Illusions (Magi Rising Book 3) by Raye Wagner

Author:Raye Wagner [Wagner, Raye]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-23T16:00:00+00:00

15

I could hear their voices as we walked back to the barracks. Words that bounced around in my head but meant little. Words like broken, key, help. If I was broken, whose fault was that?

“She needs to be stronger,” Kümdâr Zerôn said.

His words floated to where I lagged behind everyone else, and I couldn’t help but glare at the back of his head.

“She’s the key for this to work. We need her power,” he added, grumbling. He trailed his fingers over the vines of the jungle as if completely careless of the death residing within.

“You want her to be the key, but what if she’s too weak?” Rünê whispered. “What if you can’t make her be something she’s not?”

Zerôn stopped, forcing all of the rest of us to halt. He turned and stared past me, through me, glaring at Zîvrünê. “She’s sensitive. That’s normal when you’re unfamiliar with death, but she’ll get better. She’ll get stronger. She’s a survivor. Remember Zädîsa? It took her a while to grow stronger, but—”

“Zädîsa?” Rünê growled. “Zädîsa is a shell. Not stronger.”

“She’ll come back,” the kümdâr snapped. “You said her mind is still there, and her body is alive. She’ll come back. I know it.”

If Zädîsa was smart, she would never come back here. This place was a living bûyî.

The next thing I knew, we were at the barracks and everyone but Rünê and Bîcav were gone. I blinked up in the darkness, the few torches of magîkal light casting the jungle and my two companions in shadow.

“She’s numb,” Bîcav said, his tone flat. “She can’t even remember walking here, Rünê. If the kümdâr continues to push her like this, she won’t last another week.”

Rünê pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He didn’t bother answering Bîcav, and after a moment of silence, I remembered he wouldn’t need to.

“I’ll come for you tomorrow,” Bîcav said.

My gaze darted from Zîvrünê to Bîcav, and I met his heavy gaze. That’s when I realized he was talking to me. I bobbed my head in response. I had no choice anyway.

“Be kind to her, Rünê,” Bîcav said. “She’s… fragile.”

Bîcav melted into the shadows, leaving me and Rünê… and four of the kümdâr’s guards.

“Come walk with me,” Rünê said. He tilted his head toward the darkness, and his eyes reflected the light, making him look even more otherworldly than normal.

“I-I…” I wanted to protest, but the words stuck in the back of my throat, choking me. I shook my head, but I couldn’t get my feet to take me into the barracks either.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Taja.”

I stared at him, and I heard his voice in my head, in my memory, telling me I could do hard things, and I glared at him. “Don’t manipulate me, Zîvrünê. I hate liars.”

I turned my back on him and walked through the doorway into the tyros’ barracks. My surroundings blurred, but I marched forward toward the garderchamber where I washed my hair in the basin, stripped out of my tunic, and scrubbed my skin until it was raw.

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