Cara began to sing. Her mouth didn’t move, but the music—a combination of harp and panpipes was the closest he could come to describe it—wove around them all. After a few moments, Nikolai picked up on the melody and started to hum along.
Cara gathered the life essences from Aria and Lucas and offered it to Nikolai.
His skin itched where the runes had been etched into it. Nikolai traced them with his eyes, and to his astonishment, one of them began to fade. Once that one was gone, he focused on another.
But the life energy coming from Aria and Lucas was also fading. When Lucas swayed, Nikolai stopped singing, and stepped away, breaking the link.
“That’s enough. I have the idea.”
Cara snorted at him. “You can’t do this on your own, Nikolai. Your life essence isn’t strong enough to break these runes, they were designed to hold against it. You need what the three of us can offer.”
The fragile hope he’d raised faltered. “This sounds like it will take longer than we have.”
“We will keep at it until we get them all.”
Nikolai sighed. “If this doesn’t work, I can always revert to Plan A.”
“Plan A sucks.” Lucas almost spat the words. “You are better than this, Nikolai. Ending your life is not a solution.” The Morph’s eyes gleamed with a panic that surprised Nikolai.
“Promise me you won’t do that,” Aria pleaded.
Why did they care so much? They’d both seen what he was capable of. How could they not see that he shouldn’t be walking the realms? No one should be able to do what he could do.
“Promise me,” Aria pushed.
He gazed into her remarkable amber eyes. “I cannot promise that,” he said. “But I can promise that I will only do it as a last resort.”
“This will work, Nikolai,” Cara insisted. “You have to give us time.”
Her form was now so transparent that he could barely decipher it from the trees. The only thing still visible on Aria were her eyes. Even Lucas was fading away.
Only then did Nikolai remember what he had to tell them. “Wait! Tell the Dragons—Demeti has joined with Galeran.”
Cara’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. He has offered Galeran some kind of parasite. If I convince Galeran to change his plans, I’m not sure what will happen with Demeti.”
“I will tell them,” Cara promised. “We’ll be back.” And she vanished, taking the last vestiges of Aria and Lucas along with her.
The meadow swirled away with them. Nikolai blinked and found himself lying in the straw. When he moved a foreleg, the chains clanged against stone.
It took him three tries to rise to his feet. But once he’d managed it, he buried his muzzle in the hay, and began to eat.
40
Aria blinked. The meadow had vanished, and Cara smiled gently at her.
Lucas pulled his fingers free from hers, his skin much paler than normal. Aria leaned back against the headboard. She was shaking, too.
Ash was gone from his spot in the doorway. How long had they been in the trance?
“We were under about an hour,” Cara said. “Tyrez came and got Ash. He needs to rest.”
“Was Nikolai really there?” Lucas’s voice was hoarse.
The Watcher nodded as she carefully wrapped the amulet in a silken cloth. “Yes.”
The relief in her voice—Aria glanced at her. Cara hadn’t been as sure as she’d seemed that it would work.
