Zach Brenner's Arc

Chapter 20 of 86

Lyra led Ayla back through the crowded streets to the inn by the wall. Ayla clutched her staff and asked a dozen questions about her cousin. "How bad are the wounds? Is Raven fevered? Does she still bite when she's scared?" Lyra almost smiled. The white mage had traveled fast, hood up, healing crystal glowing faint in the dusk. She had left her post for family. Nothing else could have moved her. They climbed the stairs to the room. Halfway up, both stopped. Sounds came through the door. A low moan. The squeak of a bed frame. The noise grew louder. Then Raven's voice rose into a sharp cry. Ayla's calm vanished. She thought her cousin was dying. She shoved past Lyra and threw her shoulder into the door. It banged open. "Raven!" Zach and Raven scrambled apart on the bed. Both grabbed the blanket at once and yanked it up to their chins. Raven's cat ears went flat. Zach's face burned red. His injured side pulled and he winced, but he did not let go of the cover. Ayla stood frozen in the doorway, staff raised, mouth open. The healing spell died on her lips. She looked from Raven's flushed face to the blond stranger beside her. Slowly her fear turned into something else. Her jaw tightened. Lyra caught up behind her and took in the scene. She let out a long breath and rubbed her forehead. "Get dressed, you two," she said flatly. "We'll wait outside." She grabbed Ayla's arm and pulled her back into the hall. She shut the door. A minute later Zach and Raven stepped out. Both were dressed now, cheeks still pink. Zach kept one hand pressed to his ribs. Raven would not meet her cousin's eyes. Ayla studied them both. "So this is the man," she said. "The one dragging my cousin toward the Dead River." She stepped close to Zach and lifted her staff. The crystal flared silver. Warmth spread across his side. The burning eased for the first time in days. He gasped as the deep cut knit closed. "You're worse than she let on," Ayla said. "Sit. Both of you. I'm not losing family to a sorcerer because you two were too shy to say hello." Raven grinned despite herself. "You came." "Of course I came." Ayla's hard look softened for one breath. Then it sharpened again. She turned to Lyra. "Now tell me the plan. Malachar goes north to raise Darkthorne. If he finishes, none of us go home. Not Raven. Not this one to whatever world he came from." Zach stood straighter as the pain faded. For the first time since the tower, he could breathe deep. They had a healer who could fight. They had a target. He looked at the three women around him and felt something he had not felt in weeks. Not lost. Part of something. "Then we don't let him finish," Zach said. "We leave for the Dead River at first light."