“But—”
“I agree… Raspian is getting stronger. He’s sinking in his dark clutches wherever he can find purchase, as Yargen’s powers weaken. We’ve seen it in the White Death, we’ve seen it in his magic streaking through the sky as red lightning. But I don’t think the city you saw was of the elfin’ra. I think it was the Twilight Kingdom. I suspect his dark energy is distorting the shift around the city, weakening it. Perhaps, as you describe, tearing it.”
“He’s rotting the world from the inside out.” Vi returned to one of her earlier conclusions.
“But this could be a good thing for us,” Taavin mused.
“How so?”
“Because Adela and her like have eluded punishment for years by retreating to her Isle of Frost. The whole of the island is protected by a shift of its own.”
“Adela knew the Faithful wouldn’t rely on the morphi, not even to get to her.” Vi pieced it together aloud, recalling what Taavin had said about the mutual hatred. That made the morphi an easy target for Adela to lure to her cause.
“But if Raspian is breaking down the shift, we may be able to find a way in to the isle. It was something we were going to have to confront, one way or another. This just provides us a simple solution.”
Vi dismissed the fact that Taavin was ignoring the obvious, yet again; they could simply seek help from the morphi. Vi likewise filed the idea away, for now. Getting a morphi on their side appealed to her, loathe as she was to bring an unknown element into her plans. She didn’t want to leave her father’s rescue to the chance of a tear in the shift around the Isle of Frost—she wanted to know for certain she’d be able to get to Adela.
“How is Raspian doing all this without a physical form? Isn’t that what the elfin’ra have been after, what they’re hunting us to achieve?”
“Yes. For Raspian to reap the destruction he so desires and rebuild the world in his image, he will need to be flesh and blood … But as Yargen’s magic continues to fade, Raspian can make bolder plays as he searches for a way to walk among us again.”
“What can we do to stop him?”
“Rekindle the flame and restore it to the blazing beacon of life it’s always been.” Such had been his goal from the start. It had been the one thing he’d sought her out to do all those months ago.
“The watch protected me from one of the bolts of lightning,” she said as she clutched the token. “Taavin, I think somehow, it has Yargen’s magic.”
He hummed in agreement, reaching upward. But rather than going immediately for the watch, his fingertips rested lightly on her cheek. They were almost scalding hot. Vi hadn’t realized how clammy she’d become. He searched her face for a long moment before his hand fell, resting atop hers and the watch.
“You may be right. We don’t know what it contains, yet, and I desperately want to uncover its secrets.”
“How do we do that?”
“I’ll need to use Lightspinning to investigate the magic within. Something I am in no position to do.”
Taavin pushed himself away and settled back against the wall across from her once more. His eyes fluttered closed a moment and Vi watched the shallow rise and fall of his chest. She didn’t know if he meant that he wasn’t in a position to do so because of his current state… or because they were in a place he couldn’t use Lightspinning.
Likely both.
“Well… you’ll just have to get better quickly then.” Vi pushed away from her wall, twisting and settling once more next to him. Their sides were flush and she soaked in his warmth.
“I’m trying,” he murmured over a bite of skullcap.
“Try harder.” Vi nudged him lightly, hoping she’d come off as playful. The emotion was rusty. It felt awkward to her, so she couldn’t imagine how it was received.
A smile broke on his lips. “Yes, my Champion.”
“Thank you, my Voice.”
There was something dangerously endearing to the words. Perhaps their physical proximity added layers of meaning that weren’t really there. Or perhaps it was the panic that still popped under her skin like electric shocks, driving her to seek out any feelings of safety and security she could.
“Taavin…” Vi whispered. His breathing had slowed, and she had yet to look back toward him, instead keeping her focus on the dancing shadows her small, flickering flame cast on the wall opposite them. She almost hoped he had fallen asleep.
“Yes, Vi?”
“You told me once, terrible things happen to those you love.”
“I did.” His voice had grown more lucid, and Vi felt guilty keeping him awake. What was she really trying to ask, anyway?
