The Blood Traitor by Lynette Noni

Author:Lynette Noni
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-03-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

The next few days passed in a haze of blistering sun and windswept sand as their group set out across the desert. They stayed close to the coastline to take advantage of the ocean breeze, only moving inland when the cliffside path became too hazardous for the horses.

Every morning, Kiva continued to work with Caldon, first on her physical strength and then on her magic. He was methodical in making her relive every single moment of the arena battle, showing her a range of self-defense moves she could have used in a multiple-opponent scenario, ignoring her claims that she’d never be in that situation again. Or she hoped not. She might have come to terms with what had happened, thanks to Naari’s intervention, but the golden warrior remained in her thoughts. Kiva doubted she would ever fully disappear — that was the consequence of taking a life, a burden to live with forever.

On the magical side of things, Kiva was becoming increasingly jealous of Ashlyn, who was seeing vast improvements in her windfunneling. She was now able to transport herself to any point she could see in the distance, even if she’d yet to manage anywhere outside of view. But Galdric was impressed by how quickly she was learning. Conversely, Kiva’s attempts to throw her own power outward continued to fizzle into nothing.

Despite how effortless it had been for her to heal Naari after the Arzavaar — and to extend that healing to Ashlyn and Cresta without having to touch them — Kiva had seen little success since then. Her magic was temperamental at best, and causing her no small amount of frustration.

On the third day after they’d left Yirin, the pressure finally got to her enough that, mid-training, she threw her hands in the air and cried, “It’s useless! I’m never going to be able to do what Zuleeka does!”

“That’s actually the opposite of what we want,” Caldon said dryly. “Death magic, bad. Remember?”

Kiva scowled and kicked at the sand. “Don’t try to be funny when I’m upset.”

Straight-faced, he said, “There’s nothing funny about death magic. That’s some dark humor you’re into, Sunshine.” He then cracked a smile and nudged her in the ribs, saying, “Lighten up, Sweet Cheeks. No one expects you to learn everything in a day.”

Maybe not, but they clearly wished she’d learn faster than her current speed. She might as well not have magic, for all the progress she was making.

Sighing, Kiva stared across the seemingly endless sand dunes, the early morning sun hinting that the day would be another scorcher. They’d found a small oasis to camp beside overnight, the watering hole narrow but bordered by enough shrubbery that they’d each been able to wash the sweat and dirt off their bodies with a modicum of privacy. Kiva had felt nearly human for the first time in four days when she’d awoken that morning, but now her growing irritation was sabotaging her mood.

In a miserable voice, she said, “I just don’t know how to do it.

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