Sworn To Transfer

she pulled his head back as he relaxed. Mopping his brow with a cloth from the bedside and patting his head, she said through sobs, “Barren, my Barren. It’s all right. You’re safe. Come back to us.”

Soon he was limp again, as if he’d never moved. His mother rearranged him back in his bed and pulled the covers over his chest.

Clutching the cloth to her chest, she said, “Our best healers aren’t able to help my son.”

“Are either of you a healer?” she said with hope in her voice.

“No, ma’am,” answered Terris softly. “We just heard the voice—the owl calling out to us in our heads.”

As if on demand, the owl mind-spoke again. Let them come. Let them come.

The woman started and put her hand to her throat in surprise. She looked from perch where the owl roosted to the two girls standing before her.

“There is nothing that hasn’t been tried to revive my son. I am grateful that he is still alive, but I want my son back,” she said, her tone wavering into pleading. “The bond owls of Panen are sacred to my people. They know things when their human bond mates don’t. If Flightfeather thinks you can help, then please can you at least try?”

Ciardis and Terris looked at each other uncertainly. They weren’t healers and couldn’t do anything for the young man trapped inside his own mind.

Ciardis said, “We would try if we knew what to do but we don’t. Perhaps it would be best to call a healer from below.”

“You don’t think that every healer in this community hasn’t tried to help my son?”

A bitterness entered the mother’s voice as she wiped her son’s brow, “They’ve all tried. They’ve all failed. All I’m asking is for you to give your best. The bond owls are often wise to many things we don’t know.”

Gulping Ciardis and Terris walked forward to the bed.

Returning to his side, they saw that his eyes were closed and his arms lay by his side on top of the blanket. He was still and pale, with wisps of hair coming down over his forehead. Someone had recently trimmed the sides and back, though. Perhaps his mother, thought Ciardis. She stood behind them solemnly, her hands folded in front of her, watching their every move.

Terris reached out to touch him, but her hand fell short of his face to grab a hand at his side. Hoping to give the mother some comfort, she asked, “What is his name?”

“Barren,” the woman tearfully replied.

Terris loosened her grip on his hand, preparing to let go. But she felt something in his touch. A whisper of magic. A whisper of his mind. But it felt like it was cloaked, hidden by another presence—a dark mind.

“Yes, yes,” said Flightfeather. “Bring him out. Bring him out.”

He was there; Terris could feel his presence. But he was locked away, far away. Unconsciously, she reached out her left hand for Ciardis’s right.

I need you, Terris said mentally.

I’m here, responded Ciardis.

And then they fell. They fell into a spiral of magic and power, searching for the boy named Barren.

As they reached his core, they felt a wall. But it was like no wall either girl had ever seen. It moved and twisted with a litheness that spoke of darkness. It was as black as ink, and, as they pushed on it, flexible. “It’s like it was built of shadows,” Terris whispered. It was strong but flexible, and yet it also had a quality that made it feel like vapor.

“He’s behind it,” Ciardis said. “But it’s like a barrier—similar to one that Alexandra put up when we were riding together.  It’s preventing his magic from releasing and those seeking his presence and his magic from finding him.”

Pushing against the barrier was no use. So Terris felt for cracks.

There must be a way in here, Terris thought with frustration. I wouldn’t feel his presence otherwise. A tiny crack, a tiny slip in the barrier.

She forced herself to calm down and methodically search the moving shadows for a crack in the seams. For a long time there was nothing but silence in the room as the two girls dove deep. And then a loud shout of glee echoed throughout the room in excitement. They had found the crack.

Wedging her essence into the small crevice, Terris widened it. She knew instinctively that she had to break it. Gathering her magic and Ciardis’s enhancement, she pushed and pushed until she felt like she was exploding. And then the barrier dissipated and his power and his presence rushed out. Terris and Ciardis were thrown back into their bodies forcefully, and they fell back onto the ground in disarray.

When they arose again, both sported fierce headaches and identical expressions of confusion.

Before them on the bed, Barren had sat up and he looked no less confused they did. His mother let out a cry of joy and raced to her son’s beside to gather him in a hug.

Seconds later Barren’s mother dissolved into the tears.

Flightfeathers sent his thoughts to Terris and Ciardis. Good, good. Thank you. Thank you. Barren, my Barren, is back!

“Yes,” said the mother, simultaneously crying and hugging her son. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

From that moment on there was no peace. People, neighbors, friends, family, and healers poured into the tiny home, all eager to see Barren and hear the story from Terris and Ciardis. They explained over and over what they had done, but they couldn’t explain how they had done it.

Chapter 25

The next morning Ciardis and Terris were surrounded again by well-wishers and curious mages. It wasn’t until Alexandra’s grandfather chided everyone for overwhelming the three young people that they pulled back at all. Barren’s mother, Olivia, with a glare on her face and her hands on her hips, managed to get rid of the rest of the stragglers.

After everyone dispersed, Julius wandered up to the group.

“Grandfather?” he asked as he approached.

As the Panen patriarch, Meres, Vana, and the two young women turned to greet him, they quieted at the tired look in his eyes. “There’s been trouble,” he said curtly. “On the southern border of the forest I’ve had reports of a pillar of smoke coming from the town of Borden.”

“The human village closest to the forest?” asked Meres. Ciardis caught his expression. He did not look happy; dark thoughts were running through his head.

Grimly, Julius nodded. “It’s not only smoke. We haven’t received trade from the villagers in many days. Usually they would have brought their shares of milk, cream, and meat in exchange for our fabrics by now.”

“Have any of your people seen them?” questioned Vana.

“No,” replied Julius stiffly. “They prefer to come to us. We meet at the forest edge and barter there once a week.”

“This is troubling, Julius,” said Alexandra, coming forward.

“I seek permission to ride with four of my best warriors to survey the village,” Julius said while looking at the patriarch of the Panen.

“Permission given,” replied the old man, raising a stalling hand before Julius could take off. “The representatives from the Algardis Empire will ride with you.”

Thank the gods, thought Ciardis, We need to know what’s going on with those villagers. If they’ve been attacked by the kith, heaven help us.

“Very well,” replied Julius, looking to Vana and Meres. “Are you ready to ride?”

Meres turned to looked Vana, Alexandra, Ciardis and Terris, “Are we?”

Various affirmations met his inquiry.

“Then let’s ride. Everyone gather a pack and meet at the entrance in twenty minutes. We don’t know how long we’ll be gone so pack necessary items but keep it light.”