He let go of my fingers. “You what?”
“My own magic wasn’t working against them, so I used the magic surrounding me, fed it into the staff. It worked.”
Heidel and Grace arrived at my side. “Are you all right?”
I rubbed my forehead. “I’ve got a headache. Other than that, I’m fine. What about Rolf and Brodnik?”
The two men stirred behind us. Rolf sat up first, clutching his wrist. Brodnik remained on the ground. Kull helped me to my feet, and we made our way to the two injured men. Kull and I knelt over Brodnik while Heidel looked at Rolf.
Brodnik moaned as I gently shook his shoulder. “Can you hear me?” I asked.
He groaned, clutching his mid-section. His face paled as the magic tried to snuff the life out of him. He wouldn’t live much longer with that poison in his body. Brodnik had a wife and nine kids at home—this man could not die. I refused to let it happen.
His breathing grew shallower. His eyes were unfocused as he stared overhead. I placed my hand atop his, feeling the taint of black magic worming its way inside him. I’d used so much energy fighting off the Regaymor, I wasn’t sure I had anything left to heal him with, but as I held the staff, I felt its magic stirring inside.
“I’m going to try to use the staff to heal you. Hold on.”
Closing my eyes, I focused on the magic within the staff. Black magic swirled within, moving fluidly and naturally, almost as if this staff were made to work with the darker powers. I focused on the energy inside the staff, then, with my hand resting atop Brodnik’s, let the power flow outward, into his wound, snuffing away the darkness.
I felt the Regaymor’s powers leave his body. Brodnik gasped. Opening his eyes wide, he focused on me.
“Wh-what happened?”
“She healed you,” Kull said.
Brodnik stared at the sky overhead, breathing deeply, the color returning to his face. “I thought I was a dead man.”
“Not yet,” I said. “Hopefully, not for a long time.”
Rolf, who sat near us, winced as Heidel took his hand. “Would you stop?” he asked.
“How am I supposed to help you if you won’t even let me look at it?” she demanded.
“Because you’re making it worse!”
Heidel growled. “Olive, get over here!”
Breathing deeply, I tried to let my magic renew somewhat before attempting another healing spell. Luckily, I could use the staff’s power to help me. This thing was finally coming in handy.
“How bad is it?” I asked as I knelt by Rolf.
“It was better before she stabbed her knife into the wound,” Rolf said, casting a dark look at Heidel.
“I was trying to drain the poison!”
“Let me see it.”
Rolf held out his wrist. A raised band of inky blackness wrapped around his flesh. I gently touched the wound, and it wriggled as if thousands of tiny leeches moved beneath his skin. Droplets of blood seeped from a puncture in the wound. I hated this magic. It was repulsive, sickened my stomach, and it was wholly unnatural, as if it were made for draining life away.
“Hold on. I can heal you, but give me a moment.”
Just as before, I let my magic flow to the surface. It came more sluggishly, and only when I let the staff’s power infuse with my own did it start to work. Silvery blue glowed around my hand and then outward, surrounding his wrist, snuffing out the darkness. My breath left my body as the magic escaped me. When the spell was finished, and Rolf’s wrist was restored, I sat back, breathing heavily, watching the stars dance in my vision, feeling as if I’d been punched in the stomach.
“Ouch,” I whispered.
Kull rested his hand on my shoulder.
“Let’s avoid the Regaymor in the future,” I said.
“Agreed,” Rolf answered.
I got to my feet, and we made it back to where we’d been camping. The fire had burned out, but the fey lanterns still glowed. With my energy spent, I collapsed onto my sleeping pallet. The others spoke quietly. I caught bits and pieces of their conversation. They decided to let me and the two injured Wults rest while Kull and Heidel took watch. As I drifted, I heard the siblings talking.
“Where did they come from?” Kull asked.
“Inside the temple, obviously.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?” Heidel asked.
“Because I just don’t think so. I think they must wander this land going wherever they please, looking for creatures to prey upon.”
“You’re only saying that because you refuse to think this place is dangerous.”
“Are you ever going to shut up about that?”
A pause. Something too quiet to hear.
“Jesting, ha! I know. I’ve lived with you long enough. Please marry Olive soon and settle some place far away.”
“Actually, we were planning to move into Grandamere’s cottage.”
Heidel cursed.
“Why don’t you marry someone, Sister? Then you will have an excuse to move away.”
“First, I could move away whenever I please; I don’t need a husband to do that. Second, I will never marry. Not after… after what happened. With Maveryck.”
“You really liked him, didn’t you?”
“I suppose you could say that. I would have married him if he’d asked.”
“Really?”
Quiet voices again.
“But someday you’ll have to get over him.”
“I disagree. He is still alive, and as long as he is, I will not lose hope.”
“He died. We watched him die. Why do you keep believing he is alive?”
“Because I know in my heart that he is. I can’t explain how I know such a thing—just that I do.”
Kull sighed. “Very well. I suppose I will never convince you otherwise, will I?”
Silence filled the still air. I must have drifted because I remembered dreaming—that same recurring dream where Theht came to me. The next thing I knew, someone was shaking me awake. I took my shift with Brodnik, but the rest of the night passed uneventfully.
The others woke before sunrise. We packed our things and headed away from the accursed temple.
Hiking over the mountains, I
