Spark (Legends of the Shifters) (39 page)

The
weapon made a
thwa!
sound and then there was a
sharp pain in my neck. I fell, but before I was even down, I was out,
thrown into a black pit of unconsciousness.

When
my mind swam back to awareness, my surroundings were as silent as the
grave. For a moment, I wondered if I was dead. That thought whirled
away as soon as the pain kicked in. I was up against a wall in an
uncomfortable position, and my back was aching. A spot on my neck
stung slightly. I cracked my eyes open. It was icy cold, causing my
breath to form clouds in front of me. It had been a lot warmer the
last time I was conscious.

I sat
up slightly and studied my surroundings. I was in a small wooden
shack. There were two windows, one to my left and one to my right.
When I saw them, I tried to stand, but stop when I heard the rattling
of chains. My feet and hands were shackled. The chains on my wrists
were so short that I could only stand if I were bent over, therefore
keeping me from looking out the window.

Beside
me I heard a moan, and I looked over at Roland. He was sweating and
sticky, his hair sticking up at odd angles and his eyes flicking
wildly under his eyelids. He breathed hard, his hands clasping his
shirt tightly.

I
reached over and felt his temperature. He was hot. Extremely hot. I
leaned closer and studied his neck. There was one spot where skin was
red and swollen.

I
knew that he was in trouble. He needed medical care immediately.

“
Help!”
I shouted, hoping there was somebody,
anybody
that could hear me. I
struggled to get out of the manacles, but they were too tight. I only
ended up rattling them noisily. “HELP!”

The
door opened suddenly and a young man peered in skeptically. He was
dressed in a bearskin that looked especially warm and his face had
black paint formed in swirls around his eyes, nose, and mouth. As
soon as he spotted Roland, his eyes widened. He stuck his head back
outside and began talking to someone rapidly in a different language.

Footsteps
hurried away. “Hello?” I asked. There was no answer.
Perhaps these strange people thought that they would catch whatever
illness Roland had gotten.

I was
relieved when they finally came back. A different native with white
paint on half of his face and red paint on the other peered in at
Roland, stepping inside. He had with him a bowl of water and a
satchel, hopefully full of medical supplies that would help Roland.

“
Do
you speak the language of the kingdoms?” I asked frantically.
“Do you know what's wrong with my friend?”

The
person looked up at me, and then began to speak without the slightest
accent. “Yes, I speak your language. And as for your friend,
judging by his swollen neck, I would guess that he's had an allergic
reaction to our sleeping draft.”

“
Will
he recover?”

The
man looked down at Roland and started to dig around in his satchel
for something. “There's only one thing that I can think of that
would help him. If it doesn't, then we'll have to leave the rest up
to the Father in Heaven.” Finally, he found what he had been
looking for. It was a dark green leaf. He put it in his mouth and
chewed on it until it became a paste. Then, he spat it out into his
palm. I looked on doubtfully as he caked the paste onto Roland's
neck.

Roland's
eyes stopped flicking and his breathing slowed. I looked up at the
healer. “Is that a good sign or a bad sign?” I asked.

He
watched Roland a little longer. “I think that it must be a good
sign.” He stood back up. “I have other things to tend to,
but if his condition worsens once again, yell to the guards. They
will come get me.”

He
went to the door and glanced back at me before speaking quietly to
the guard.

The
guard nodded respectfully and watched him leave. When the healer was
gone, the guard came back into the shack and unchained my hands. Once
my hands were free, he did the same thing to Roland. Seeing as Roland
was unable to move, I didn't see what the point was. The only thing
he left shackled was one foot with a chain long enough that I could
walk around. If I wanted to, I could change form and escape, but I
think that the natives knew I wouldn't leave without Roland.

I
watched him closely for a few minutes, but he seemed to be resting
peacefully for now, although his expression was still slightly
pained. Even after everything that had happened, my heart still hurt
to see him like this.

After
about an hour passed, relief hesitantly spread over me. Surely if
Roland hadn't had any problems for this long, he wouldn't get any
worse.

I
leaned my head against the building and closed my eyes for a few
minutes. “Ivy?” said Roland's voice beside me. It was
thin and weak. I was immediately at attention.

His
eyes were half-closed in exhaustion. It worried me.

“
Yes?”
I asked.

“
Ivy,
what happened?”

I
wanted to comfort him, but I didn't know how. I ended up taking his
hand. “You were shot with a dart that was dipped in a sleeping
draft,” I explained softly. “You've had an allergic
reaction.”

He
knitted his eyebrows together. “You know...after all the
missions I've been on, I don't think that I've ever been shot with a
dart.”

I
stayed quiet.

“
Are
we in the camp of the natives?” Roland interrogated.

He
was looking at me, so I nodded. “Their healer came and put some
kind of plant on your wound.”

He
felt his neck with the hand that I was not holding, and barely
touched it before his hand flinched away.

Ouch,”
he rasped.

I
gave his hand a small, uncertain squeeze. “I'm sorry that
you're hurting,” I said, feeling useless.

He
shook his head. “Don't be. I'm actually glad right now. We've
gotten to where we've been trying to get.”

I
thought for a moment before speaking. “Roland...why did you
volunteer to come with me? What's the real reason?” I
questioned.

He
smiled tiredly. “I suppose now would be a good time to tell
you. I came mostly because there was something here that I knew could
help me. The native people are said to work miracles through God...I
needed one of those miracles.”

“
Why
do you need a miracle?” I asked.

“
This
is probably something I should have told you a long time ago,”
he said. “I didn't know if you would understand, but now...you
have to. When I was training with Niko, he took me away from the
school... He told me that we were going on a quest, but he wouldn't
tell me where we were headed or even what it was. Then, things became
a little clearer when we reached the castle of King Ciaran.”

I
squinted my eyes. “And why did Niko take you there?”

“
You
may have already guessed this, but King Ciaran is trying to gather up
a powerful army. That ritual you were talking about? Well, the same
thing happened to me. It's just that I had no choice but to be
branded with the blood of the wizards.” Roland took his hand
from mine and pushed his shirtsleeve up. On the inside of his upper
arm, there was a burn mark, shaped like a circular, spiky ball with
the initials CAG in the middle. “It's Ciaran's way to give
magic to those who lack the ability. That's what he's been doing to
the people he recruits into his army.”

“
So
you really are on Ciaran's side?” I questioned sadly.

He
shook his head weakly. “No. You misunderstand. I truly have no
memory of taking you there. Someone had taken over my mind.”

I thought about
his words for a few seconds. “And how does this have anything
to do with a miracle
?” I asked.

“
These
people,” Roland gestured to the door. “They know how to
fix someone like me. Someone who doesn't want the powers of a
magician anymore.”

“
So
you came on this journey to be rid of your powers...” I
concluded. I didn't want to tire him out by asking too many
questions, but this was something I felt like I needed to know. “Is
there a particular reason that you don't want the power of a
sorcerer?”

His
eyes darkened. “The power of a sorcerer is born out of evil.
The thoughts that swirl in my head are sometimes not my own.”

I
stared at him. That must have been what happened when he was forcing
me into Ciaran's dungeon. “How do you know that?” I
asked. His answer had only brought more questions.

“
Because
I can feel it,” he said quietly, his eyes unfocused.

I
watched him nervously. “You should get some sleep,” I
said.

His
focus centered back on me. “Yes, I suppose you're right.”
He let go of my hand and turned onto his side, away from me. Before
he went to sleep, he lifted his head to say one more thing. “If
anything seems to go wrong, you have to tell them my wish...Do you
promise?”

“
I
promise,” I answered in a whisper.

Once
his breathing evened out a little, I stood up to look out the window.
Our surroundings were beautiful. The pines were especially green and
the natives had gathered up all the needles around them so that grass
grew. The land was slanted downward from me in an ongoing, rocky
slope, and clouds settled around us. The natives must have taken us
up the mountain. Far up.

I
rested my arms against the ledge and continued watching the grass
sway. As I was looking on, snow started to fall down in flurries,
quickly coating the ground with a light dusting of white.

I
didn't know how long I stood there, looking out the window at the
familiar sight of snow. But I did know that when I heard Roland
moaning, it was not a good sign.

I
turned around quickly. I hurried to his side, the chain attached to
my foot clanking loudly, and felt his forehead. If possible, it was
even hotter than it had been the first time. I shook his shoulder,
but he did not wake.

“
Help!”
I yelled out to the natives. “My friend needs help!”

The
door opened almost immediately with the same young man from earlier.

“
He
needs the healer!” I said frantically.

The
man took one look at Roland before sprinting off into the evergreens.
In five minutes, he returned with the healer, breathing hard.

“
He's
worse than he was before,” I said as the healer bent down to
tend to Roland. He felt Roland's forehead and then sat back.

The fact that he
wasn't reaching back in his satchel for medicine worried me.“
What
is it?” I asked.

The
healer looked back up at me. “To tell the truth, I do not think
that he will make it.”

I
looked at Roland, whose chest was heaving with struggled breaths, and
then back at the healer. “Surely there must be
something
that you can do,” I said in disbelief.

The
healer studied me, and then looked at Roland. “I will do one
thing...something I probably should have already done. Our leader
prohibits any newcomers in the village, but this is a special case.”

I
blinked away tears, and waited for him to finish.

He
took out a key and unlocked Roland's chains and then my own. “I'm
going to bring you to my house, so that your friend can die in a
proper bed.”

I
didn't know how to react to that. I just stood there as the healer
picked Roland up in his arms.