Page 54 of Sword & Shadow
He nodded. “The power of Day is making her feel happy and whole. Something I’m sure she desperately desires.”
“Something she desperatelyneeds,” Deckard retorted.
“It isn’t real, Jonn. Whatever she feels when she wears the Relic, it’s not real. She hasn’t recovered from her grief; she’s covered it up.”
“Perhaps that’s what she requires for a time, to help her heal.”
Auden’s fiery brows rose. “If she asked you to procure a hallucinogenic drug to help her heal from the loss of her uncle, would you do it?”
Deckard stared at the Mage. “That’s not what this is.”
“It’s the magical equivalent.”
The ivy shuddered around his heart. “What do you expect me to do?” he asked, already sure he knew the answer.
“I’m not telling you to do anything,” Auden assured him. “Nor am I blaming you for the situation. However, Iamwarning you of the truth: It is dangerous for Evylin to carry the Relic. She may be capable of ignoring her grief with its power, but eventually,it will overtake her. Magic naturally alters every magical individual. Mages become more like the resource they connect with most deeply. Warriors become stronger, more agile, and more cunning.
“But what’s happening to Evylinisn’tnatural,” he warned. “Carrying a Relic for an extended period of time will taint her soul, making her dependent on its power. And should she lose it—whenshe loses it, she will fall into a despair far greater than if she’d lost Hewitt a dozen times over.”
If Auden had wanted to scare Deckard, he’d succeeded.
“I have to take it from her,” Deckard realized.
Auden’s expression radiated the greatest sympathy. “If you don’t do it now, it will be taken from her at the end of our mission.”
That information diverted his thoughts long enough to ask, “What does the Alliance intend to do with the Relics? If no magical person can carry them without losing their sanity, will they return them to the Keeps?”
Auden stared at the road ahead for several seconds before replying. “The Relics are too valuable to return to the Keeps. Terraeus has suffered from their confinement. Allore gave the Relics to his people to use, not to hide, and over the last millennium, we’ve seen the degradation of the resources because of it.”
“How do you mean?”
“Not only are our powers as Mages more volatile and difficult to master, but you can see it in the terrae around us.” Auden motioned to the sky. “The constant rain of Wauld isn’t natural. It is a result of Water magic weakening and becoming unwieldy. The overgrown forests are the consequence of Terrae magic running unchecked. Even in Ephria, you experience the resources out of harmony through the extremity of summer and winter with little autumn or spring to regulate them, due to thebattle between Day and Night. Or you can see it in the sudden, turbulent wind that sweeps across the plains. These things could be brought back into balance with the Relics present in our world.”
Deckard had never realized that their world’s weather and seasonswereunbalanced. Growing up with scorchingly hot summers and bitingly cold winters was as natural as looking up at the butter-yellow sun. But then, was that the sun’s natural color?
“Balancing the resources is all well and good,” Deckard said, “but how can they retain possession of them if no Mage or Warrior is safe to carry them? I assume they wouldn’t work if a non-magical person wore them.”
“You’re correct,” Auden said. “Their magic is rendered ineffective when held by non-magical individuals, as witnessed while in Rafferty’s possession. However, it is incorrect to say thatnoMage or Warrior is safe to carry them. Allore would not have given us power without giving us the means to use it.”
“And by what means is that?”
“Bonding.” Auden said the word with a strange lift, as though in reverence. “A venerable practice that the ancient Mages locked away along with the locations of the Relics.”
“I take it the Alliance unlocked that secret along with the instructions for recovering the Keeps?”
“Not the Alliance.” Auden passed him a smirk. “Ilain.”
“Your sister discovered the secret to carrying the Relics?”
“Why do you think they sent us on this mission?”
“Hm.” Deckard wiped a wily raindrop that had outwitted his hood from his cheek. “What is this ancient practice?”
“Magic is all about balance,” Auden said. “Day and Night, Fire and Water.” He gave Deckard a meaningful look. “Mage and Warrior. Two opposing forces that keep each other in check.Once Bonded, a Warrior and a Mage are the embodiment of perfect balance. As such, they can carry a Relic without fear.”
A sharp pressure rankled the center of Deckard’s face, and he discovered his brows had pinched themselves together. He tried to ease them, unsure of how long he’d held his expression that way.
“At least,” Auden went on, “that’s what Ilain says. She’s the foremost expert on the subject, being the one to discover the truth of it all.”
