The Path of Giants, B.T. Narro [the speed reading book .TXT] 📗

hurried over. With his help, they quickly got me farther down the hall and away from the curse.

Normally, my healing spell was incredibly painful. But it was just such a relief to be able to breathe again without pain that I barely felt it as I mended my broken ribs. It turned out he had cracked two of them.

It didn’t take long for me to heal the rest of my injuries as they helped Michael over so I could reverse his concussion and heal his bruised back.

Just about everyone seemed to be out of breath by the time we finished.

“What about the sorcerer Valinox brought?” I asked, thinking he might have some valuable information for us.

“He’s as dead as dead gets,” Reuben said.

“Well, now Valinox knows about the curse,” I added. “We’re not going to be able to trap him like that again.”

“It’s all right, Jon,” Aliana said. “You’re alive, and that’s what’s important.”

“She’s right,” Reuben agreed. “We should thank the witch for that.”

Reuben was right. I squeezed Hadley’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

She put her hand on top of mine. “It’s nothing.”

I was suddenly very aware that I was shirtless, standing here in front of everyone wearing only bloody undershorts, while the rest of my peers were covered in their loose night attire.

There was pounding on the door to the apartments below us. “What’s happening up there?” shouted one of the guards.

“Will somebody let the guards in?” Michael asked. He had on his silly woolen coif. We all looked at it, probably most of us noticing it for the first time.

“Why don’t you do it?” Eden asked. “And by the way, what the hell are you wearing?”

There were a few snickers.

“My head gets cold, all right?” he said with mock annoyance.

“I’ll open the door,” Aliana said. “And get word to the king about what happened.” She jogged down the hall.

“How did they get into your room, Jon?” Hadley asked.

“I think they must’ve come in, invisible, when the castle worker entered to start the fire in my hearth.”

“Oh, that’s terrifying,” Michael said.

“What do you have to worry about?” Eden replied. “It’s Jon and me who have to worry the most. Didn’t you hear his threat?”

“Can’t I be terrified for the two of you?” he replied snidely. “Or am I not capable of empathy?”

“Sorry,” she muttered in a quiet voice as she looked at the floor. Suddenly she didn’t look like the old Eden anymore.

Michael appeared surprised by her sullen reply. “Hey,” he said. “I was joking.”

“Oh.” Eden smiled at him faintly, but it was still clear she wasn’t her old self.

Eden isn’t the only one who’s different, I thought. In fact, there were very few things that were still the same as they used to be. Not only had Eden’s world been completely flipped around, but so had Kataleya’s and Hadley’s.

The rest of us might’ve felt like we could resume our lives upon returning to the castle, but that clearly wasn’t the case. The threat of Gourfist was dwindling. We no longer had Failina blocking our enemies from reaching us. I had no doubt that we would face Rohaer in ways we never had before.

But I didn’t think about all of these things with fear. I had hope. All of us had grown. Tomorrow was a new day, a first step toward ending this war for good. I believed in the king, I believed in my peers, and more than anything, I believed in myself.

However, my bravery threatened to shatter as I remembered Valinox opening my spine and decimating my ribs. I put it out of my mind for now.

Before I could start a new day tomorrow, I had to figure out where I would be sleeping tonight. I looked at Michael, who seemed to be watching Eden with hurt in his eyes as she stared at the floor. But then he caught me glancing and appeared confused. At first.

“Wait a moment,” he said, possibly realizing what I was hinting at with my questioning look. “You’re not suggesting what I think you’re suggesting.”

“I seem to be Valinox’s primary target,” I explained. “Until we figure out how to disable Valinox’s invisibility spell, I shouldn’t be spending much time alone. That includes sleeping.”

“What about Reuben?” Michael asked.

“My ordia isn’t going to help as much as your wind,” Reuben said.

“Jon’s not going to like my wind very much, trust me,” he said with a small laugh.

Many of us chuckled, Eden included.

“Fine,” Michael concluded. “But if you jab me with icy feet while I’m trying to sleep, I’m going to lose it.”

“Somebody really hates the cold,” I muttered.

“We’re talking to the king about getting you better protection first thing in the morning,” he said.

“I’m not going to enjoy this, either.”

I had a feeling that we wouldn’t even need a conversation with the king. Nykal would arrange for a safer place for me to sleep as soon as he heard about what happened. And if that didn’t do the trick, then he just needed a glimpse at the state of my room.

I knew that I could speak to the guards right now, who would wake up the councilman, and then accommodations could be made for me to stay in the keep in some windowless room. But I didn’t want to be alone right now, even if it meant sharing a bed with windy Michael. I didn’t want anyone to know how terrified I was of Valinox coming back for me.

I had been about to lose that fight. He would’ve beaten me.

I couldn’t stand this feeling of weakness. I found myself balling my fists as I thought about it. I didn’t just want to keep myself and my peers alive through this war. I wanted to become the strongest, most powerful sorcerer Valinox had ever encountered.

And I wanted to use that power to destroy him.

END OF BOOK 3

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