“Help!” the girl cried out.
The small voice was like an arrow to her heart. She slowly made her way to the top of the hill. Amanda knew if she could just reach Kaedin she’d be at peace again. She heard a noise beneath her and saw that the hill was surrounded by cloaked figures. All of her enemies’ faces were hidden beneath heavy hoods, save one. He towered above the Guard members, and his light shone brightly in the gloom.
“Baal,” she whispered.
He smiled up at her with pointed teeth.
Amanda was temporarily blinded as lightning struck near her. Her vision came back as she flew through the air out of breath. The large tree was split in half, and fire climbed its white bark. Carter stood hunched in the space Kaedin had occupied, acid burned flesh running down his body like candle wax. He moved toward her with jagged uneven steps.
“Murderer!” he bellowed, glaring at her with blood-shot red eyes.
“No, no. I didn’t mean to,” Amanda cried out, closing her eyes. “Don’t hide behind those eyelids. You look at what you did to me!” he demanded.
When she finally peeled open her eyes, he’d closed the twenty- yard distance between them and was bent over her shaking body, skinless fingers outstretched.
Amanda awoke breathing heavily. She was glad to find herself snugly sandwiched between Cole and her wolf’s warm bodies. I did that to him, I’m a murderer. It wasn’t easy to shrug off the fear and defeat her dream had brought, but she felt safe next to Cole and her wolf. She’d slept like a log, which was fitting because they’d had to sleep on the forest floor. Amanda felt more than rested rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she felt strong.
She stretched her arms into the air and arched her back.
Slits of sun light sliced through the foliage and drew a pattern of stripes across her skin. She studied them and wondered why they seemed so strange, this wasn’t an unusual occurrence. Light and shadows drew patterns over everything coloring the world one way then changing it completely with the drifting of a cloud. Her mind was on the verge of understanding why there was something off when Cole spoke to her.
“What is going on with you? Do you know, or is it as big a mystery to you as it is to me?”
She jumped at his voice; she’d thought he was asleep. “What do you mean?” she asked as he rolled to face her.
“I saw Carter’s spell hit you Amanda. I saw it break your skin. I heard you cry out in pain and now all I see is a hole in your shirt…” He put his hand on her shirt, his fingers lightly kissing the charred fabric. “Burnt around the edges.” He paused, clearing his throat and moving away.
She wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw something other than worry burning behind his eyes.
“You ran into that cloud of acid and came out of it miraculously fine, other than minor burns. Which, by the way, are completely healed.”
She looked down at her palm and understood why it had looked strange to her earlier. The burns were gone. Her hand almost seemed normal, even the poison in her veins faded. She threw off Cole’s cloak and drew her shirt up, exposing her midsection. Her skin now looked paler than normal but not monstrous. Cole had frozen at the sight of her bare skin. Apparently, she looked far from grotesque to him.
“Can you believe this?” she exclaimed in happy surprise.
Beneath her, the large rib cage of her wolf heaved in and out in a calm breathing pattern, and she knew how she’d been healed. She understood why she felt so strong but wasn’t sure she could explain it to Cole. She truly didn’t understand the reason this wolf was with her or what he was.
“No, I can’t,” he said reaching over, pulling her shirt back down and shaking his head back into the conversation.
“Cole, I don’t know what’s going on with me. I wish I understood so I could tell you. All of this must seem extremely strange, but you don’t need to worry. I’m still me, beneath all of the demonic poison and mystical healing.” Amanda cringed and hoped her words came across better than they sounded.
“Demonic poison and mystical healing?” Cole said in a thoughtful voice. “Yes you’re definitely yourself. No one but you could make an attempt at reassurance sound like an argument against yourself.”
Her cheeks heated, and she tried to hide her face, but he lifted her chin up. She felt a little relieved when she saw his perfect lips curved into a huge smile. His shoulders were shaking as he tried not to laugh.
“Go ahead and make fun of me!” she said, throwing her arms in the air.
Cole didn’t hesitate at all. His deep chuckle lifted her heart so much that she joined in. They laughed together. The strong carefree kind that hurts the sides, the one that only those you are comfortable with ever get to hear.
Then Madgie woke in a fit. Amanda had never seen her in such a state, half-asleep and hair like a lion’s mane. She started shouting at them for being “young and able to sleep on the forest floor.” This only fueled their amusement.
The laughter in the air faded away and was replaced with a familiar silence. She wasn’t at all surprised when the Scar took form in front of her, but she was surprised to see both Cole and Madgie still with her. They looked at each other full of confusion. When a Scar took a Healer it wasn’t a group thing. She’d never heard of a Scar taking more than one person before. From the look on Cole and Madgie’s faces, neither had they.
They were on the high, pebble-strewn banks of a clear river, watching two young lovers on the opposite side. The pair didn’t notice the three of them standing there, too caught up in each other. Amanda knew immediately it was the teenage boy who was trapped here in this Scar. The girl was a mere memory, not a spirit. Fear rippled across Amanda’s bosom, and she fell to her knees, momentarily overcome with the emotion. Cole pulled her back on her feet, and she tried to push out the feeling of trepidation.
It was a terrible thing to watch these Scars unfolding. Sometimes she had scenes like this, love, laughter, but it was merely the calm before the storm. If they were here, in this memory, something was eventually going to happen, a tragedy terrible enough to Scar a spirit and the world.
It was a beautiful day in the memory. The sunlight seemed almost golden as it reflected off the surface of the smooth water and highlighted the cotton blowing about on the breeze. It was springtime. Cottonwoods shed their seeds in the spring. She made note of every detail. Suddenly the young man was on his feet. He was dressed in a humble suit that reflected the style of the 1940s.
“Come on, Mae! It’ll be fun. The boys and me do it all the time,” he said to his sweetheart with a smile dancing around his lips.
“I can’t, John! For goodness sake, I’m in my Sunday dress! My mama would tan my hide,” Mae replied.
“What if I told ya I’d give you all of the dead presidents in my wallet?” he asked.
“I’d say I don’t want anymore Lincolns jingling around in my purse.” She giggled.
“Oh, I have more than pennies, you little tease. Now are you up for fun or not?” John asked as he offered her his hand.
“Okay, but it’s your own fault if my ma won’t allow me to see ya for a month,” Mae said, caressing his arm.
They walked hand in hand downstream, laughing with each other and giving shy kisses, until they reached a tree. It was a great deal larger than the rest of the ones lining the river, making it seem out of place. Its wide branches stretched out over the water and dangling from one of the thickest ones was a rope.