His father’s face.
CHAPTER 46
“No! Dear Ilumni, no,” Ancel cried in a hoarse croak, bursting into tears. He rushed past Shin Galiana to his father’s side.
Stefan’s chest rose and fell in ragged, shallow breaths. Beneath his closed lids, his eyes shifted quickly. Squeezing his father’s cold fingers tight, Ancel got down on one knee beside the cot.
Ancel glanced up when soft hands squeezed his shoulder. “Teacher Galiana. Is he dy-” He choked up, unable to bring himself to finish the words.
“I do not know.” Her dark-rimmed eyes regarded Ancel. “I have done what I could. The rest is up to him.”
“But, his breathing and the shade and-” His father’s gray face brought a desperate dread rushing up into him. If she can’t, then I have to help him. I can’t let him die. O Ilumni, help me.
A spinning sensation filled Ancel. His grip tightened on the bed and his father’s hand. Somehow, Ancel found the Eye, and he opened his Matersense. Power tugged at him.
“Our power is yours to use,” clamored a sultry voice in a seductive drawl. “I can grant you unending strength and the means to mend your father.”
“And in return you’ll be forever sealed to us,” another voice, this one lighter, said with a hint of a chuckle. “Is that what you want?”
“Your father is dying. Save him.”
“And doom yourself.”
“Look at his face. Yes, our power, you need it.”
“Our power is not always what you wish, but it is there for you, if you know the risks. Kachien has told you of the risks. Choose.”
Ancel chose.
Light streamed into his body. He opened himself to bathe within its incandescence. The one Forging he'd read about in the Tome of Undeath brushed his thoughts. Snarling, he thrust the light toward the shade dominating his father’s wounds.
A blow to his back knocked Ancel to one side, slamming him into the wall. His Forging shattered, and his hand fell away from his father. Air essences held him against the wall behind the cot.
Dazed, he stared at the Forge holding him. He reached for light again. Another blow rocked him. Stars danced before his eyes. Blood filled his mouth. He lost both his grip on his Matersense and the Eye.
A blurry form blocked his father from his sight. Ancel shook his head and focused. The form resolved into Shin Galiana standing over him with her fists at her hips, her golden eyes ablaze.
“Have you learned nothing this past year?” Shin Galiana scolded. “Master yourself, child. Ignore the temptations. Take a closer look. Do not just think of light’s first Tenet. Remember Mater’s first Principle.”
Light to balance the shade. But wasn’t that what I did? No, the first Principle. The elements must exist in harmony.
Remembering not only Teacher Galiana’s but Kachien’s warning about control and the way Kachien looked when she gave in to her power, Ancel took a deep shuddering breath. His heart was still pounding as he sought the serenity he used when he practiced. Wiping away the blood from his mouth, he pictured a tranquil lily pond. His heart calmed. Once again, he found the Eye.
He opened his Matersense and traced the essences in his father again. The shade dominated all else, seeping in and out of his father’s wounds. Light waxed and waned like dusk’s weak fingers trying to penetrate thick, dark clouds. “I can’t tell…the shade…Why not just strip the shade from him. It’s killing him.”
“Concentrate; remember all living beings need the harmony of all the elements, all the essences to live, even the shade.” Her voice sounded tired and distant. “Banishing the shade as you suggest and tried would only ensure his death.”
Ancel focused, and then he saw it. The shade in his father resided in clumps within the wounds and prevented them from mending. At the same time, the essence helped to keep the rest of his body sealed against disease while restricting veins for proper blood flow. Light essences worked to ease certain blockages to increase the flow, or open shade’s seals and force out possible infection.
He could also see how water, air, and flesh came together, but most of it was so complicated, the workings were a blur. One thing became obvious. If shade was completely removed, the body’s balance would fail, as the harmony of Stefan’s Mater would be irreparably damaged. Instead, the Forging Shin Galiana used allowed the light to work with the taint, pushing it back to where it belonged-balancing it. In turn, the Forging mended the wound while maintaining his father’s life. Ancel couldn’t see all the intricate strands Forged together to accomplish this, but he was no less awed. He released his Matersense.
He realized something else. By focusing on what ailed his father, he had fully calmed and his emotions no longer controlled him. He faced Galiana and smiled. “Thank you, Shin Galiana.”
She gave him a weak nod. “I wish I could do the same for all the others.” Her gaze swung around the room, and her shoulders sagged.
Silence hung around the room like the somber weight of gloom at a funeral. Every eye watched them. The faces were expectant, forlorn, many without hope. From his brief memory of what he’d seen, Ancel knew the majority of the wounded in the room would die. He squeezed his eyes shut. Da, please survive this. I pray the gods make it so.
The lost eyes and pained expressions still lingered as people returned to tending the wounded and dying. Prayers and whispers resumed, building into quiet sobs and soft wails.
“Shin Galiana, how did the shadelings manage to cross the Vallum?” Ancel asked, still holding his father’s hand.
She regarded him, strained lines etching her eyes. “I do not know, but I intend to find out. Alys should have his medicine shortly and something for you also. I need to go meet with the Council. I shall return.” She gathered her white dress and strode from the room.
A mender’s apprentice, in their customary blue garb, brought Ancel a chair. Ancel thanked the woman and sat next to his father. It took a great deal of effort for him not to open up to his Matersense again. He reminded himself trying to help might hurt his father more.
Still, nothing about his father’s appearance eased Ancel’s concern. Only a head shorter than Ancel himself, his father’s frame appeared not only shorter but smaller. Sunken cheeks and bones protruding at his jaw line didn’t help. Neither did his unintelligible mutterings.
“The Tenets, no, the Disciplines…Ancel…We’re free. The kinai…how? Jeremiah, are you there? They seek us. They created a breach…” Who were they?Who was Jeremiah? The unfinished sentences continued. “The Eztezian…Ilumni, O Ilumni save…Thania, are you there?”
“No Da, mother isn’t here.” Ancel grabbed his father’s hand and squeezed. The flesh was now hot to the touch like heated waves above a roaring hearth.
His father’s garbled words continued. Tears came to Ancel’s eyes at his delirium.
Sweat beaded Stefan’s brow, and his eyes shot open. “The keys…Ancel,” he whispered and his eyes closed again.
“I’m here, Da! It’s me,” Ancel exclaimed but his pleading went unacknowledged. What’s he talking about? What’s he trying to tell me?
Just as sudden as the mutterings began, they stopped. His father’s breathing evened out. Ancel touched the back of his hand to his father’s head. It was cool to the touch, almost normal. A relieved sigh escaped Ancel’s lips.
“I’ve brought his medicine.” Alys’ soft voice sounded behind him.
Ancel turned to face her. Her eyes shone wetly. In her hand, she carried a tray with two teacups.
“And a cup for you. Shin Galiana said it will help with what you feel now.” Alys’ gaze met his for a moment before her attention shifted to his father.