“There you are,” the mage murmured with satisfaction. “I knew you were there. I told you I’d see you again, remember?”
“Don’t talk to him,”rushed through my head.
“Leave,” I whispered.
“Oh but if I do, what will happen to your beloved general? Will you let the dragon consume him? It’s happening faster than you may think.”
I swallowed through the tightness in my throat. Subconsciously, I kept hoping we still had time. Lots of time. But deep inside, I knew it might not be the case.
“How fast?”
“Ohhh,” a sigh came from outside the door, turning into a mournful moan. “Days. Possibly a handful of weeks, if we’re lucky.”
“What?” Horror struck me like a blow under my ribs.
My limbs grew cold, trembling. The urge to have Timur here with me grew so intense, I’d run after him. If we only had days left, I didn’t want to be apart from him for another minute.
If only I knew where to run.
The familiar dreadful hopelessness seized me. How stupid I’d been. Planning, dreaming… Like Timur and I still had a future together. Like we had lots of time for our plans to come true.
“We need to hurry, Sweet One,” the voice slithered under the door like a lick of shadows.
“There is very little time to save him.”
Save him.
The two little words anchored in my mind, giving me a lifeline.
“Are you saying you can save him?” I asked eagerly, crawling to the door on all fours.
“I can, sweet Elaine.” The way he slinked his tongue around the syllables of my name felt as if he’d licked my skin, sending a shiver of repulsion down my arms, but I didn’t move away from the door, leaning closer so as not to miss a single word.
“How?” I asked.
“The general’s affliction is difficult. So difficult indeed that all the magic of Alveari combined is powerless against it.”
“But you’ve just said you could help,” I snapped.
“Only with your help, my dear. I’ll need you to work with me.”
“But how? I have no magic.”
“That’s what you think. Except that just because you can’t disperse into shadows or use a spell, it doesn’t make you powerless.”
Powerless, helpless… That was exactly how I felt every time I faced the prospect of Timur’s inevitable demise.
“What can I do?”
“You feel affection for the general, do you not?” Suhai prodded.
My feelings for Timur had grown far beyond mere affection. I loved him, deeply and against all odds. But Suhai didn’t need to know that.
“Why does it matter what I feel for him?” I countered with a question instead.
“Because your feelings are your magic, Sweet One. The stronger they are, the more power you hold.”
“If my feelings were that magically fabulous as you say, Timur would’ve been long cured,” I said with a bitter smile.
