The Gathandrian Trilogy 03 - The Executioners Cane by Brooke Anne

Author:Brooke, Anne [Brooke, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-10-18T16:00:00+00:00

Simon

Something woke him in the night, but it wasn’t pain. He’d grown used to a low level of that over the last few hour-cycles and had even managed to sleep now and again, so the Lost One was puzzled when he opened his eyes and stared upwards at the broken ceiling. From instinct he glanced at the cane and saw it glowed faintly in the darkness but it wasn’t moving or trying to attract his attention. It was as if whatever it, and he, had sensed was something it had expected to happen. Simon wished he knew what this was, and he also wished he had not woken from a dream of Ralph he blushed to recall. But it could not be helped; he was still a man. He shook the memory away and gazed more fully at the mind-cane. No, the glow had faded even in such a short space of time and he was the only one awake in this star-forsaken hour.

He should turn to sleep again and for a few moments he tried to follow his own advice. It did not succeed. So, cursing softly under his breath, he struggled to a sitting position on the pillows Ralph had somehow found for him. The warning, whatever it was, pulsated in his head and he could not gainsay it. Besides, if he was the Lost One and the only one awake, then he needed to know what danger might lurk for them here.

Getting up took longer than he’d expected. Each stretch of his limbs and even each harsh breath brought him pain. As his foot finally touched the stone floor, he gasped at the chill and at the sudden burst of crimson flooding his thoughts, and the sound must have woken the mind-cane, if sleep was familiar to it, as the next breath found the artefact trembling at his right hand. Simon ignored it, unsure if any other movement might whirl him to an inner darkness, and instead placed both hands, palm down, on his knees.

I need to get to the window, were the thoughts that sprang from his mind, and he knew the cane understood them, I need to see what’s out there but in a moment or two when I am stronger.

You are strong now, were the words that returned to him, framed in silver and black.

So you say, but you do not have flesh and blood as I do.

The cane hummed briefly, and Simon almost smiled to hear the note of disapproval in its song. He gave himself another few breaths to recover and only then eased his fingers round the cane’s silver carving.

Come then, I can bear your help now.

Standing upright made him dizzy and he found he needed the mind-cane for its practical support for the first time he could remember. Still its shape in his palm warmed his skin and he could feel the flashes of green and blue sparking between them. His heart beat faster and he couldn’t help but wonder at how natural the cane felt to him now, and in spite of the pain that still dogged him.

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