Page 68 of Stormvein

The thought makes me sick. All the pain we caused him during the journey. The wounds reopening, his fever climbing higher. If we’d known this was possible, we could have … waited. Let the power do whatever it was doing.

Or was something different about last night? I don’t think so. I curled beside him the same way. I rested my hand on his arm as I had before. I fell asleep …

I fell asleep.

Is that what the power needed? For me to be out of the way so I couldn’t fight it? It worked through me, used me as a conduit for its own purposes.

The mist stalker pads silently toward me, eyes fixed on mine.

“Did you know? Did you know this would happen?”

It makes that strange vibrating sound in its throat, its tail swishing back and forth, then turns its head to where Sacha is standing near the stream.

I need to ask him. He avoided answering me earlier. I need to know what he knows. I’m about to walk over when Varam steps into my path. His gaze moves between me and Sacha, then he holds out a strip of dried meat.

“It’s not much, we’re almost at the last of our rations, but you need to eat. After what you did … after what happened between you last night, you need to keep up your strength.”

I take it automatically, even though my stomach rebels at the thought of food. “What doyouthink happened?”

He glances toward Sacha again.

“The prophecy speaks of shadow and storm uniting.” His voice is careful. “What we witnessed … whatyoudid … it fulfills words spoken a long time ago.”

“I didn’tdoanything! I fell asleep, and when I woke up, he was …” I wave a hand toward Sacha, unable to find words adequate enough to describe what happened.

Varam’s eyes drop to my hands. The glow isn’t as bright now, but it’s still there, dimmer but visible. “Power doesn’t always require conscious direction, especially when it’s new.” He hesitates.

“What are you saying? That it does its ownthing, without my input?” My voice turns shrill.

Mira glances over at my raised voice. She changes direction and comes toward us.

“Is everything okay, Ellie?”

“No!” I’m growing more anxious by the second as I watch Sacha turn from the water.

Did he suffer needlessly? Could I have healed him sooner? What is happening to me? Could I have killed him instead of healing him?

“What else does the prophecy say? I’ve only heard that one line. There must be more to it than ‘Where shadow leads, storm will follow.’”

Thunder rumbles overhead. Varam and Mira exchange glances.

“‘The vessel transforms with power unlooked for. The stranger becomes that which was foretold,’”Mira says. “‘Two forces never meant to meet shall intertwine, their union defies the patterns of ages past.’”

“The prophecy said it would happen this way,” Varam adds. “‘From the ashes of shadow, the storm shall rise.’We just didn’t expect it to be so …”

“Literal?” There’s a note of hysteria in my voice.

Mira nods. “We thought it was symbolic. A metaphor for the Veinwardens rising after defeat.”

I want to tell them I’m not some prophesied figure, I’m just a woman from Chicago who fell through worlds by accident. But how can I claim that with what I’ve witnessed … what I’vedone?

“Five minutes.” Sacha’s voice carries effortlessly across the clearing.

The fighters respond, quickening their preparations to break camp. The mood has shifted completely, turning from despair to hope. Even the way they move is different. Their shoulders are straighter, chins lift higher, I even catch the odd smile.

All because of one man.

He’s standing near the stretcher now, looking down at it, face unreadable. There’s no one around him, no one demanding his attention. Maybe now is the time to try and talk to him.