Guardians of the Boundary (The Conjurors Series Book 3) (15 page)

“I have been tracking Kellen for
many weeks. I keep a distance between us so he does not know I follow him, but
when I heard your cries, I came as quickly as I could,” Gideon said, his voice
loud to her overly sensitized ears.

Valerie was only vaguely aware
of what he was saying. She wasn’t sure when Gideon scooped her up, but when
they reached the doors of the Healers’ Guild, he was carrying her. Her knees
must have given out after all.

Gideon pulled on one of the door
handles, but it didn’t open. He pounded authoritatively, and Nightingale, the
Grand Master Healer, answered.

Nightingale was frightening to
see at first glance, and in Valerie’s muddled state of mind, his sharp teeth
glinted like knives.

“Fairy dust overdose,” Gideon
said. “She needs to be purged right away.”

“She may not enter,” Nightingale
said. His voice was firm, but she thought she saw a flicker of pity in his eyes
as she began to shake.

Gideon tried to push past the
creature, but a burst of magic hit them, flinging them off the steps of the Guild.

“I see the Healers have chosen
to join the Fractus,” Gideon said, gracefully standing without ever letting
Valerie go. “I’ve known you many years, and I trust that you will find your way
back to the light.”

Without wasting more time,
Gideon began to run. Valerie bit back a moan as every stride sent fire
ricocheting around her body like a pinball machine. Her vision faded in and
out, and she wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she saw that she was in
her own bed with Oberon hovering over her.

Azra was nearby, her horn
glinting silver in the light.

“Like an angel,” Valerie
whispered, staring at the unicorn in awe. Henry squeezed her hand. Cyrus and
Kanti were there, as well.

“Am I going to die?” she asked,
wondering if what she was seeing now was even real.

“No,” Oberon said. His voice
didn’t waver, and she believed him. She would survive this.

Some part of her mind registered
that Oberon had removed Azra’s horn from her forehead. She had been healed this
way once before, and she watched as Oberon channeled a trickle of water from
the moisture in the air around him into the hollow horn. Henry held her head up
as she drank the warm liquid from Azra’s horn.

I cannot promise this will be
effective. My magic transferred to my child
. Azra’s voice in Valerie’s mind calmed her in
spite of her words.

“It’s working,” Valerie
reassured her as the fire in her body dimmed to a smoldering ember.

“Good. Sleep now, Daughter, and
when you awake, we will discuss how to kill the Fractus who tried to end your
life,” Oberon said.

His protective rage made Valerie
smile even as her eyes drifted closed. She patted his hand.

“Thanks, Daddy. But no murderous
rampages on my behalf,” she murmured almost incoherently. “Promise.”

“I promise,” Oberon said
soberly.

Before she slipped into sleep,
one of Henry’s thoughts made its way into her mind.

“He might promise, but I don’t.”

The first thing Valerie
registered when she woke up the next morning was that Pathos was beneath her
pillow, as it had been every day before Kellen had taken it from her. She
reached for the hilt, but having it in her grip didn’t bring her the same
security she’d always had when she’d touched it before, so she let it go. She
tried to push herself up to a seated position, but the pain from Kellen’s magic
still smoldered in her bones. Someone handed her a warm towel, and she wiped
her face.

“Welcome back,” Cyrus said, his
tone overly cheery. “You look like hell.”

Valerie grinned a little, but it
sent sparks of pain through her face. “That’s why I love you. Your charm.”

Oberon cleared his throat. “You
scared us, Daughter.”

Valerie looked around the room
to see who else was there.

“Kanti and Henry are sleeping in
his room,” Cyrus said. “Gideon is scouring the woods to make sure Ani and
Kellen have been taken care of, and Azra is outside nearby if we need her.
Summer is giving her a checkup.”

“Summer?” Valerie asked,
confused.

“She used to be a doctor to the
centaurs. Since there are no other unicorns to help guide Azra through her
pregnancy, Summer’s the closest species. She says she’ll be able to deliver her
baby safely,” Oberon explained.

It was good to think about
something other than her pain. Valerie imagined a tiny Azra, and the thought
made her smile. In spite of all the darkness that she had encountered over the
past year, it was good to know there were little pinpoints of light along the
way, too.

“Now that you have had some
rest, you must begin building up your store of magic,” Oberon said sternly.
“Yesterday proves that your enemies are circling.”

The thought of calling upon her
magic was exhausting, but she knew her father was right.

“I do not wish to overwhelm you,
but you must know that as a vivicus and leader, these attacks will not cease.
You must always be on your guard,” Oberon continued.

Until the Balance is restored
. Azra’s head poked through
Valerie’s window. Oberon arched a brow in question, and Azra explained.
New words were etched on Pathos
binding Valerie, Henry, Kanti, and Cyrus together as the Pillars of Light.

The color drained from Oberon’s
face.

“Dad, what is it?” Valerie
asked.

Oberon hesitated before
speaking. “Your mother spoke of a prophecy about the Pillars of Light that we
never understood. Before she received the prophecy in its entirety, an old
Oracle named Mer interrupted.”

“Mer was the one who told me you
were alive!” Valerie said excitedly, forgetting her pain.

“I would not have expected that
he still dwelled in the Roaming City,” Oberon said. “I heard he was to be
exiled for entering the sacred rings during your mother’s prophecy.”

“What did she learn before Mer
interrupted?” Henry asked, and Valerie saw that he was standing in her doorway
with Kanti, rubbing his eyes.

“She said there were four
pillars of light, and one would fall into darkness. Only if that pillar was
rebuilt would the Globe find the Balance,” Oberon said, and then his voice
turned a little angry. “Neither she nor I ever imagined that the pillars would
be children. Haven’t you been burdened with enough?”

Valerie realized the gravity of
her father’s revelation first. “One of us must fall… Do you mean be wounded?
Die?”

Oberon bowed his head, not responding.

Prophecies are rarely clear in
their meaning.
Azra gently nudged Valerie’s shoulder with her nose.

“It could mean that one of us
would join the Fractus and betray the Conjurors. That would be a fall,” Henry
said.

Valerie eyed her brother, but
his mind was closed tight against her gentle pressure. Still, she had an idea
about what he was thinking.

“Even if you gave Reaper what he
wanted in exchange for your father’s life, I don’t think that means you’ve
fallen,” Valerie said gently. “No act done out of love could lead to this
darkness the prophecy talks about.”

“I don’t understand why your
mother received this prophecy,” Cyrus said, his grip on her hand tight.

“Perhaps because her children
are two of the pillars,” Oberon’s words left everyone in the room quiet.

“There’s so much riding on all
of us,” Cyrus said, his voice low.

“We can’t afford to ever stop
following the path of light,” Valerie said, the enormity of what she had just
learned making her mind reel. The leftover pain from Kellen’s magic still
burned, and she fell back onto her pillows. It was up to her and her friends to
restore the Balance. Another responsibility. She would be old and withered
before she ever escaped them all.

The Balance
could be in no better hands.
Azra said, and somehow her words lightened the burden that Valerie carried.
After all, she wasn’t carrying it alone.

Valerie allowed herself a day of
rest. Even if her friends hadn’t insisted, she knew that she had to give
herself time to recover. She did her best to push heavy thoughts from her mind,
choosing instead to play games with Henry, Cyrus, and Kanti. That night, Henry
and Kanti disappeared, leaving Cyrus and Valerie alone.

They lay next to each other in
the grass outside her house, staring up at all of the stars. There were so many
more than were visible from Earth, because stars were constantly being pulled
into the black hole that surrounded and hid the Globe.

“This is how I imagined it would
be when you came to live here two years ago,” Cyrus said, interrupting their
silence.

Valerie turned to him. “You mean
full of attacks and leading a battle against the Fractus?”

“No, dummy. I mean staring up at
the stars, and then making out,” Cyrus said, rolling onto his side so he could meet
her eyes.

Valerie smiled, but she was
distracted, and she could see that Cyrus knew.

“I’d fight every last Fractus myself
if it meant I could have your full attention,” he teased. Then he leaned closer.
“This could be a battle we fight for years, decades even. We have to take every
chance we get to escape it occasionally, or we’ll go crazy.”

Then Cyrus’s lips were on hers,
and Valerie did her best to follow his advice. After a little while, she didn’t
have to try, and her fingers threaded through his hair, making his breath hitch.

He had just pulled her
impossibly closer when a heavy rain began to fall, drenching them both. They pushed
apart, and she saw Oberon standing in the doorway, his arms crossed. He had
called the little shower with his magic, but his lips twitched like he was
hiding a smile before he went back inside.

“I’m pretty sure that was my cue
to leave before he sends a bolt of lightning instead of a little rain,” Cyrus
said, helping her to her feet.

“We’ll have to do a better job of
hiding next time,” Valerie said.

The last of the pain
from Kellen’s dust seemed to have washed away with the rain her father sent.

The next morning, Valerie awoke
to Henry’s knock on her bedroom door. She answered, still yawning from one of
the better nights of sleep she’d had in weeks.

“Dasan sent me a message. The
Empaths are gathering today to try to find Dad,” Henry said. “I know you’re not
well enough to go—”

“No way. I’m coming,” Valerie
said, her new, commanding tone leaving no room for argument.

“You have to heal,” Henry said,
but he lacked conviction.

“Trust my judgment. I can handle
this, and I want us to have the best chance of finding Joe today. I love him,
too, you know,” she said.

Fifteen minutes later, they
hurried to Henry’s Guild. Oberon and Azra had scoured the nearby woods for any
enemies and had spotted no one. Valerie gripped Pathos’s hilt the entire way
there, but it still gave her little comfort.

“If this doesn’t work…” Henry
said, but couldn’t finish his sentence.

“I still don’t think going to
Reaper is the answer,” Valerie said. “We have no reason to believe that he’ll
honor his promise. But if that’s what you decide to do, I’ll come with you and
protect you as best I can.”

Henry shook his head and walked
faster, a fierce light in his eyes. “This will work. But no matter what happens,
you are not going back to that awful place.”

Kanti joined them as they headed
through The Horseshoe and gripped Henry’s hand.

“I doubt I’ll be of much help,
but I want to be there,” Kanti said.

A little of the tension left
Henry’s face as he stared into Kanti’s eyes. “Having you beside me will make me
stronger.”

Normally, that kind of talk
would make Valerie want to gag, but today, seeing the love between her brother
and her friend made her blink back tears.

They arrived at the Empathy Collective,
and Henry led them around back to the beautiful garden that flourished behind
the building. Valerie’s jaw almost dropped when she saw how many Empaths had
come to support Henry. Surely with so many dozens to help him, finding Joe
would be possible after all.

Henry’s smile widened, as well.
“I didn’t know anyone was coming besides Dasan, Elle, and Will.”

Elle and Will were Henry’s
closest friends in the Guild, and they had both lent their powers in the battle
against the Fractus at the Black Castle.

The crowd was chattering
excitedly, but the noise stopped when Dasan fluttered down from the rooftop. He
was a huge, magnificent red bird that came from a race called the Feng. When he
died, Dasan was reborn again from his ashes, and his many lives gave him a rare
perspective.

Dasan’s psychic magic was
powerful, and his presence brought calm to the crowd. Even Valerie’s own mind
relaxed, and her worries shrank into insignificance. It wasn’t the first time
that she’d been in the presence of Dasan’s power, and she was thankful again
that Henry had his Grand Master’s support and help to ease his constant
anxiety.

Dasan’s regal features were
glowing as he looked over the group that had gathered.

“Your presence here today is a
testament to the strength of this Guild,” Dasan said. “We are a group joined in
mind and spirit, not divided by petty grasping for power and influence. When
one member suffers, we all suffer. When one rises, we all rise.”

The group cheered, and Kanti
leaned toward Valerie. “The other guilds all roll their eyes at the Empathy
Collective, but I think this is kind of awesome.”

“I can’t imagine the Knights taking
care of each other like this, especially not now,” Valerie said, thinking of
all the fighting that was breaking out as the Knights debated whether they
should support the Fractus.

“As we have practiced, we will
channel our energy into Henry. Let him steer his mind and draw upon your power
as he needs,” Dasan said. “Henry, please sit in the center of the garden.”

Henry nodded, briefly resting
his head against Dasan’s wing. Then he walked down a short stone path to a
circular bench. Valerie and Kanti flanked him, and when he sat down, they each
held one of his hands.

“I’m ready,” Henry said.

He shut his eyes, and a tingle
touched Valerie’s mind, like someone knocking gently on the door to her head.
She opened up and Henry’s thoughts flooded in. His fears for his father,
insecurity about his own ability, and the terrible dread that failure was
inevitable made her want to choke. Valerie couldn’t imagine making herself
vulnerable to such a big group of people with her deepest insecurities, and she
squeezed his hand to let him know he had her support, and that she admired his
courage.

After her mind touched her
brother’s, a blast of magic nearly made her stumble as the collective minds of
the Empaths joined Henry’s. Everything was pure chaos. Thoughts echoed around
her brain, and Valerie couldn’t tell what came from where.

Dasan’s energy linked to Henry’s,
and a calm fell through the group. The strength of Henry’s need to find his
father cut through the muddle, and order appeared. Valerie thought of how
Oberon had taught them to collect their magic inside them and pool it to use
when they needed.

Henry’s mind caught hold of her
thought, and he channeled the power of the Empaths into a reservoir in his
mind. Then he let his thoughts take off, focusing on an image of his father’s
face.

Nothing happened. Valerie
concentrated on remembering details about Joe, like his voice and the way he
had hugged her like his own daughter when he first met her. But no connection
to Henry’s father tugged at her.

Several of the younger Empaths
began to squirm, but Dasan’s relaxed magic subdued them. Henry began to draw on
the power that flooded around him, first in sips, then in huge gulps as he
reached out, out, out into the universe, searching for Joe’s mind.

Panic hit him, and he let the
magic channel through him too fast. Valerie worried it would sweep him away if
he didn’t hold back. But before she could reach out to help him push back
against the torrent, her mind focused.