“Lori. She brought me back.”
Lori? Lori possessed no majick ability, Raxx was certain of that - he would have sensed it. Faye’s was particularly potent – another mystery he was eager to solve – but over the years, Raxx had developed a keen sense for latent majick. Sometimes, even before the person knew themselves. He was certain Lori had no such gift.
“She's not majborne, is she?” Raxx asked.
“No, not at all. Lazuli barely taught those girls anything. I think she knows a few basic defence spells and that's about it. I haven't seen her use any majick since I've been with her, even when it could have come in handy,” Lephas replied.
“Are you sure it was Lori? No one else–”
“It was just us, Raxx. I woke, alive and well, in a pool of my own blood. It was still warm. The poor girl has been a mess. She slept for days, barely eating or drinking. Whatever she did wiped her out. She's still not fully recovered now.”
“I did notice she was a little unsteady when I was stalking her through the forest,” Raxx nodded thoughtfully.
“Please tell me you've heard of this happening before? It's been driving me insane with worry.”
“Honestly, no. I've never heard of it happening.” The shadow demon paused, an old memory suddenly flickering into his consciousness. “But I have read about it.”
“You have?”
“It's a bit of a myth. Some of the scrolls hint at abilities connected with emotions. A bit like an adrenaline rush, the theory is times of great stress can awaken dormant majick abilities temporarily,” Raxx replied, rubbing his hands together thoughtfully.
“Her family clearly has a strong majick gene, if Faye is anything to go by. I've had it confirmed that Lazuli is also a majborne,” Lephas replied.
Raxx’s blood ran cold. If Lazuli was majborne, he was going to be even tougher to overcome than King Zelrus had imagined. In all the war councils Raxx had been privy to, they had never planned for the faerie king possessing majick. This changed everything. They desperately needed to return to Banesteppe, before Zelrus left to meet with Cirro.
“Is he now?” Raxx answered carefully. He hoped his concern wasn’t obvious. “That's interesting. Any idea what his abilities are?”
“Not a clue, but I'm sure Lori will tell us.” Lephas ran a hand through his hair.
There was no need, Raxx realised with a start. His stomach churned as he focussed his mind back to when he and Faye had been sat beside the fire, him teaching her about her elemencia...
“Do you think fire is your elemencia?”
“No, but I know someone who—never mind.”
Faye had been troubled to discover fire was an elemencia. Her eyes had looked hollow and haunted, like someone who had seen the horrors a powerful fire-wielding majborne could inflict. Raxx couldn’t be sure, not until he asked Faye, but it suddenly all made sense. If Lazuli could conjure and control fire, one of the strongest and most dangerous elemencia, they were in deep trouble.
Raxx swiftly turned the subject back to Lori’s mysterious majick. “I've never heard of anyone successfully resurrecting someone, but then I’ve never given much credit to the idea of 'temporary majick' either.” Raxx shrugged. “If she's one of the rare individuals who can summon emotional bursts of majick, then what's to say those bursts wouldn't be strong enough to manage something like that?”
“What does that mean for her? For me?” Lephas asked.
Raxx paused, weighing up his answer. Without more information and some solid evidence, he decided it would not be worth worrying Lephas with the enormity of the situation; not yet anyway. Instead he grinned.
“It means you're one lucky son of a bitch. You have a woman who cares so deeply for you, the thought of living without you gave her the power to raise you from the dead.”
It was painfully clear that Lori and Lephas meant a lot to one another, but Raxx knew his commander was already in way over his head. Lephas and Lori’s relationship was always going to be a risk, but now it was potentially going to be a serious one. One that might even get them killed.
He needed some time to think this over, to decide what to do next. The shadow demon made a mental note to drag out some of the dusty tomes stacked underneath his bed when they eventually returned to Banesteppe. He needed to find out more about this, more about Lori and her dormant abilities, before it was too late.
Yet, despite the magnitude of the risk Lephas was taking, a small part of him was envious of his friend. Raxx hadn’t been exaggerating when he meant Lephas was lucky to have found a bond that strong. It was almost unheard of.
“You asked me earlier if you were crazy to stand up to Zelrus?” Raxx stood, fading into the darkness. “For that kind of devotion? You'd be crazy not to.”
The wind whipped snow into a flurry and Raxx darted away into the night.
∞∞∞
Once Faye and Lori had woken, the morning passed quickly. They had readied Gaia, with Raxx and Lephas agreeing to carry some of the equipment, so Lori could join her sister on the mare’s back. Whilst it would make their travelling slightly arduous, both demons had agreed it would be quicker to have the faeries on horseback.
