Blurb:
It's been five years since the Chosen One's war and Hayden's pack has been able to enjoy life once again. Of course, things can never stay calm and they soon find themselves caught up in another epic fight and this time it looks like Ternach might hold the key to winning.
Mortal since losing his powers in the battle of Paradin, Ternach decides to take a trip to Sageden in hopes that Hayden can help him get his magic back. Along the way, he meets Sarah; a woman with a secret and an agenda.
It doesn't take long before sparks are flying and Ternach starts to think that maybe being human has it's perks after all.
When he discovers Sarah's secret he needs to make a decision: Does he stay human so he can stay with Sarah, or does he attempt to become immortal again knowing he has what is needed to win...
Excerpt:
Ternach walked back through the door. For as nervous as he was, he couldn’t help but smile as his eyes found Sarah’s.
“Alright, then, let’s get to it. The sooner we get this done and over with, the better.” He turned and walked back outside. He jumped across the creek, sat on the ground with his arms wrapped loosely around his knees and watched as everyone followed him.
“Sarah, Parker, it might be best if you stay on the other side of the creek.” He smiled reassuringly at Sarah when she started to object. “My girl, I have no idea what’s going to happen, but these are two of the strongest sorceresses in Quelondain. If something goes wrong, the energy blast could be phenomenal… not to mention that if they do manage to release my magic, I have no idea if I’ll be able to control it.”
Sarah knelt in front of him. “You can change your mind at any time.”
He looked into her dark hazel eyes and shook his head. “No. I can’t.” He kissed her softly. “If anything should happen…” He frowned. “Well, here’s hoping you’ll be able to find another half and I’m sorry I wasn’t able to remember where I put Brailla’s orb.”
Sarah’s throat closed at the thought that he might not survive this. “Look, maybe you were right. Maybe we should leave.”
He shook his head. “Now, get back over the creek or I’ll tell Marilynn to displace you to Sageden so you can be with Peter and Cassandra.” He ran a hand through his black hair and took a deep breath before lying on his back. “Alright.” He tried to calm the butterflies in his stomach.
Hayden nodded and watched as his white green eyes closed. She nodded to Marilynn, knelt at his side and took a deep breath. He jerked at the feel of her hands on his chest.
“I can feel the shield.” Hayden frowned and concentrated. “You’ll be glad to know you still feel like yourself.” She remembered how she’d thought she was being teased when someone had told her every magic wielder’s magic had its own feel to it. “Can you feel me pushing against it?” She pushed some of her energy into him and he groaned.
“No. I just feel you.”
“You can feel her?” Marilynn seemed pleased.
Ternach took a minute to think about it. “Do it again.” He concentrated and smiled as he recognized the feel of Hayden’s magic flowing through him. “I felt it.” He paid attention and felt Marilynn’s energy as well. “I feel Marilynn.” His muscles tightened with the excess energy. Both women pulled back on their nudges.
Hayden looked across to Marilynn. “What do you think? It’s definitely there. We just have to break down the shield.”
“It has to be you.” Ternach kept his eyes closed. “If anyone can get it to come out, it will be you.”
“Why is that?” Marilynn frowned.
“Because our energies are attracted to each other,” explained Hayden.
Jasper had made his way back and sat beside Sarah and Parker. He grunted. “Now there’s the understatement of the year. We’d better hope he has control of his shields if you succeed.”
It was Ternach’s turn to grunt. “You make it sound like it was my fault. It was her feelings being projected, if you’ll care to remember, though, with Sarah here, my feelings may get thrown into the pot. Marilynn, if this works but I can’t shield, you’ll need to send Sarah and Hayden away. The last time I wasn’t able to shield was enough to drop me and Jasper to our knees.”
The Namael sorceress nodded.
“Alright, Hayden… Do, well, whatever it is you need to do.” Ternach clenched his jaw and waited.
Hayden pushed her nudge gently until she felt his shield then added more and more force to it, all the while watching to see how he was reacting to it.
“How are you doing?”
Ternach grunted. “It feels like I have a boulder sitting on my chest.” He tried to slow his breathing. “Try harder.”
Hayden pulled her nudge back and pushed it down hard. Ternach jerked and cried out in pain. Spots of light sparkled behind his closed lids, his muscles spasmed.
“Shit.” Hayden ran a green wave over him. “I did more damage to his body than the shield.”
He groaned and rolled onto his side, his arms hugging his chest. He felt Hayden push a green wave into him and he groaned again as his crushed ribs healed themselves. He sat up, his breathing hard.
“Do you feel anything at all?” Marilynn’s nudge engulfed him as she tried to feel if he was emitting any magic at all.
“Nothing. Try again.” He lay back down and tried to brace himself. “Harder this time.”
“I crushed your ribs with that last one. Too much harder and I’ll kill you.”
He cracked open on white green eye and grinned. “You’re always trying to kill me and now that I’m making it easy on you, you decide you don’t want to?”
She smiled. “I only tried to kill you when you tried to kill me first.”
“Alright, I’ll give you that one, but either way, this has to get done.” He reached out and put a hand on her arm. “You won’t kill me.”
She frowned. “How can you sound so sure?”
He shrugged.
“Alright. But remember, you asked for it.” Hayden pushed her nudge until she found the shield buried deep in his being, pulled back and thrust it down as hard as she could. She heard bones breaking and he jerked under her hands, his breath leaving his lungs in one great whoosh before he lay completely still.
“No, no no!” She grabbed a green wave and ran it over him. “No!” She switched waves, moving to the second darkest of them and pushed her own living energy into him. Ternach jerked and groaned, tears of pain running down his face. He coughed and wiped the blood away with his arm.
“Lay still so I can finish healing you.”
She was answered by another bloody cough. Ternach felt the ribs pull out of his lungs, felt them expand properly once again, and he rolled onto his stomach and buried his head in his arms.
“Ternach! Stop!” Sarah had to choke out the words past the lump in her throat as she watched his shoulders heave with sobs. Tears ran down her face and she jumped over the creek before running to his side. She sat and pulled his head onto her lap.
Ternach wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Are you alright?” She ran her fingers through his hair. He settled down and took a deep breath.
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. That’s enough. No more.”
He looked up into her tear streaked face. “I have to get it back, Sarah.” He sat up and pulled her to his chest.
“Why? Why is it so important that you have it? What in the world makes any of what you just went through ok? Is being human such a bad thing?” She looked up, trying to see into his mind.
He smiled and kissed her forehead. “No. Being human is not that bad. It’s annoying, but not horrible.”
“Then what?”
He wiped her face and kissed her softly. “If I can get it back, you can be stronger; I can keep you safer. Sarah, if I don’t go through with this and something happens to you… If I could have stopped it if I had my magic… well, I couldn’t live with myself. Losing you would hurt worse than anything Hayden can put me through.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “Now, why don’t you go back to the cabin? There’s no reason for you to watch this.”
Sarah shook her head. “I’m staying.”
“Alright, then, go back across the creek.”
“Wait.” Marilynn frowned. “Hayden, feel them while they’re together. Do you see what I see?”
Hayden sent her nudge gently over them. “Well, imagine that!”
“What?” Ternach looked from one to the other.
Hayden smiled. “Your shield, it’s letting your magic out. It’s running like energy waves from you to her. What if we tried it while she was beside you? With the shield open, we could do more damage to it.”
Ternach shook his head. “No. She might get a blast from it if we’re touching.”
“If I can help then I want to.” Sarah turned to Hayden. “Where do you want me?”
“Why don’t the two of you lie down and just press yourself to his side.”
“Sarah…”
She shook her head and pulled him to the ground. “If you’re doing this for me then the least I can do is try to help.” She wrapped her arms around him.
“What do you want me to do, Ternach?” Hayden knelt on his other side.
He grunted. “Well, you’re not going to break it open by being gentle. Give me another shot like the last one.” He buried his face in Sarah’s hair and clenched his teeth.
Hayden repeated the steps she had previously and jammed her energy against the shield with all of her strength. Ternach jerked and cried out as bones broke under the pressure. Sarah’s cry echoed his and she rolled away from him, her hands clutching her head.
Hayden pulled a green wave over Ternach but stumbled back when he pushed her away.
“Sarah,” he managed to spit out the name from behind his clenched teeth. “Check Sarah.” He rolled so he could see how she was and almost lost consciousness as the pain multiplied.
Hayden grunted. “It’s almost like she has a concussion.” She set about fixing the problem then did the same to Ternach. He pulled Sarah to his chest
“Are you alright?”
Mireille Chester is a stay at home mom of three children and wife to an amazingly supportive husband. Her time is spent playing with the kids, reading, writing, and watching movies with her hubby.
Mireille is a fantasy author who loves to spend time in made up worlds filled with magic. She is a firm believer that no hero is perfect and that all villains are burdened with a tiny shred of humanity. While she writes her Adult and YA novels under the name Mireille Chester, she is now writing a middle grade series under the name M.G. Chester.
Adult:
The Chosen One Trilogy
The Chosen One Trilogy
Young Adult:
Tales of Quelondain
Knights of Dorathan
Tales of Quelondain
Knights of Dorathan
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