Malia�s anger was evident, for once. �You, Silu, dare to disgrace our heritage; because of your childish fear, no less? I�m glad Wan-ri isn�t here.� With a sigh she gripped her own weapon as if to plead for strength. When Silu thought back hard enough she could remember several instances in which she had seen different Shyra simulate the same gesture.
A quick glance at the golden saber revealed once again that she could physically long for something as trivial as a sword. She despised how much she knew she needed to hold it and better yet, use it. The hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach increased as she took an experimental step backwards.
�Does it ever go away?�
Mallia shook her head with an odd mixture of joy and pity in her eyes.
Silu pleaded while still staring at her curse. �It will always be this strong?� She felt like hating the Tan U Tae just then. How many women had it bred only to enslave with their traditions. Another wave of disgust washed through her when she imagined herself battling them all for vengeance�using her sword.
�There is nothing you can do but accept it. You are bound to it, just as every Shyra is bound to one tool or another. There are only one or two very rare things that can sever your connection to it.� Mallia silenced further argument from Silu by clenching her fist in the air between them. �I love you like you were my own, Silu. Do not think for an instant that I would reveal to the fruit of my own body how to cause themselves unspeakable pain and suffering.�
Silu�s lips curled in hatred. �You would rather have me enslaved then? To a piece of metal no less?� She advanced on her mentor, not caring about the rules of respect or the possible punishments for her threats. �If I had had a clue about the real purposes of the final tests I would have left this cursed island years ago!�
Mallia�s eyes widened in shock. �You�� She started once again calm and trepid.
�I? �I�, Silu, who wanted to fight for justice and for the Balance? �I�, Silu, who burns to make the world change? To bring the peoples back together?� She threw her arms out at her sides. ��I� am now a slave Mallia. A slave to whoever decides to wrestle my swords from my hands in my sleep?�
Mallia was relaxed, unreasonably so considering the amount of screaming that she had just been the object of. She continued as if she hadn�t heard Silu at all. �Furthermore, I would think you would be happy to experience this. Especially after��
Silu shut her out. Mallia was a loved and cherished friend, but she couldn�t bear to hear her next words. It seemed that her mother had not thought it enough to leave her nameless but she had also left her Tae-less. Sianosilu: One without a name�one without a purpose as well, she supposed. At the naming ceremony, the day before, the Bala-Shyra had determined that she did not have one of the natural gifts that they were capable of identifying.
They had concluded, though, that she did posses both of the two most rare Tae�s. No Shyra had been gifted with one of them for hundreds of years, let alone both at the same time.
�Silu!� The sharp command shattered Silu�s thoughts. �Please.� Her tone softened. �Please listen to me.� She made eye contact and paused a few breaths to make sure she was obeyed. �What ever you do, do not freely offer your weapon to anyone, anyone, understand? It�s the most horrible torture to relinquish your ownership of your weapon freely. Can you remember that, please?�
Silu, calmed by the older woman�s words of concern, nodded deftly.
�Anyone who would ask that of you�� She pointed to the sword protruding from the wall without looking and gripped Silu�s shoulder. ��is not someone to be trusted.�
The General and his remaining hunter were long gone by now. Luckily in the confusion of the explosion Quivern had grabbed the larger of the two sacks that the General had tied to his saddle. On the other hand the smaller, what Quivern guessed was, the more precious, satchel had been taken off into the sunrise along with his political future.
�How can you be thinking about politics at a time like this?� He asked himself as he looked over the mess the Shyra had created. No�not just her. His inaction had caused most of this.
Bjover, calmly standing at his side, frowned. �What do you mean Quivern?� His voice was enough to give Quivern shivers, even though he wasn�t producing his usual blizzard. After Quivern had been half frozen to death by a cold blast of air he had asked Bjover not to �do that for a while.� The short blue creature had nodded and the wind had immediately ceased.
Quivern looked down at him. �It means I�m the biggest, most selfish son of a bitch this side of the First Kingdom.� His voice held no mirth and his face was solemn and grief stricken.
Bjover didn�t argue.
He had managed to drag Darien out of the bushes and onto the grassy edge of the roadway. It was too late to do anything for his friend. The arrows had been poisoned for certain. The only last respects he could manage for the young man were to remove the deadly arrows and patch up the wounds. The Fifth Kingdom soldiers would have to be buried. But Quivern couldn�t even get himself to approach their still, lifeless bodies.
The scene on the highway was bloody. The horse had still been alive when Quivern mustered the strength to chase away his surviving enemies. He had been merciful to it and cut its throat, but he wished he could have done it sooner. It had been innocent, so many of the dead had been innocent. Three men lay dead around them, closing Bjover and himself in a circle of decay.
At the very center lay the Shyra�s motionless body. He hadn�t seen her fall, or what had caused her injury, but he had heard her scream. He had heard her encompassing wail of pure agony, he had felt it in his bones. It was what had brought him out of the haze. Who knew what would have been done to him if he had remained locked in that fetal position.
He prayed to the spirits she was alive. He had lost so much this night, he barely knew her, but he did know that he couldn�t bear to see her die.
Bjover tugged at his hand, the coldlings natural chill seeped through his skin and into Quivern�s. �She�s alive. She needs you.�
Quivern�s heart burst with hope and he dropped to his knees. She was on her stomach. When he stared hard enough he could see the faint rise and fall of her back as she breathed. His chest contracted and fire seeped into his veins.
She was alive.
�Shyra?�
