Tossing his mead and stew aside, he lunged for Ravi, fighting through the storm of power rushing over him. As soon as Daks reached him, Ravi’s back arched off the ground and his eyes shot open. They glowed silver under the setting sun, and Daks couldn’t pretend it was a trick of the moonlight this time.
He heard the footsteps of people rushing toward them, but he didn’t take his eyes off Ravi.
“Come on, sweetheart. Push it away. You know you can,” Daks said hoarsely as he struggled to think past the waves of energy coursing through him. “I’m here, love. You’re not alone.”
“What’s happening? What’s wrong?” Daks heard someone, possibly Tas, ask, but he couldn’t answer.
“To heal the wound, you will need the strength of all.
Twin roses of the winds, ever after entwined: the pillar and the shield.
Free the stones from Black Tower to Knowledge’s heart.
Cleave to your own heart, your sight, and the bearer of your burden.
Gather the stone that sleeps, the three made one, the bridge, and the axe.
At the end and the beginning, the last will come to fulfill the promise and change his song forever.”
Ravi’s voice had that creepy, foreign overlay Daks had only heard once before, and he groaned. Gods, he hated prophecies, even more so for the toll they took on his Ravi. Feeling helpless, he clutched Ravi closer and rocked him in his arms, murmuring useless reassurances. He didn’t give a damn about the prophecy, or if it was important. He just wanted it to stop.
Shadows loomed over them, and Daks had enough instinct for self-preservation to look up. Red-beard, his small companion, Tas, Girik, and others stood over them staring. But when Ravi turned his head, his otherworldly glowing gaze fixed on the bearded wizard, pinning him in place.
“But beware, Riftwielder, another has returned to finish what was started, and they will destroy all in the name of a new paradise.”
The magic flooded out of Ravi as quickly as it had rushed in, leaving Daks reeling. He couldn’t even imagine how Ravi must feel. As soon as Ravi went limp, Daks gathered him into his lap, clutching him tight and protecting him as best he could from the crowd of gawkers. He wanted to lash out at all of them, chase them off like the flock of buzzards they were, but he would’ve had to put Ravi down to manage it.
“Back up, everyone. Give them some air,” a new voice yelled.
When Daks glanced up, he saw the wizard’s petite black-haired companion making shooing motions, and the crowd of mostly giants quickly dispersed under his orders.
Daks liked him already.
The red-beard stood frozen, staring at the two of them as if he thought he could will more information out of them, but Daks was done. Heedless of anyone else, he rose to his knees, hefted Ravi in his arms, and struggled to his feet. Girik lurched forward as if to help, but Daks simply growled at him until the man stepped back. Before anyone else could get in their way, Daks lumbered toward the building where Shura lay. He’d seen another small bed in there, and Shura and Fara were the only people here he trusted.
Chapter Sixteen
“WHAT HAPPENED?” Fara asked as she made way for him and closed the door behind them.
“Vision,” Daks grunted around the headache that threatened to gray out his world.
He laid Ravi carefully onto the empty bed and plopped onto the mattress next to him.
Fara worried her lower lip before looking over her shoulder the way they’d come. The door remained closed, though, no matter what went on outside, and that was all Daks cared about for now.
“Were they…. Was everyone, uh…. Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Don’t know. Don’t care. They’ve got a wizard, a rogue pain priest, and a Spawn, so I’m pretty sure having a Seer around shouldn’t ruffle their feathers too much.”
“You’re going to stay here?”
“Yes.”
She turned her gaze to Shura’s sleeping form. “I don’t want her to wake up alone.”
Daks lifted his aching head and held her gaze as he said, “She’s been my partner for close to ten years. I’ll never leave her alone unless she tells me to.”
A small smile crept over Fara’s lips, and the worry lines on her brow faded. “Of course. I’ll go see what’s going on out there, then, try to calm things down if I have to. I’ll be back soon.”
Silence fell heavily in the small building once she’d left, and Daks blew out a long breath and rubbed his temples. If Ravi had to have a Vision anywhere in Rassa, this was the place. The Brotherhood might have scryers locked on the wizard’s little town and Sensitives in Traget, but if they hadn’t sent any brothers or guards after the magic users already, chances were, they wouldn’t mount an offensive for one Seer.
“Daks?”
Some of the tightness in his chest eased at the sound of Shura’s voice. He managed a weak grin and moved to the chair at her bedside that Fara had vacated.
“Feeling better, you stubborn old goat?” he asked.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “No more stubborn than you, idiot.”
That was certainly true.
She frowned when she spotted Ravi. “Is everything all right? How long was I asleep?”
She tried to rise, but Daks put a hand to her shoulder to stop her. “He had a Vision, a prophecy. I have a feeling he’ll be out for a while. I’ll be joining him as soon as Fara comes back to report on the state of things out there.”
She grimaced. “Gods, I hate prophecies.”
Daks barked out a weak chuckle. “I’ve missed you.”
When she turned back to him, her gaze was
