Page 15 of Shadows of the Lost Relic (Vanguard of the Ancients #1)

Chapter 15

Caspian

I had no idea how Lyra had gotten us into the air. She shouldn’t have been able to even walk with the blood soaking her pants from her many grazes, the compound fracture in her leg, and the stab wound that went deep into one side. As I checked her over, I cursed myself inwardly. I never should have taken her to the forge. I had wanted to share that part of myself with her; I wanted to share more than that with her, but it had gone catastrophically wrong.

I had no choice but to let the autopilot take us back to base. I had designed it myself, so I felt comfortable ignoring the warning I gave people to monitor the controls. Besides, if I didn’t treat Lyra’s wounds, I wasn’t sure she would make it back at all. My pain had faded to the back of my mind as I did my best to stop the bleeding. My hands slipped against her skin, her blood coating them. It was an image I wasn’t going to get out of my mind any time soon.

There hadn’t been time to process what had happened to the forge. As I bandaged Lyra as best I could, I wondered if it was gone forever. I wasn’t sure the hammer I had forged was worth the cost. I’d abandoned the tool on one of the seats when Lyra passed out. I would look at it later to see if I could work out the limit of its abilities. Right now, I wanted to throw it from the transport and never see it again.

Theo would tell me I was letting my emotions get the better of me, that I needed to ignore the stinging in my eyes from the guilty tears that threatened to wash out my vision, but he was always better at shoving his feelings down than I was. I knew people thought I was the cold one, but they mistook reserved and introverted for unfeeling. It wasn’t my job to correct them.

Lyra whimpered in pain, regaining my attention and forcing me to focus on her vital signs; her pulse was weak and thready. I had given her as much pain relief as I had been comfortable with. A little bit more than that, if I was really being honest with myself. But the sight of her unconscious, slumped over the controls, still had a firm, icy grip on my heart. I had never thought about learning any healing pact magic before, and I was cursing myself for that now. At least I had some field medicine training. Most of us did. I was going to be signing up for some more now, though, especially if I was going to be in the field with Lyra more often.

Once I had her as stable as I was going to get her, and I was sure her heart wasn’t going to stop the moment I looked away, I dragged myself away from Lyra’s side and moved back into my seat. I hadn’t gone far from her, but I still had to force myself to look at the controls, and not at the rise and fall of her chest. Though I hated to leave her side, I couldn’t rely on the autopilot all the way. There were other planes in the sky, weather, not to mention all the mechanical things that could go wrong. I pushed the engines hard, despite being the most distracted I had ever been. I was determined to get us back to base in record time, and a slow transport wasn’t good enough.

When we finally reached the Vanguard, I was sure I was going to pass out as well. My blood pressure had to be through the roof. My knuckles were white from gripping the steering controls so hard. The edges of my vision were blurring.

The transport landed with a jolt, and the next thing I knew, the ramp was down, and there was a flurry of activity around me. I had sent a message ahead, warning them to have medical staff waiting, although I couldn’t tell you what else had been in the message.

I had to resist the urge to grab the hammer and swing it at anyone who came near Lyra. I had never thought of myself as an overly violent person, but she was bringing out that instinct in me, even though these people were here to help her.

Relief flooded me when the triplets forced their way through the people peppering me with questions so rapidly I couldn’t make out a word they were saying. Theo started barking orders while Kane was physically pushing people out of the way. Evan didn’t say anything, he just scooped Lyra up into his arms and carried her off the transport.

That was enough to finally stir me out of my daze.

Theo put an arm under my shoulder, helping me to my feet and into the base. I wasn’t sure when the pain of my own injuries had caught up with me, but it definitely had. My whole body hurt, like I’d been beaten with the hammer I forged. I held back a scream as pain lanced through me where Theo was touching, but I wasn’t sure I could walk without him, and I definitely didn’t want to be carried off or put on a gurney. I would be stuck in the infirmary for days if that happened.

When Theo began to talk, it took me a moment to understand what he was saying. I shoved the fog clouding my mind to the side and realized he was asking about what had happened.

My voice slurred as I answered. “I lost control of the forge. I’m badly burned, and I am sure she is, too. Not as bad as my arm, but it’s not good.”

He immediately changed the way he was holding me up, and while it was better, it wasn’t pain free. I was grateful for the change, though.

“Shadowborn were waiting for us outside. I don’t know how they found us, but there were too many of them. Lyra fell when we were running for the transport. Her leg is broken.” I looked ahead, wanting to warn the medical staff, but I couldn’t see Evan or Lyra anymore. He must have been rushing to get her to the infirmary. Or maybe it had taken me longer to get out of the transport than I thought.

It was then I realized I had left the hammer behind. I turned, intending to go back for it, but all I achieved was unbalancing both myself and Theo. I ended up on the ground, despite his best efforts, looking up at him and Kane. My eyes darted straight to Kane’s left hand, where he held the hammer, his leather jacket wrapped around the handle.

He must have seen where my eyes went, because he just flashed me one of those fucking smug grins of his. “Thought you might want this. When I tried to pick it up, the fucking thing burned my hand. Got a hold of it, eventually.”

He made it sound like it had been a fun little adventure, and I was too tired to even lift my arm to take it from him. He was doing a good job of carrying it. Besides, I was sure someone would be along soon enough with a case for it.

Theo leaned down to help me up, even though I didn’t want to get up from the floor. “Let’s get you to the infirmary. I want you to get checked out before you disappear into your workshop with that thing.”

Oh, right. I would need to work out what the hammer was capable of, even though all my thoughts were with Lyra. I needed to know if she was going to pull through, and the best way to do that was to let the boys take me to the infirmary, even though I wasn’t looking forward to having my own wounds treated.

The infirmary was oddly quiet when we got there. I had been expecting a bustle of activity, like it had been when I had been brought in from my first trip to the forge. Theo helped me sit down on a bed, the soft mattress a welcome relief from the cold, hard ground I had been laying on. The pain in my arms surged through me and I winced, my breath coming in short, shallow gasps.

“Stay with us, Lyra. You’re going to be okay.” Evan’s voice broke through the pain, bringing a surge of panic with it. I followed his voice to one of the other beds, where he was leaning over Lyra. She was still unconscious, and somehow she looked even more pale than she had on the transport. I couldn’t say I knew Evan well, but the worry in his voice was so clear even I was able to pick it up.

It was a struggle to sit back up, and I was lucky Theo was distracted, or he would have pushed me back down and called a healer over. The longer I could get away without reliving some medical trauma, the better.

The machines Lyra was hooked up to were blaring their alarms as panic welled up in my throat. I couldn’t help her; there was nothing I could do except pray. Theo and Kane spoke fervently with two of the healers, their grave tones not filling me with any confidence in their ability to help Lyra.

I wanted to lean closer to better hear their conversation, but a glow from my right stole my attention. At first, I thought it was coming from Lyra. On closer inspection, she was still unconscious, no glowing to be seen.

It was coming from Evan. Red threads materialized in the air around him, some of them tied to Lyra, some of them tied to him. Each one glowing with a golden light. As he reached out and touched Lyra, the threads unraveled, and the red cords fell around his feet, turning to ash as they hit the floor.

As quickly as they unraveled, new ones formed. Each new thread sprang from Evan’s chest, wrapping around one of the injured parts of Lyra’s body. Her skin glowed where the cords touched her. The burns on her arms began to heal, fresh pink skin replacing the angry red. My eyes widened as I watched. I hadn’t known Evan was capable of this sort of magic; he’d never shown any ability with healing before.

Kane was beside me, cursing under his breath. It confused me at first, until I paid attention to what he was saying.

“What the fuck are you doing… Fucking idiot… Holy fucking shit! I hope you know what the fuck this means.” He wasn’t looking at me as he spoke. I wasn’t sure he could see anything other than Lyra and Evan.

Whatever his brother was doing, it was clearly a big deal. Even Theo had stopped his conversation to stare at his brother in shock.

The threads between Evan and Lyra solidified, turned gold, then faded from sight. The whole room fell silent, each of us holding our breath, unsure of what we had witnessed. I didn’t know about Kane or Theo, but I felt like I was intruding on a private moment, and I didn’t know what to say.

When I looked at Lyra, I could see she was trembling with the aftershocks of what had just happened. Evan’s hand rested on her forehead, his touch gentle and reassuring. When her eyes opened, I finally let out a breath, and time started again. Sound returned to the room; the doctors talking rapidly to Theo, the machines beeping, although slower now, and Kane’s footsteps as he crossed the room to stand beside Lyra’s bed.

It took me longer than I wanted, but I forced myself to my feet, taking the few, shaky steps I needed to until I was beside Lyra as well, my hands on the mattress beside her legs, holding me up.

“Evan. What… what did you do?” Lyra’s voice was hoarse as she whispered, and I had never heard a better sound.

Evan didn’t answer right away, his gaze distant, searching for an answer just out of reach. Then he shook his head, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “I did what I had to do. You’re safe now. That’s all that matters.”

We could all see the strain in his eyes, the way his shoulders slumped under a great weight. He had saved her, pulled her back from the brink of death, but at what cost? What had he given up to keep Lyra alive?

Before I could ask, Kane and Theo were leaning over Lyra, their faces filled with relief as they took in the sight of her awake and alive. They asked how she was feeling, and if she needed anything, but all she did was nod weakly. I should have told them to leave her alone, but my mind was still reeling from what had just happened.

My thoughts were focused on Evan. Power like that, it was unlike anything I had ever experienced; a force that had the power to change the very fabric of reality. And yet, there was a darkness to it. A cost that I didn’t fully understand but could sense lingering in the air around us. I had always wondered about the limits of the triplets’ powers, and now I was wondering if they had limits at all.

As the others talked, I glanced over at Evan, meeting his gaze for just a moment. His eyes were tired, his expression guarded, but I could see the concern there, the unspoken worry that mirrored my own.

He had saved Lyra, but I knew that what he had done had come at a cost—a cost that we would all have to reckon with in the days to come.