The Wind's Call (The Broken Lands #4) - T.A. White Page 0,98
could be useful. Our elders spoke, I listened."
"What is a Caller?" Eva asked. The word was familiar. Ajari had used that term a couple of times before, but she hadn’t realized it carried any significance.
"Exactly as it sounds," Ajari said, moving toward Eva, his gaze locked on the fox who calmly surveyed him. "Someone who can call all manner of sorts to them. It's said they can communicate easily with any creature, no matter their language or species. Mythologicals, beasts, animals. It doesn’t matter; all are in their range."
Eva was quiet, thinking over her past. She’d always shared a special bond with most animals. It was one of the reasons she suspected why she’d been chosen to be the sacrifice.
Her mind raced with the implications. She'd started to hear the mythologicals' thoughts. She'd heard those water sprites before they tried to drag her under.
There were also the stories her mother used to tell when Eva’s father was fast asleep and it was just her and Eva. Stories about their ancestors who could do all sorts of magical and wondrous things. Stories she'd consigned to myth as she grew older and her mother withdrew into her own tiny little world.
“It’s magic?” she asked.
Ajari shrugged. “If that’s the term you prefer. However, it’s more like an ability only a very few have. Simply by existing, you’ll draw those of the four-legged variety to you. You won’t be able to help it; it’s in your nature. They’ll be attracted to you much like a bee is to a flower. The more powerful a caller, the more they can make their voices heard. They communicate with the voiceless, sometimes standing as a bridge between us and humans. You’re likely descended from one of their lines on your mother or father’s side. Any family stories about men or women with strange abilities?”
Eva glanced away. Yes, there had been stories, but not about people related to her. Cammi and her agreement with the hags—the bedtime story her mother used to tell her. Maybe it was more. Maybe Cammi was real and had used this caller ability to broker safety for her people.
“Our legends say they could call up armies of mythologicals, control them,” Caden said with an indecipherable expression.
“Legends. Myths. The callers could never control us. Don’t think they’re another form of the beast call who can be used to compel our obedience,” Ajari said coolly.
Maybe not, but if a caller could speak to mythologicals, even those who were voiceless, they could make alliances, become friends. Perhaps even ask those friends to wage war on their behalf when humans wronged them.
Ajari’s attention shifted to Eva, a slyness there. "It seems Sebastian chose truer than even I knew when he picked you. Have you heard him yet? By now, the bond should be deep enough for him to project his thoughts."
“I’m not sure,” she found herself saying, not wanting to reveal to him she had begun to hear the mythologicals’ voices.
From his reaction to Caden’s suggestion that a caller would be able to control mythologicals, she sensed it would be dangerous to be seen as someone with that ability. She needed to think about all the ramifications being this caller would mean, before she let herself confirm it.
"Perhaps you simply need more time for your mind to develop the ability,” Ajari said with a watchful gaze. He nodded at the fox in her arms. “Fire foxes rarely choose a human companion. I haven't seen one in more years than I can remember. I thought they had died out when the rest of us were imprisoned. They stick close to those with power. We once considered them a sign of luck—good or bad–depended on a person’s perception. It'll be interesting to see what he brings out of you."
Eva looked from the little creature to Ajari. She knew better than most that appearances could be deceiving, but it still surprised her to hear the creature's reputation.
"You're not like that, are you?" she whispered to him as he peered up at her. The fox let out another yip before swiping its tongue across her chin and leaping onto Caia's neck.
The horse stood placidly under the fox, unperturbed at its presence.
"What manner of creature could do all this?" Laurell muttered, looking about the camp.
"A dangerous one," Fiona said, looking entirely too interested.
Darius ignored the banter, focusing on Caden. "I hope your excursion brought us something useful."
"I think you'll be interested in what I learned," Caden said.