Corian looked at her from where he’d been sitting, his legs crossed beneath him. “What was that?”
“The last word I didn’t have a chance to say.” Grunting, the halfling rolled over onto her side and pushed herself up. She crossed her legs again and gave herself a minute to recover. “That was nuts.”
“But it worked.”
She turned toward the Nightstalker and cocked her head. “You couldn’t have just said I’d be projecting myself into the prison to have a one-on-one with the guy? I mean, how hard is it to give me a warning?”
Corian shot her a crooked smile. “If I’d told you that, would you still have done it?”
Cheyenne blinked. “Okay, fair point. But you could’ve at least given me something more than ‘good luck.’”
He laughed as he gathered the leftover ingredients and set everything aside in a neat pile. “I’m equipped to guide you through the trials, kid. Even to throw spells at you and hope you figure out how to use your magic to get the job done. And I can make the Don’adurr. But that’s where my knowledge of it stops.”
“Yeah, if I knew how to make it, I’d probably use someone else as a guinea pig too.”
The Nightstalker shrugged and stood. “It’s a drow thing, Cheyenne. Trust me, I know just as much drow magic as L’zar. That’s helpful most of the time, but I can only use about a third of it.”
He stepped toward her and offered her a hand up. The halfling rolled her eyes but took his hand. Then she brushed the dirt and dry grass off her clothes, metal wrist-chains clinking. “Not something I’m interested in doing again.”
“But you can. If you want to. That’s what matters.”
“Well, right now, I’m focused on...training with you, I guess. We still have time for that, right?”
Corian’s amused little smirk made her want to attack him. “Plenty of time for that, yeah.”
“Okay.” Cheyenne rolled her shoulders back and stretched her neck. Time to switch gears from hardcore magical drugs to sparring with a Nightstalker. No big deal. “We don’t have to go through another round of ‘eat the seed, Cheyenne,’ do we?”
“The Nimlothar seed? No.” Corian’s feline nose wrinkled as he stepped backward, chuckling. “The trials start with one seed and end when that copper box over there is open and you’ve earned your legacy.”
The halfling pursed her lips. “Once you pop, the fun don’t stop, right?”
“Yes. A can of Pringles and your drow trials are exactly the same thing. Excellent parallel.”
Despite her frustration with all the secrets and vague answers and L’zar Verdys cutting off their unexpected astral conversation, Cheyenne couldn’t help but laugh. “Guess I’m just good at those.”
“I hope you’re better at sparring.”
She grinned. “Don’t act like you haven’t seen me in action before.”
“Oh, I’ve seen it.” Corian dropped into a crouch like a huge panther on two legs about to jump into a tree. “I might even be impressed if I hadn’t had to run into that house and take care of every last magical for you.”
“For the record, I didn’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Stretching out her fingers, the halfling took a deep breath. “Also, for the record, thanks for showing up when you did.”
“There, you see? A little appreciation goes a long way, kid.”
She laughed and watched him pace in front of her, those glowing silver eyes locked onto hers. “I’ll appreciate it a lot more when these trials are over and people quit telling me to wait until I’m ready.”
The Nightstalker’s long canines flashed in the starlight when he grinned back. “You ready now?”
“Yeah. No, wait.”
Corian stood from his crouch and let out a quick burst of surprised laughter. “Wow.”
“Just hold on a second, okay?” Fighting back a smile, Cheyenne shook out her hands again and closed her eyes. “The conversation was super weird, but he gave me a tip for tapping into new abilities, I think.”
“Really? What was that?”
She did laugh then. “You wouldn’t understand, Corian. It’s a drow thing.” Yeah, okay. It feels good to say to someone else.
The Nightstalker started pacing again. She could hear his footsteps on the coarse, dry grass and the dirt, even with her eyes closed. “Take your time, kid. Just don’t take all night.”
Ignoring him, Cheyenne took a deep breath. Focus on the Nimlothar seed, huh? If I only need one, I’m guessing it hits the stomach and stays there.
She focused on the memory of the glowing purple seed and the tingling magic spreading out from her core after she’d swallowed it. The image pulsed with violet light in her mind’s eye, and the sensation returned. The halfling let out a slow, controlled breath when the tingling, buzzing heat resonated through her one more time. It reached out from her belly and chest, down through her limbs, and up into her head until she felt like she’d pressed her cheek against a humming motor. This’ll help. That crazy drow might be right.
Corian watched her, chuckling silently as L’zar Verdys’ daughter experimented with the first of many things she’d learn to do with her drow magic. Just because she started late with the trials, it doesn’t mean she’s a slow learner. I’ll give her that. He licked his lips and waited for her to find whatever she was looking for.
When the halfling opened her eyes, he froze. A thin, quick glimmer of purple light flashed across her glowing gold eyes. Now we’re talkin’.
“Okay, halfling,” he called, jerking his chin at her in challenge. “Hit me.”
Cheyenne sent a crackling black sphere of energy at him before he’d finished talking. Corian darted out of the way and responded with a bolt of blazing silver light. It pinged off the dark shield she raised and shot toward the sky before fizzling out against the dome of his wards.
She wasn’t kidding about the shields.
“Which one are you focusing on now, kid?” he shouted, circling toward her as silver light flared in his hand.
“Not this
