Too many things happened at once, too many sounds for Jaysen to decipher any of it. Frustration welled inside of him, dropping him into a crouch. His hands moved in the ash and snow from memory, creating a circle. Power pooled inside of him, a spell forming in his mind to summon one of the denizens of hell. Tanis continued to snarl, barking again as Jaysen worked then yelping sharply. He stood quickly, feeling the agony of her injury as if it was done to him. A second wave of agony made him cry out as he felt the wound that took Tanis's life.
Jaysen!
Kaleo. His mental cry came too late. Jaysen felt the stab of cold steel through his middle before he could truly register his friend’s voice.
“You will not interfere again,” Xandrix growled. The pain intensified as the blade was withdrawn, making Jaysen fall hard to the ground. He coughed, tasting blood in his mouth. Death would come slowly.
More pain radiated across his middle as something else took hold of him, dragging him over the ground until reaching the church. He did not hiss like Xandrix, but it was not a comfortable experience to be on hallowed ground. He felt as if ants crawled all over his skin with stinging nettles dragging along their tiny legs. His heart ached, his chest tightening as he felt the connection to Tanis slip away.
“-sen! Jaysen!” Kaleo cried. Jaysen, tried to react, but slipped into darkness instead.
***
“Will you stop trying to bloody save everyone!!” Reven snarled, helping his wayward apprentice carry the injured… boy back into the church. “Stay put or I swear by all that is good and not I will rend you apart myself! Sit on him!”
The last he said to the centaur that stood in the church once more. There was too much chaos to focus. But, really, all he needed was a little push. There were too many people in the church to take back all at once without assistance. Even with Azure’s reassurance of assistance, Reven was not willing to risk it without an additional push. He could curse Kaleo for not thinking before he leapt. The church helped, giving the bard a little more confidence that he might be able to pull off a miracle. It was untouched both inside and out thanks to the hallowed ground. Even the Hex Storm seemed lessened while inside its borders. If he could find what he needed…
Lara ran up to him with her tunic loaded down with everything sparkly she could find. That was what he tasked her with - find all of the jewels and gems. She did not disappoint. There was everything from tiny rubies to giant blue gems the size of his fist. He grabbed those first, discarding the ones that did not ‘pulse’ as if they were trash. What he was left with were three palm sized gems so blue they rivaled Serai’s eyes in color. He heard rumors of what the Kormandi pulled from the Sapphire Mountains. He was glad to learn the rumors were true.
“Gods bless your miners,” he said, looking to the shadow-born and duende. They looked at each other with questioning faces but said nothing. “The centaur counts as two and my idiot apprentice is going to make us take that… that… boy with us. That makes eight. I can only take six at a time on a good day with the sun shining and a stone twice this size so, everyone hold on and pray.”
“Are you mad?” the centaur cut in, putting his large hand on Reven’s shoulder. Reven looked up at him, seeing the clear concern and gut-wrenching fear but grinned.
“Yes,” the bard replied. “Urchin!”
Kaleo grabbed hold of Reven’s free hand while holding on to the olven boy with the clawed hands. Lara took hold of Kaleo’s arm and looked to the centaur. The poor demi-human sighed and shook his head, staring at Azure as the phoenix alighted on Reven’s head. Reven felt the centaur squeeze his shoulder and waited until he felt the other two hold on to something, taking mental note of where everyone was as he shut his eyes and focused on his home. He felt the three gems burning in his hand, the Power pumping through his veins. He heard every plea for aid that resonating within the town, felt their pain and fear, and shoved it aside. He even went so far as to glare at the door to the church as if daring it to stop him from going home, from returning to his sanctuary.
The door did nothing. The demon-olve, however, charged right at him just as he felt the familiar tug behind his navel and the world was ripped out from beneath his feet.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Reven felt himself flinch as blinding light took hold of him. Such a thing had never happened during Travel before. He felt the tug though, and the dizzying whirl of being tossed through time and space.
…ven!!
The echo caught his attention, pulling him toward it. And, just like that his mind went completely blank with agonizing pain that quite literally shoved him through whatever nonsense that made Travel possible.
He landed hard in a bed of wet, moldy leaves. He felt as if he’d been rolled by a behemoth - why did that seem like a familiar sensation? Consciousness did not seem to want to cooperate with him. His eyes rolled, and when he was able to see clearly again, he stared up at a gloomy gray sky with trees hanging overhead. Every now and then his eyes closed, reopening to the same thing. Until it didn’t. He felt a sharp weight on his middle, making him cry out and groan as something pounced, landing hard on his stomach the weight of the thing crushing him. Instinct told him to fight, energy told him otherwise. The crushing weight turned to stinging pain that vanished just as quickly. Reven coughed, groaned and looked up
