Page 10 of Tino
“What happened?” I demanded, kneeling in front of him to take a closer look.
“I broke my ankle,” he admitted, sobbing quietly as I brushed gentle fingers along his swollen ankle.
“How?” I asked, ignoring whatever was going on around us.
“I tried to flee and was chained to the floor.”
“Flee how?” I asked, looking back at the three-story house.
“Out the window,” he muttered.
A woman stepped over to us. “He thought I was going to kill him.”
“In my defense, I’d heard screaming from outside for minutes before you came for me,” Altair explained defensively.
“And I apologize, yetagain, for that.”
Xarius and the others stood next to us now, eying the thirty or something kneeling mages. “Okay, please explain what the hell is going on,” Xarius ordered calmly.
She straightened further. “We knew they were lying in wait to capture either Tino or Altair. So we remained close to interfere when the window for rescuing arrived.”
Xarius seemed to know this mage, or at least trust her. I’d learned all about their powers so if Xarius trusted her, I could too.
“Thank you,” my Tair said, giving her and the others a genuine smile.
She smiled back. “Anything for our true leaders.”
I didn’t know we had allies, but it felt nice not being a burden. We did need their help after all.
“What happens now?” I asked, standing protectively against Altair’s side, holding on to him so he didn’t have to hurt himself.
A man stepped forward from the circle. “You’ll join us at our safe location.”
“We will?” Silver asked, seemingly worried. They had been alone through all of this, so I could understand his unease.
He nodded. “We need to protect you as much as possible. As soon as the last pairing has bonded, the leaders will come, or force you to them. We’ve already made our loyalty known when we fought against the mages here today. We will stand by you as you train your magic and secure your thrones.”
“You have a safe location?” Xarius asked, needing more information.
Both the man and woman nodded. “We have taken over a rather big campsite with cabins and facilities here on Sutiner. With our combined magic it has the best wards in place and no one else can enter the area. It will allow you to train and bond safely before you need to fight back.”
“We will of course not disturb you if you wish for peace and each pair gets their own cabin. Complete privacy,” she assured us.
Xarius seemed pleased with this. “Portal?”
She nodded. “Grab what you need from your RV and then we’ll leave.”
Once we’d grabbed everything we needed, the mages had formed a portal for us to travel through. Fifteen mages came through before us and then the rest would follow behind us. I had to trust Xarius knew what he was doing as I grabbed Altair tighter and we made our way through the portal together. I feared I wouldn’t be able to let him go even for a second. It would make bathroom breaks awkward, but he’d have to deal.
The campsite was huge, filled with wooden cabins and many trees surrounding it. Each cabin looked to have been built by a different person. There was no order in their placements and each carried its own unique look. It was rather cute actually. I breathed easierremembering we would be safe here. Tair would be safe here. Tair who still kept a firm hold on my arm, needing to touch me as much as I needed to touch him.
We were greeted by twenty other mages as they all came to welcome us and bow. It felt weird being bowed to, but the others just waved and gave them friendly smiles in thanks.
“Call for Grethe,” one of the mages who’d come with us said. “Altair needs healing.”
He stiffened next to me, likely remembering his broken ankle. I was relieved to know they had a healer with them, since it meant Tair wouldn’t be hurting for much longer. I knew Niam had helped ease some of the pain before we went through the portal, but it wouldn’t do long term.
“I’m here!” the healer said, rushing through the gathered mages. “Stand back everyone, let the poor men breathe.” I couldn’t help my smile. Grethe seemed like the perfect person to heal Altair, knowing he would be on guard for the next few hours. I would’ve too if I’d been kidnapped. The sooner he could get healed, the sooner we could eat and retreat to the cabin they promised us. We needed to talkprivately, but he needed food first. I doubted they’d fed him and from the pain he was experiencing, he needed the energy.