Being an Essentari transforms the body. In addition to getting stronger, we can also heal quicker, which would explain why it didn’t take long for me to recover after Norin and the others attacked me all those weeks ago. Or how my muscles seem to regenerate rapidly after I’ve finished attempting to wield the flames. How all of the bruises I earned last night during our sparring match have already healed, already disappeared completely.
My brain reels from all the information about what I can do and what I’ll be able to do someday.
“And what have you learned of the Etherbond?”Nyxa’s voice brushes against my thoughts, calm and soothing, like a ripple of warmth reaching every corner of my mind before fading away.
“Not much. Other than what beasts each type of Essentari is able to bond with. What do you know of it?” I ask, even though it doesn’t matter. Neither of us will ever be able to form the bond.
“Only things I’d been told long ago. Difficult to separate fact from fiction.”
“I’m listening.”
“Those who choose to bond will tie their lives together. If one dies, so does the other. If one lives, so does the other. To break the bond is to end both lives, but to have the bond is to possess limitless power.”Her words flow over me as if she’s reading a poem, both beautiful and dangerous.
“And what do they mean bylimitlesspower?”
“That, I do not know.”
And neither of us ever will.
“How close are you?” I ask, knowing her journey is a long one.
“A few more weeks, I’d say. If I don’t catch you at the palace before you leave for your third trial, I’ll continue on to your village. This world of ours is quite a bit larger than I realized before setting out on my way to you.”
“Don’t you have family who are missing you?” I ask, worried that she’s making this trip alone.
She’s quiet. For a long while, she’s quiet.
“Nyxa?”I reach out, feeling for her mind and hoping my thoughts are somehow reaching her.
“My family died long ago. It is only me now.”
Her words wash over me, and my heart wrenches for her.
“I’m so sorry, Nyxa.”
But she doesn’t respond. The quiet deepens, and I realize her walls must be up. I reach for her presence, but it’s gone.
She’sgone.
Now that I know she can slip into my mind at any time, I can sense when she’s there. Like a warm light that lingers. But that light has been snuffed out, and poor Nyxa is all alone.
I close the journal, no longer in the mood to transfer my notes. My thoughts keep drifting back to Nyxa and the weight of her loss. I know loss. I felt it when I lost each of my sisters, but at least I still have my parents. And Nyxa…she has no one.
I rub my temples, wondering how they died. In the trials? Dehydration? Famine?
“Serafina!” The high-pitched, excited voice of Ishla draws my attention to the door. I force a smile, trying to push away the aching in my heart, and open it. “I brought treats!”
She bounces into the room, followed by a slightly brooding Jax. His jaw is tight, and the vein in his neck pulses.
He can’t be serious.
He’sstillmad?
But then I look at him, really look at him.
No.
This isn’t about what happened between us last night. This is something else.
