrea is the most basic spell a Chronal masters, so we will begin there. However, it still requires a good amount of control to perform it well. Coat your fingers with the dust and speak the word. The simplest spells need only a word or thought behind them. The more complex require song to guide the power.” He gestured to her satchel. “I understand you have a Relic?”
Hallie nodded, tugging Kase’s goggles out of her satchel before dipping her fingers into the pouch and coating them with the fine dust. It clung to her skin like granules of sand. She held it out, studying it with a hard swallow.
She had to learn control, but she didn’t have it now—what if something went wrong while she was trying to learn? What if she accidentally ruined the timeline with an errant shift of her power? It was still a miracle she’d only lost a week in creating the Passage to Kyvena.
“What happens if I lose control?” Hallie asked, rubbing the dust between her fingers. “Will you be able to stop it? Reverse the time I speed up?”
Saldr hesitated, looking to Fely at last before turning back to Hallie. “I was not alive when the Lord Elder, Raern, took the power from his mother, but legend says he threw himself a hundred years into the past. He was able to figure out how to send himself back eventually, though I am told it took months. Of course, no one in the then-present day was aware until he returned.”
Hallie’s stomach dropped, and her blood ran cold. It must’ve shown on her face, because Fely groaned. “That was not the wisest story to share with us,Sali.” She clasped Hallie’s hand in her own. “Mastering your power is the most important task to focus on at present. Without you to restore the Gates, we will lose the war. It is our highest honor and duty to teach you. If something goes awry, we will find a way to put it right. We will have no other choice.”
Saldr cleared his throat. “I am not certain that was helpful either,Lady Felyra.”
Yep, definitely something going on, and something Hallie did not want to step into. With her own problems, she would be the worst person to do so.
Fely just shrugged and snapped her fingers; her lips didn’t move until a soft golden fireball appeared above her hand; its undulating light lit up her satisfied grin. “Now you try. Focus on creating flames from the Vasa while speaking the word of power, Yrea. I would also suggest holding onto your Relic tightly.”
Hallie pressed her lips together to keep herself from retorting. It wasn’t going to work. The power within her was too unpredictable.
The world was going to end—supposedly—if she didn’t master this. She had to try.
She played tug-of-war with her power, forcing it into her fingers. It balked against her force, but she pulled harder; for every inch it took back, she forced it to move two, clutching the goggles until they were coated in Vasa.
She might as well have been trying to bend one of the towering oaks above her to her will. But she kept trying.
Sweat beaded on her brow, but she kept her mental grip on one of the struggling tendrils of power as she cried, “Yrea!”
Nothing happened. Her fingers glittered with nothing but sweaty streaks of Vasa. Disappointment flooded through her
“Yrea!” she shouted, forcing more of the power into her palm and fingers. But when she tightened her grip on the goggles, her invisible hold slipped on the tendril.
A fireball erupted from her palm. Flames raged from her hand and funneled upward, consuming the tree above her.
