She couldn’t see anything broken, but she could see the damage done to muscles, the slow decay of some element of the spine itself. Age? She wasn’t certain. Barrani and Dragons didn’t age into weakness the way mortals did. They didn’t really age at all beyond a certain point. If this creature were as old as they were—or older—it was likely that it, too, was immortal.
But injured, as immortals could be.
“Yes, but the injuries were self-inflicted, I’m afraid. It is what happens when we are at war with our own impulses. Killianas is not pleased.” He said this with what she assumed was a smile, given the shift in tone. “I have attempted to converse with him, but the conversation was not productive.”
“Not productive or impossible?”
“Beyond the initial displacement, unproductive. I thought perhaps my inability to fully control myself was causing interference—but the compulsion seems to have lifted somewhat. Ah, that one is an older injury, and I feel it would be counterproductive to waste power attempting to correct it.”
She froze.
“You can feel what I’m doing?”
“Yes?”
“No, I mean—you can feel exactly what I’m doing?”
“Yes? Is this uncommon?”
“I’ve never healed someone like you before.”
Starrante stilled. He had not attempted to move away from Kaylin’s hands for the duration of their conversation—but even the movement of breath paused. He might have been made of warm stone.
It has happened, then, he said. She knew it was Starrante she heard, but his voice was free of the verbal tics that made listening to it difficult.You have not seen my...kind...before?
She didn’t answer. He was able to hear her thoughts because the healing magic was a bridge. It was why the Barrani refused healing when given the option. A brief image of Shadows, of shadow, of creatures very like Starrante, flipped open in the filing cabinet of her mind.
We were not a numerous people, he said. Ravellonwas our home. I had some interest in the world beyond our nesting grounds, beyond our duties, and after some study, I came here.
She didn’t ask him how—or why—he’d become an Arbiter. She asked nothing. Not with words.
I have, or had, kin in the heart ofRavellon. I do not know if they now exist as they once were—but we were useful; we could spin webs that existed in many states simultaneously, as you yourself are doing.
“I’m not.”
Perhaps you are unaware of it. It matters little. I can feel someone familiar, but I cannot yet see him. I believe I can hear Kavallac. She is...hmmm. Furious? I would suggest you avoid the library for the time being.
“We’d like to get back to the library, if it’s all the same to you. Do you think you can move?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think you have enough control of your actions that you won’t try to kill us?”
“Yes. Yes,” he rumbled as he began to move the bulk of his body through the hole he’d created by destroying the door. “My return to the Academia was...imperfect. But I heard you, Chosen, and I am awake now. I would like to know the name of the interim chancellor.”
“You don’t know?”
“No.” Given the weight of the single syllable, Kaylin thought his ignorance was good for the continued health of that interim chancellor. Probably a pity for the rest of them, though.
“How were you awakened?” she asked. Bellusdeo’s eyes were now an orange that looked almost mellow; Sedarias’s eyes remained a martial blue. Starrante cleared what Kaylin assumed was his throat, and Bellusdeo stepped aside—or as far aside as the opposing wall would allow. He then took the lead.
“Awakenedis an interesting word,” he replied. By unspoken consent, Kaylin now walked by his side, her hand resting against his body as if it were a guide rail. “It is not entirely accurate, although you could be forgiven for using it. I was not awake. Not as I am now.”
“You were dreaming?”
“That is a good analogy, although it is not entirely accurate, either. But let us use it. I was dreaming. Dreams are somewhat unpredictable.”
“I’m surprised you need to sleep.”
