Cole had made a bit of a mess as he served himself a bowl of soup and walked over to her with it held aloft. He’d placed it in front of her slowly and sat down across from her. All the children had followed suit, and soon they’d all been eating, except Cole. He’d made her smile and made sure she ate. She’d always wondered why, out of all of the children there, he’d chosen to set that bowl of soup in front of her. Amanda was looking at Cole when Madgie confirmed her realization.
“Yes, that’s what Cole went through. Lucky his light is so bright they couldn’t extinguish it. They had to release him from the Guard, but not before they silenced him as you can see,” Madgie said.
“How do you know I’m choosing not to speak of my own accord? Maybe I didn’t want her to have to think about me… going through that.”
“Sorry, but you cannot protect her from this any longer. Where was I? Oh, yes, so they had what they wanted, but Healers around the world were starting to become concerned about it. Too many Healers were no longer doing their job. Scars need to be healed, or, as you know, the world becomes unbalanced and falls into darkness. It happened before. The bubonic plague wiped out so many Healers. There just weren’t enough of us left to keep the balance. Historians now refer to that time as the Dark Ages.”
Amanda was taken by surprise. She’d heard it preached at the Hovel, but she never realized how essential Healers were to the world.
“So as the Guard got bigger, the world became darker. As they hunted Shiphra, World War One started and ended, and then World War Two. Thousands upon thousands of men and women and children were being slaughtered. Awful things we’d never seen before were happening in the world. The wars left more Scars behind than we could heal, and it seemed the world was destined to end. The Healers rose up and told the Ancients in one voice that their Guard needed to be downsized and returned to their duties of healing. The Ancients came up with the idea of the Dredging to increase our numbers.”
“It hasn’t always been that way?” Amanda gasped.
“No, no. Before that time we found Healers and told them what they were and where to find us if they chose to be around those like them. They came in their own time, sometimes in youth, sometimes old age, but they always came. When that didn’t even restore balance, the Ancients obliged most likely because they were satisfied that Shiphra wouldn’t rise up. At the time, most thought it was kindness on their part, so selfless and understanding of them to give up their army. How foolish of us.” Madgie looked disgusted.
Seeing her look that way filled Amanda with rage at the Ancients for taking advantage of the innocent. How easy it must have been to gain power over the Healers, they’re so naturally kind, peaceful, and naive.
“It isn’t your fault, Madgie! You aren’t foolish for believing in those you’re supposed to be able to trust. I think the reason they shrunk their Guard wasn’t because they were done with Shiphra. They downsized it because you came together. All the Healers came together and said no to them. No more. Well, I’ve only been alive for seventeen years, and I can’t take it anymore. I don’t know how you’ve lasted this long under their reign. Maybe we should be finding Shiphra for more than one reason. I think she’ll agree when I tell her it’s time to end it,” she finished defiantly.
13
Amanda stared wide-eyed at a twisted dead tree on the hilltop with a small figure at its side. The tree’s white fingers were a stark contrast to the dark sky. She glanced around and saw her pursuers closing in. Wiping away the wet hair clinging to her face, she ran as fast as her feet would carry her across the soggy terrain. Lightning cracked above, and she studied the angry clouds. She’d never seen it so black at mid-day. Digging her toes into the muddy hill, she began climbing.
“Help!” the girl cried out.
The small voice was like an arrow to her heart. She slowly made her way to the top of the hill. Amanda knew if she could just reach Kaedin she’d be at peace again. She heard a noise beneath her and saw that the hill was surrounded by cloaked figures. All of her enemies’ faces were hidden beneath heavy hoods, save one. He towered above the Guard members, and his light shone brightly in the gloom.
“Baal,” she whispered.
He smiled up at her with pointed teeth.
Amanda was temporarily blinded as lightning struck near her. Her vision came back as she flew through the air out of breath. The large tree was split in half, and fire climbed its white bark. Carter stood hunched in the space Kaedin had occupied, acid burned flesh running down his body like candle wax. He moved toward her with jagged uneven steps.
“Murderer!” he bellowed, glaring at her with blood-shot red eyes.
“No, no. I didn’t mean to,” Amanda cried out, closing her eyes. “Don’t hide behind those eyelids. You look at what you did to me!” he demanded.
When she finally peeled open her eyes, he’d closed the twenty- yard distance between them and was bent over her shaking body, skinless fingers outstretched.
Amanda awoke breathing heavily. She was glad to find herself snugly sandwiched between Cole and her wolf’s warm bodies. I did that to him, I’m a murderer. It wasn’t easy to shrug off the fear and defeat her dream had brought, but she felt safe next to Cole and her wolf. She’d slept like a log, which was fitting because they’d had to sleep on the forest floor. Amanda felt more than rested rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she felt strong.
She stretched her arms into the air and arched her back.
Slits of sun light sliced through the foliage and drew a pattern of stripes across her skin. She studied them and wondered why they seemed so strange, this wasn’t an unusual occurrence. Light and shadows drew patterns over everything coloring the world one way then changing it completely with the drifting of a cloud. Her mind was on the verge of understanding why there was something off when Cole spoke to her.
“What is going on with you? Do you know, or is it as big a mystery to you as it is to me?”
She jumped at his voice; she’d thought he was asleep. “What do you mean?” she asked as he rolled to face her.
“I saw Carter’s spell hit you Amanda. I saw it break your skin. I heard you cry out in pain and now all I see is a hole in your shirt…” He put his hand on her shirt, his fingers lightly kissing the charred fabric. “Burnt around the edges.” He paused, clearing his throat and moving away.
She wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw something other than worry burning behind his eyes.
“You ran into that cloud of acid and came out of it miraculously fine, other than minor burns. Which, by the way, are completely healed.”
She looked down at her palm and understood why it had looked strange to her earlier. The burns were gone. Her hand almost seemed normal, even the poison in her veins faded. She threw off Cole’s cloak and drew her shirt up, exposing her midsection. Her skin now looked paler than normal but not monstrous. Cole had frozen at the sight of her bare skin. Apparently, she looked far from grotesque to him.
“Can you believe this?” she exclaimed in happy surprise.
Beneath her, the large rib cage of her wolf heaved in and out in a calm breathing pattern, and she knew how she’d been healed. She understood why she felt so strong but wasn’t sure she could explain it to Cole. She truly didn’t understand the reason this wolf was with her or what he was.
“No, I can’t,” he said reaching over, pulling her shirt back down and shaking his head back into the conversation.
“Cole, I don’t know what’s going on with me. I wish I understood so I could tell you. All of this must seem extremely strange, but you don’t need to worry. I’m still me, beneath all of the demonic poison and mystical healing.” Amanda cringed and hoped her words came across better than they sounded.
“Demonic poison and mystical healing?” Cole said in a thoughtful voice. “Yes you’re definitely yourself. No one but you could make an attempt at reassurance sound like an argument against yourself.”
Her cheeks heated, and she tried to hide her face, but he lifted her chin up. She felt a little relieved when she saw his perfect lips curved into a huge smile. His shoulders were shaking as he tried not to laugh.
“Go ahead and make fun of me!” she said, throwing her arms in the air.
