possible, as if he feared what would happen if he lost control over it.
And she didn’t even have his level of control over this power. Somehow, Farrendel was channeling his magic through her. He wouldn’t know what the battle looked like or what was truly needed.
Boots crunched on the snow behind her. She didn’t have the strength to turn to look.
But she didn’t have to. She recognized the voice shouting orders. Averett.
Another question from Farrendel.
No, no. Make it stop. Please. Too much.
She wasn’t sure how much of that he understood. Her mental voice was screechy with panic even to herself.
The crackle cut off instantly. The normal warmth of the heart bond returned, filled with worry.
Essie wanted to vomit. Or perhaps curl in the snow and pass out. Her head still buzzed, though that could be from her hyperventilating instead of all the magic that had poured through.
She forced herself to draw in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. Her head cleared, the cold air steadying her.
The worried impression from Farrendel had grown even more pronounced.
I’m fine. She tried to relax and send the relief of being alive to him instead of the panic of having magic unexpectedly blast from her hands. She glanced up to the fighting in front of them. Averett’s soldiers and Weylind’s warriors had pushed the trolls back, and it looked like the trolls were retreating, fading back into the snow and the mountains. I’m safe. Well, for now.
Farrendel relaxed, though some of the crackle of his magic still simmered in the heart bond.
Thank you. Essie wasn’t sure he would sense it. Even locked in the trolls’ dungeon, he had managed to save her.
Except, they had never done something like this before. How could he possibly wield his magic through her? Did she perhaps partially draw on the magic through the heart bond? That heart bond magic was half hers, after all, in some shape or form. Farrendel might be the one with magic, but it took two people to form a heart bond. He couldn’t have done it on his own any more than she could have.
The bigger question was, could she wield his magic again?
And did she want to?
If she could, then this could be the tipping point in pushing the trolls back to Gror Grar. But that would mean she would have to fight like Farrendel. On the front lines. Causing bloodshed.
It went against her nature. She wasn’t a warrior. She didn’t want to become one. Perhaps she was willing to take up a gun when backed into a corner. Or to fight her way to Farrendel to rescue him.
But to fight like her brothers did?
The noise of battle ahead of them died away. A figure dashed toward them through the snow. When he sank to his knees in front of Essie, it wasn’t any of her brothers, but Farrendel’s.
Snow coated Weylind’s long hair, though he wore a fur hat to keep his head and ears warm. His dark eyes searched Essie’s face. “Was that Farrendel’s magic I saw as we were running here? It felt like his.”
“Yes, it was.” Essie shivered at another blast of the icy wind. Now that the power of Farrendel’s magic had faded, she became aware of the cold once again. Over Weylind’s shoulder, she spotted Averett trotting toward her. “But maybe let’s discuss it somewhere warm?”
Weylind rose to his feet. “Very well. Come.”
Jalissa gripped her bow and tromped through the snow after Weylind.
Averett halted in front of Essie and held out a hand. “Was that what I thought it was?”
“Yes, it was, and no, I have no idea how it was possible.” Essie took Averett’s hand and let him pull her to her feet.
Soon, she found herself crawling through the narrow door into her brothers’ shelter, this one much larger than the one Jalissa had grown for her and Essie as it also served as the command center.
Inside, she counted four bedrolls, not just three. Perhaps Weylind really had moved into here with her brothers for warmth. Or maybe there just wasn’t enough scrub brush to make two shelters.
Weylind already sat on one of the bedrolls, the one set the farthest from the other three. Jalissa lowered herself onto the bedroll next to him.
Essie sat on one of the other bedrolls. This explanation would have been so much easier if she knew exactly what Farrendel had done on his side of things. As of right now, her explanation boiled down to a big I don’t know