Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 105132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Cadby’s chest rose faintly, held for a moment, then slowly fell.
It did not rise again.
A heavy anger settled inside Dravic. He had lost men before, more than he cared to remember, but familiarity never made death easier to accept. It only added another face to those he remembered.
Dravic started to rise when an unexpected chill swept through the clearing, sharp enough to make him pause. It was more than the bite of winter air. The cold seemed to move through him, leaving an unsettling sensation in its wake.
“My king… look.”
Dravic got to his feet and turned at the warrior’s hushed words.
A dark shape drifted from between the trees.
He kept his eyes on it as the men around him began to back away.
The ethereal form floated toward them, its shape shifting like smoke that somehow refused to scatter. A raised hood concealed its face completely, though pale strands of almost luminous blonde hair had escaped it and stirred around the figure despite the stillness of the air.
Dravic knew at once who moved toward him… the healer who defied death.
After searching throughout Scotara for her, sending Hunters from one end of his kingdom to the other, she had simply appeared in the middle of a forest in Driochmor.
The men surrounding Cadby moved further back as the spirit approached, some more quickly than others, their stunned expressions making it clear they had no more doubt than King Dravic as to who she was.
The healer shooed her hand at Dravic.
He hesitated for a moment, then he stepped back away from Cadby.
Only then did she move forward.
She stopped beside Cadby and hovered over him, the darkness surrounding her, folding and shifting as though it possessed a life of its own.
Dravic watched, waiting for her to do something. She did nothing that he could see.
Seconds passed.
His gaze went to Cadby. There was no movement from him, no sign that life had returned. Dravic looked back at the healer, wondering if even her extraordinary gift could do nothing once death had taken firm hold.
Cadby gasped.
The sudden breath startled several of the men.
Cadby dragged in another breath, then another. His eyes opened slowly, confusion filling them.
Dravic stared at him, scarcely able to comprehend what he had witnessed. He had watched the man’s final breath leave him and now he breathed again.
The healer who defied death certainly had proved her worth. She had restored his life.
Dravic’s attention snapped back to the spirit as she began to drift away from Cadby.
“Wait,” he said in a commanding tone.
The dark figure stopped.
Dravic stepped toward her and she hastily drifted away from him.
He stilled. “I have searched throughout Scotara for you.”
No response came from her.
He continued. “War is coming, if it already isn’t here. Warlord Tharne waits only for winter to release its hold on the Sea of Shadows before he brings his army of warriors to Scotara.”
The healer remained motionless, though the hood seemed angled toward him now.
Dravic wished he could see the face hidden within its depths. He could make out nothing beyond darkness, no hint of who she might be or where he might begin looking for her once she disappeared.
“I need your help when war comes. What you did here today could save countless lives.”
Not a sound came from her nor a gesture and he wondered if she was unable to speak.
“Tell me where I can find you.”
Still, he got nothing from her. He tempered the impatience that threatened to surface. He had spent too long searching for this woman to frighten her off now that she finally stood before him.
He tried again. “Help me protect Scotara.”
The healer began to fade.
“Nay. Wait.”
For the briefest moment, she lingered.
Dravic stepped closer. “Help me protect your home.”
He waited, hoping for some acknowledgment, some indication that she understood what he asked of her… to protect what belonged to her, to them all.
None came.
The dark form dissolved slowly, breaking apart like mist until only a few pale wisps remained between the trees before those, too, disappeared.
Dravic stood staring at the place where she had been. He had finally found the exceptional healer. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say she had found him. That thought settled uneasily in his mind.
She had appeared when Cadby needed her.
How had she known?
Behind him came the unmistakable sound of Cadby drawing another deep breath, reminding Dravic that whatever questions remained unanswered, one thing was certain.
The exceptional healer was real, and her power was far greater than he had imagined.
Another sudden thought struck him.
Adira.
He turned sharply toward the tree where he had left her.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Voices on the Wind
An Unexpected Truth
Dravic reached Adira in long, hurried strides and dropped down beside her.
Fiora hovered near her shoulder, worry having chased away every trace of the fairy’s usual mischief.
“She hasn’t opened her eyes yet,” Fiora said. “I tried to wake her, but—”