Powers of the Six (20 page)

“Nolan, get up!” Emery stood over him.

Nolan staggered to his feet, his legs nearly buckling. He groaned as pain stabbed through his shoulder and arm. Nolan looked up, expecting to be impaled, but the branches blocked the archers for the time being. It wouldn’t last long, though. They were already climbing around the tree to get a better aim.

The Strength Rol’dan hovered on the wall, not daring to descend now that night approached. Nolan jerked his eyes to the line of trees. Night. With the darkness came the Dor’Jan. Crows! They’d left one fire and thrown themselves into another. Maybe the Rol’dan were the
wise
ones, after all.

Alec slid ungracefully down a branch and landed. “Nolan? You okay?”

“I think so.” His head swam and his arm throbbed. The arrow shaft had broken off in his shoulder, the stub of bloody wood protruding. Nolan pulled his gaze from the wound and locked on Alec’s bag.

“Forget it,” Alec said. “I don’t need it.”

The bag drew Nolan, compelling him, but it was out in the open, away from the safety of the tree.

“Seriously, Nolan,” Alec said. “There’s nothing there. Can you walk? Do you need help?”

“I’m fine,” Nolan said. At least his legs were good enough to run.

Alec jogged off, looking over his shoulder, waiting for Nolan to follow.

Nolan should go. It was only seconds before the Rol’dan would be back in range.

“Nolan!” Alec said in a raised whisper from his place at the river’s edge. The others were already crossing, wading in water to their waists, disappearing outside the torchlight into the darkness, but Nolan’s feet couldn’t move.

Without rational thought, Nolan sprinted toward where the bag lay.

As soon as he looped it over his head, a chorus of bowstrings twanged. Pain erupted as half a dozen arrows punched into his chest. He fell and gasped, but no air would come, only the warm flow of bitter blood. Blackness edged into his vision, making the world muddy and dark.

A figure appeared over him, Alec perhaps, tossing arrows with his Speed.

Then someone lifted Nolan.

He heard more yelling and splashing water.

And then, finally, Nolan heard nothing at all.

Chapter Seventeen

NOLAN’S BACK ARCHED, and then collapsed, splashing into the cold currents. The agony was gone, but in its place, a weakness enveloped him, as if he’d forced aside the heavy cloak of death.

The moon glowed through the cloud cover, casting pale light on the figure of a girl standing shin-deep in the caressing river. Wet strands of hair hung over her downcast face, and her sagging shoulders heaved in labored breaths. Nolan had been healed, but at what price? Poor Taryn had gone above and beyond the call.

She lifted her face, and the moonlight reflected on her hair. The blond strands Nolan expected weren’t there. The locks were brown, and tears still lingered on her cheeks. It wasn’t Taryn at all. Megan wiped her eyes and gave Nolan a weary smile. Large spots of blood soaked through the front of her dress.

Nolan opened his mouth, but no words would come. He could hardly believe it. Megan was a Healer? The memory of the arrows returned in full clarity. Not only had she healed him, she’d saved his life.

“I told you to stop!” Flann grabbed Megan’s arm and yanked her to her feet. She staggered, sloshing in the water as she clutched her brother’s arm for support.

“Stop?” she said. “You’d rather I’d watched him die?”

“
You
could’ve died!”

“The risk was my choice to make, not yours—”

“Our whole mission is a risk. Each of us must make choices. What Megan did was dangerous, but it was also right,” Emery said.

Emery waded toward Nolan. His wet hair clung to the side of his bearded face. He knelt, examining Nolan as the faint purple in his eyes glowed brilliantly in the darkness.

“Where are we?” Nolan asked

“Downstream from Faylinn. The Rol’dan won’t follow us, but we need to move quickly. Can you walk?”

Barely able to feel his arms from the cold water, Nolan placed his palms against the gravel-and-slime-covered riverbed. As soon as he pushed up, both hands slipped, and he collapsed with a
splash
. “I … I don’t think so.”

Emery nodded. “You’ve lost a lot of blood. I’m afraid you’ll have to travel by other means.” He made a motion toward Rylan.

“I can do this.” Nolan braced his hands. They trembled, and he fell into the water again.

“I’m sorry, Nolan,” Emery said. “We can’t wait, at least not for you to walk on your own.”

Emery was right. Nolan was as useful as a sack of rocks. He resisted the impulse to sink below the water and disappear.

Rylan stepped toward him, his shirt covered in bloody gore. Stripes of red streaked down one shoulder to his back, as if he’d carried a deer carcass across his shoulder after a hunt. Nolan swallowed. So much blood. He must’ve carried Nolan away after he’d been shot.

Rylan smiled sheepishly, lifted Nolan, and pitched him over his narrow shoulders like a sick lamb from the field.

“Now that we’re out of danger … for the moment,” Emery said, “we’ll travel the river a bit farther and then through the Forest of Vidar. We mustn’t light a torch, nor utter a sound of any kind. If we do, we could bring the Dor’Jan upon us.”

“So this is how we’re supposed to evade death?” Kardos said. “By Brim, you’re mad.”

“So it would seem.” Emery’s mouth quirked. “Hakan, you’ll take the lead from this point on. You can recognize the creatures by sight or sound?”

Hakan frowned. “Aye, and smell as well. I can’t forget that stench.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Daren asked. “I have Perception.”

Emery patted Daren’s shoulder. “I’m afraid your gift is not developed enough to withstand the efforts.” At the confusion that flitted over Daren’s face, Emery explained, “Our powers weaken as the sun sets. Perhaps you might help by keeping watch over our group, making sure we all stay together. It’d be death for anyone who falls behind.”

Kardos stepped forward, his fists clenched into fists. “What makes you think the creatures haven’t heard us already, especially with all the loud-mouth yelling?”

Bonty swatted bugs around her head. “Calm down, Kardos. It won’t help losing your temper either.”

“The Dor’Jan will search the roads first, where most people travel,” Emery said. “No one strays far from the paths. We can use this to our advantage. However, if we alert them to our presence, then we’d be helpless to stop them. From this point forward, we must say absolutely nothing and walk like one of the creatures of the forest.”

“So a bear would be fine then, eh?” Hakan said with a nervous grin.

Emery shook his head. “Keep us safe, friend. I’m afraid it will take the perseverance of a bear to keep us alive.”

Hakan nodded, scowling with all seriousness, as Perception glowed from his eyes. He squared his large shoulders, took a deep breath, and with a steady sloshing of feet, their silent night journey began.

***

Although Megan had healed Nolan’s injuries, the awkward position on Rylan’s shoulder inflicted a whole different type of pain. When Nolan’s limbs weren’t asleep, he’d drift in and out, awakening to darkness. What little moonlight shone from behind the clouds was blotted out by the foliage. The only thing visible was the faint orange glow coming from Hakan’s eyes.

The silence and monotony were taxing. They didn’t even have conversation to pass time. After awakening again—much like the many other times—Nolan noticed the darkness seemed a little less. And after a short time more, he could see the outline of his fingers when he wiggled them in front of his face.

Sunlight filtered through the trees, and with it, a collective sigh sounded from the group. Rylan gently placed Nolan in a bed of leaves.

“This will have to do, Nolan.” Rylan smirked, looking more like a boy because of the freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose. Several lines of sweat dripped down his face. He wiped them away with a shaking hand.

“I’m so sorry, Rylan.” Nolan’s voice croaked from lack of use.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Rylan said. “If it weren’t for you, I’d be heading off to Faylinn instead.” He grinned. “It’s the least I can do. But a little break would be great.”

Rylan retreated toward the others, swinging his arm in a circle as if trying to gain sensation. Ahead, Hakan fell to his knees, covering his face with quivering hands. Emery went to him, exchanged a few words, and returned.

“Hakan is exhausted,” Emery said. “We’ll make camp here.” He gave them all a weary smile, dark circles under his eyes. “Well done … all of you. We should get some sleep, though we won’t want to stay long. We must distance ourselves from Alton. Tonight, when the night falls, we should be able to camp and sleep normally again. Today we’ll keep watch closely. The Rol’dan will be searching for us.”

As discussions progressed to who would be at watch and who would sleep, Nolan relaxed, barely noticing the sticks and rocks jabbing into his back. Alec stood a good distance away, his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at Nolan with his golden Shay light blazing. He was angry. As much as Nolan wished he could ask him why, he couldn’t stay awake.

***

The smell of roasting meat roused him. Nolan opened his eyes, realizing he’d slept far longer than anyone else; they were already preparing to depart. He attempted to stand.

“Not yet,” Taryn said. She sat next to Nolan, her face smudged with mud, and her blond hair matted and wild.

She handed Nolan a wooden plate with meat cut into bites small enough for an infant. Nolan forced himself up against a tree trunk, took the plate, and placed the first bite gingerly in his mouth.

After several minutes of silent eating, he put down the empty plate and ran a hand over his chin. It was a strange sensation. Though he felt well, Nolan struggled to even lift his arm. “I suppose Rylan will have to carry me the whole way.”

Taryn smiled. “It’s okay. It’s daytime now, so it will be a lot easier for him.”

Rylan moved a large stone from one side of camp to the other, as if testing his Strength. He laughed, set down the heavy boulder, and brushed the dirt off his hands.

“See? Like I said, he’ll be just fine.” A strange expression passed over Taryn’s face. “Um, Nolan … About last night. I’m really sorry. I didn’t do anything.”

“Do anything?”

“When you were dying, I panicked. I didn’t know what to do. If Megan wasn’t here …”

“You couldn’t have done anything.”

Her brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Emery said the powers aren’t as strong at night. Also, you heard what he said to Daren, that he hasn’t used his Perception long enough to help much. You just got your Healing. How much have you actually used it?”

She scraped a bit of mud off her fingernail. “I healed a cut on Rylan’s hand once.”

“Did it hurt?”

Her eyes came up. “Maybe a little.”

“And what else?”

She shrugged. “Nothing else, so far.”

Nolan snorted. “And you feel guilty for not healing an arrow in my chest?”

“Six arrows, actually.”

Nolan started. He pulled down the front of his blue jacket—which now resembled dirty rags. Six new scars joined his previous arrow marks, concentrated on the center of his pale chest. How in the Darkness had he lived?

Taryn shook her head, eyes wide. “I thought you were dead. Then Megan pushed everyone aside and healed you anyway.”

“Crows, Taryn. Anyone would’ve panicked.”

“I suppose.” She sniffed and looked away. “I could’ve at least tried.”

Nolan put his hand on hers and squeezed. “Where’s Alec?”

She bit her lip. “He went for a run, I think. He’s pretty upset with you. About the bag and all.”

“About me going to get it?”

She nodded.

“They didn’t leave it behind, did they?”

“Alec’s bag? Why I … I don’t—”

“It’s right here,” Alec said, speeding out of the woods.

His voice caught everyone’s attention, and the rest of the camp went quiet. He stood, frowning with dried blood smeared across his tunic and face, blood that was more than likely Nolan’s.

“It’s just a bag,” Alec said. “Why in Darkness would you risk the whole plan? There was an entire wall full of Accuracy archers for Brim’s sake.”

Nolan started to speak, but couldn’t. Alec was right.

“I told you to leave it, but you wouldn’t listen,” Alec continued his rant. “Instead, you nearly got yourself killed. Crows, Nolan. What about Megan? She risked her life to bring you back—all for a nightforsaken bag.”

“Now, Alec,” Emery said as he came closer, “there was no permanent harm done.”

“And what the Darkness do you know?” Alec spat. “Apart from what you steal from other people’s minds? The only reason I helped you in the first place is because Nolan trusted you, and considering his bad choices, I’m not so sure anymore. Why should I trust a Rol’dan anyway?”