It had been long enough now, though. That voice, so familiar, moved in and out of her mind, and it was driving her mad. Ellie searched her mind for their bond, and to her great surprise, she found it. She had not felt it in so long that it was almost overwhelming to find the bond—to discover him, Taeben, crouching in the very back of her consciousness.
What are you doing here? How are you here? You are dead.
Well, I was—sort of. But not anymore, and it is all thanks to you, my dark flower.
Stop calling me that. I’m not entirely convinced you are who you pretend to be.
Shall I prove it to you by taking control as I did before? I must say, Ellie, I am quite proud that you are strong enough to remain aware now when I take control like that. Quite proud indeed.
I don’t understand any of this, but if what you are saying is true, can’t I just block you out?
You will not like what happens if you try that.
She thought about that for a moment. The images filling her mind of pain and torture—those weren’t new; those were memories of her wizard training in Ikedria. What could an unknown presence possibly do that would be worse than what she had already suffered? She felt a chuckle that had been absent a long time through the bond, but that could be just a memory as well.
Prove to me that you are my A’chrya, Taeben of Alynatalos and that you are here in my mind. Prove to me that you are not dead.
You speak to me so, when I have granted you access to all my magic, all my power-
PROVE IT.
Again she felt that she was falling, and her vision grew dark like before, but this time she could see her body through her mind’s eye—as though looking at it from another vantage point. She felt her arms jerk upward and saw them move from across the room. Her body turned to face the room and then bowed deeply before collapsing to the ground with an awful thud. As suddenly as she had been pulled from her body, she slammed back into it again, with the all too familiar overpoweringly loud and bright sensation of coming back to herself. Ellie struggled to catch her breath as she got to her feet and then backed up against the wall, her arms wrapped around her midsection.
I warned you that you would not like what might happen if you push me, Ellie.
That is not proof. Ellie called up barriers in her mind to push out this intruder—this impostor—and was hit with searing pain from her head to her toes. It was like being struck by twin bolts of lightning—wizard’s lightning.
You see, it can still get worse.
You brought me to where you are once before. Do it again, and I will believe you.
The darkness fell for her again, but this time it was accompanied by a roaring wind that she recognized as transportation magic. The floor fell out from under her feet, and she plummeted, but when her feet finally touched solid ground again, her knees buckled from the force of the landing. She braced herself to hit the ground but was caught—caught by a familiar pair of sinewy arms and gathered up against a velvet robe-covered chest. She opened her eyes and looked up into those silvery eyes—and then slammed back into her own body in her own workroom with such force that she was on her back on the ground when she opened her eyes.
I do not yet have the strength to bring you here for more than a moment, just as I do not have the power to come to you and separate from you. That is why I must—borrow, for lack of a better word, your body from time to time.
This is about what was written in the journal, the circled parts. The Guardians know—Ginny knows. All of that.
Yes.
She knows how to travel like this, through the bond?
Yes.
But A’chrya, what does it all mean? How can I help if I do not know-
A’chrya? That means Master, does it not? So you believe me now?
Yes. You wrote that the ‘orb has Ikara’s power’ and that the Guardians and ‘Ginny’ know where it is. Your Ginny is gone, A’chrya. She is with the Rajah, never to return and hopefully dead.
Ellie winced, expecting a reaction from him—inside her mind, outside her body, or both. But nothing came. There was a bit of sadness, and then some anger, but that was not directed at her.
Then you must go after Ginny and her feral pet, my dark flower. You must find that orb, and then you may kill them, I care not. And yes, since you are wondering, I have been doing a bit of rummaging around through your mind. I find it to be a particularly dark and hospitable place, for now anyway. Find the Nature Walker, get the orb, and then we will use the power of your cursed Father Ikara to bring me back and restore me to my previous state. After that, the world will be ours.
As you wish, A’chrya.
Ellie felt him withdraw and was amazed that she could still feel him, just like before, as a sharp little buzz in the back of her mind.
A’chrya, one thing I must ask—please, do not take over my body when I am away from the embassy—I cannot afford to draw attention to myself, especially now that the Rajah and the Nature Walker are missing, and-
Elspethe. How you doubt me. No one misses them because everyone
