I crept up on Instructor Baak and stretched my hand out, grasping for the chain on her neck.
Instructor Baak whipped around, clawing at me with her remaining hand. Her shrieks filled the air. Her fingernails dug into my face and hands. I pulled back, my katana falling to the ground. The silver chain strained, then snapped free. The amulet glowed brightly in my hand. The howl of a madwoman filled my ears.
Free of the Graplar who’d tossed him to the side, Darius grabbed Instructor Baak and pulled her back, holding her away from me as gently as he could. It amazed me to see that kindness in him, and I wondered what she had been like before Katelyn had been killed. I held the amulet up, hoping that it would work for me the way it had for her. “Graplars, cease your attack, gather the rest of your kind, use the gates to get outside the wall, and stay there.”
At first, the two hulking beasts nearest to us simply snorted. Then, slowly, the one on the right turned and ran toward the more populated area of the school. I only hoped that it was actually leaving. The beast on the left toed the ground, as if it were too stupid or stubborn to comply. I was about to repeat my command, when Instructor Baak elbowed Darius hard and spun away. He reached out for her, but missed and she grabbed the amulet from my hand. She held the amulet up, cackling wildly. “Take me to my daughter! Take me to Katelyn!”
She brought the amulet down, smashing it on a rock. I didn’t know why—maybe because that’s what King Darrek would have wanted her to do, maybe because doing so would prevent us from controlling Graplars in the future. I had no idea what her motives might have been. I simply watched in shock as bits of amber flew through the air, catching on her clothes.
The remaining Graplar obliged her final order and lunged forward, biting into her throat. It dragged her off toward the rose gardens and sounds reached my ears that I hoped I would soon forget, but knew that I never would. Biting sounds. Chewing sounds. Instructor Baak was dead. Reunited at last with her beloved Katelyn.
Darius turned his head away the moment the Graplar had bitten into Instructor Baak, his features paling. My breaths came quick and shallow. I didn’t know what to say. After a moment, he picked up my katana and handed it to me before turning toward the south gate. The weapon felt strangely heavy in my hand. “Where are you going?”
“You sent them outside.” He looked over his shoulder at me, his expression blank. I wondered if that was because watching Instructor Baak perish had been painful for him. “But they won’t go without taking food with them.”
With a deep breath, I chased him through campus and out the gate. I might not have been able to save Trayton, but I refused to let any more people die. As I ran after Darius, Trayton filled my thoughts. He’d hate what I was doing, that I was running willingly out onto the battlefield again. But I had to do it. Had to do what I could to help those in need.
Darius was fast, but I was vigilant and didn’t fall behind once. We ran through the forest, jumping over rocks and fallen branches, dodging trees and prickly undergrowth. The sound of the battle hit my ears long before I could see it. The smell came shortly after. It smelled like fear. It smelled like blood.
Once we’d crested another hill, a strange electricity was in the air. Dozens of Barrons were outside the gate, in the forest, katanas in hand. Beyond them were dozens more, deeply entrenched in battle with over fifty Graplars. The beasts lunged and bit. Screams and squeals from both sides echoed throughout the forest, shooting through me.
With a glance at me, Darius withdrew his katana and bolted down the hill. As he descended on the battle, he leaped into the air, bringing his blade down on one of the beasts’ necks. The Graplar howled, tossing him back. But Darius recovered quickly and spun around, slashing at its legs, bringing the monster down. As it fell, he pulled his sword up sharply, slicing its head clean off. Blood spurted from its headless neck as it fell forward and landed in a heap on the leaf-covered ground.
To my amazement, Darius sheathed his sword. Then, jumping up once more, he grabbed onto the corner of another Graplar’s mouth with his hands, swinging himself around the beast’s head. Using his weight, he pulled the Graplar’s head down, smashing it on a large, pointed boulder. The monster’s neck hit hard and the stone acted as a blade, slicing its skull from its body. Darius paused once it was dead and looked back at me with a grin, as if to say that that was how he’d killed the beast with the fountain. But he didn’t pause for long. I watched, mesmerized, as Darius ran farther into the battleground. He was a machine, with one distinct purpose: kill them all.
Reaching back, I drew my katana and moved down the hill, my heart racing. Something large and heavy slammed into my side as I descended the hill and I went flying, landing in leaves moist with blood. My grip tightened on my katana as I fell. I scrambled to stand, and came eye to eye with a hungry Graplar, its mouth foaming, its gaze intent. Fighting the urge to bolt, I eyed it down, waiting for it to make the first move. It snorted, as if to say that it knew what I was thinking, and for a moment, I wondered if it did.
It leaped into the air and descended on me. In a moment of panic, I hesitated and the beast took me down, standing over me as I lay on the forest floor. It lunged forward, its mouth open, its horrible teeth shining with drool. Regaining my senses, I brought my sword around, catching the metal inside the thing’s mouth. It bit down and the razor-sharp blade sliced into its jaws. Yelping, it scrambled backward, freeing me. I stood and ran at it, jumping into the air and onto its back. Its scaly skin felt smooth on my hands as I straddled its neck. I’d expected the beast to feel cold to the touch, but it was warm, almost hot. Reaching around its head as it tried to fling me away, I gripped the handle of my katana and pulled, yanking the blade hard toward me. The blade slid easily through the Graplar’s mouth, through its skull, slicing most of its head off. Its impulses hadn’t told the Graplar that it was dead, because the thing lurched forward in a spasm, tossing me from its shoulders. The mostly headless beast staggered, and finally fell to the forest floor.
Flicking my wrist hard, I cleaned my blade the way that Darius had shown me, by flinging the blood from the metal, and looked around, ready to go again. But to my utter relief—relief mingled with disappointment—most of the Graplars had been either killed already or chased away, reminding me that I wasn’t a Barron, that I lacked their speed. In the time it had taken me to kill just one Graplar, they had taken care of the rest. Slightly disappointed in myself, I turned around, taking in the carnage of the battlefield. Injured Barrons lay all around the ground. Lifting my spirits was the fact that very few of the Graplars that had attacked had survived.
I searched the grounds for Darius, but couldn’t find him among those who were helping carry the wounded inside the now-open gate. It was possible he’d already gone inside, or was patrolling in search of any more Graplars, but the heavy feeling in my chest told me to keep looking. He was here somewhere. I just had to find him. I moved around the battlegrounds, stepping carefully over the injured and the dead, looking for the telltale sign of Darius’s shocking silver hair. I’d all but given up when a hand closed around my ankle. When I looked down, I realized why I hadn’t seen his silver locks.
Darius was covered in blood.
A deep gash crossed his forehead, flooding his hairline with crimson as he easily bled. His face was ashen.
My bottom lip shook as I knelt beside him. Darius was dying, and he had no Healer to heal him. No amount of herbs and salves could fix this. Tears welled in my eyes and poured down my cheeks. He was dying and I could do nothing to stop it.
But I had to try.
Swallowing my sobs, I pressed my palms tightly against his wound, trying to stop the bleeding. Blood flowed between my fingers, like water through a broken dam. Darius was broken. Forever broken, and I would never be able to tell him how much I appreciated his teachings, and the risk he’d taken to share his knowledge with me.
My words came out in terrified whispers. “Hold on, Darius. You have to hold on. Please.”
br /> My efforts were useless. No one and nothing could help him now. Darius was paling faster than ever, and the blood was slowly ceasing its flow. I pressed hard on his wound, crying out, begging in whispers for Darius to stay with me, knowing that he’d never be able to fulfill my request. My hands were warm and tingling from the rush of adrenaline I was experiencing. Then, nothing. The bleeding stopped, and I swallowed my tears, certain that it was over at last.
Darius’s trembling hand closed over my wrist. Shocked, I looked down and met his eyes. How could this be? His coloring was improving. His eyes were open. He was drenched in blood, but looked, for the most part, healthy enough to stand.
My eyes fell on the hand that still cupped Darius’s wounded head. As I pulled it away slowly, my heart picked up its rhythm in a panicky race. Then it all but stopped.
Darius’s wound had healed. It had healed at my touch. There wasn’t even so much as a scar remaining. He was perfectly healthy, brought back from the brink of death by a single touch. My touch. Which meant something that I could barely comprehend, something that sent my mind into a dizzying spiral of emotions.
Darius and I were Soulbound.
But how could that be? His Soulbound Healer was dead. His Trace was black. I knew. I’d seen it. And no Barron can be Soulbound to two Healers. It was impossible.
I searched Darius’s eyes for the shock and wonder and utter confusion that I was feeling, but found only embarrassment and sorrow.
He knew.
Darius knew that we were Soulbound. And he didn’t tell me.
With a shaking hand, I reached down and slowly pulled the fabric of his shirt away, revealing a red Trace on his chest.
Red.
Because we were Soulbound.
Red, like I’d sworn it had been that night in his cabin. Not black, as I’d seen in the training area that day. Had he colored it to fool me?
He parted his bloodstained lips to speak, his voice gruff. “Kaya…”
There was movement just a few feet in front of us, and I looked up to find Trayton. His mask was in his hands, his neck wrapped in a blood-soaked bandage. His katana was on his back, a look of shock on his face.
He’d seen everything, and had heard Darius speaking my name. With a trembling breath, I met Trayton’s eyes.
None of us spoke.
THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES IN
LEGACY of TRIL
BOOK TWO:
Soulbroken
Heather Brewer, Soulbound
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