Page 118 of Sword & Shadow
Deckard drew back, his brow pinched. “I don’t—”
“You were using Night magic,” Auden accused, “as though you’d been doing it for decades. How?”
The silence stretched as Deckard tried to find the words to reply.
Rafferty beat him to it. “If you were drugged,” he said to the Mage, “how do you know that?”
“The viastasis places your body in a temporary hold,” Ilain explained. “But your mind is still at work. While you can’t feelanything, your brain still processes it all. After, you’re left with the knowledge but no physical experience of the events.”
“So you remember everything?” Evylin asked.
Auden nodded, his eyes locked on Deckard. “Did you take the Relic?”
The shame rose to tighten Deckard’s throat. “Yes,” he admitted.
Auden’s hands balled into fists, but he was too weak to show any further displays of irritation. “That makes this situationslightlybetter. You were consumed with it, weren’t you?” he asked.
Panic surged through Deckard as the soldiers and Ilain stared at him. “No, of course not,” he lied.
“This is dangerous, Jonn,” Auden said. “As a Night Mage,youare a danger to everyone here. And your power is already too strong.”
Worry clouded nearly everyone’s expression.
Deckard drew back. “We don’t—what if I’m not a Night Mage?” he asked, despite knowing the truth.
Ilain set a hand on her brother’s arm. “It was a situation that called for violence,” she advised. “And he had the Relic. It makes sense that he would connect with it.”
The condemnation in Auden’s gaze was telling. “I haven’t seen Night magic that strong since—” He spoke in a whisper, his words breaking off as though it pained him too much to keep going.
Ilain’s shoulders tensed. “You’re sure?”
Auden didn’t say anything, but the steady way he held her gaze was confirmation enough that the siblings were thinking the same thing—but whether of a person or event, Deckard wasn’t sure.
“Haven’t seen Night magic that strong since when?” Rafferty prodded.
The Calders ignored him, turning back to Deckard. “Tell me the truth,” Auden demanded. “Were you consumed by it?”
Deckard shrank back, unable to keep himself from glancing at Evylin with guilt surging in his chest. “I was,” he said quietly.
Auden cursed, but Ilain’s jade green eyes considered Deckard thoughtfully. “Did you control it, or did it control you?” she asked warily.
Auden gave her a disgruntled look, but she brushed him off, waiting for Deckard’s answer.
“The magic?” Deckard asked. At her nod, he shrugged. “It listened to me if that’s what you’re asking.”
“So it consumed you, filling your mind and senses,” Ilain concluded, “but you were able to control it—telling it what to do and releasing it when you were done?”
Deckard’s memories of the experience left him feeling conflicted by the rush and the horror of it all. But he was gratified to remember that he had, in fact, controlled the magic. He remembered the exact moment he’d released the shadows and crystalline shards: once the final threat had fallen. Assured of Evylin’s safety, the magic remained, but its manifestations did not. And no matter the urging of the Relic upon his psyche, he’d held it at bay.
Assured of his control, Deckard nodded. “Yes.”
Ilain gave Auden a pointed look.
“That doesn’t make it any better,” he said glumly.
“Night magic isn’t evil incarnate, Auden,” she argued. “It’s dangerous, but it can be channeled without driving a person mad. Look at Obel.”
“I don’t trust Obel,” he grumbled.
