Firewalker (Worldwalker 2)

Una’s gaze dropped and she frowned, troubled.

“It’s okay,” Rowan continued. “You learn to recognize it for what it is and control it, like any other kind of desire. Only people with weak character allow it to control them, like those guards.”

Rowan suddenly stopped and put a hand on Una’s shoulder. It was the first time Lily had ever seen Rowan touch Una outside of their sparring sessions, and for a split second Lily was worried that Una might push his hand off, but she didn’t. She trusted Rowan.

“Remember, Una,” he said, “we receive the Gift to defend our witch, not for our own pleasure. It’s a privilege, and it should be a rare one. You have enough character to control yourself—I have no doubt about that. Or about you.”

Una smiled up at Rowan gratefully, and Lily couldn’t help but be moved by how much love and respect had grown between them. Rowan was like a brother to Una now. He’d earned that right. As Lily watched this touching exchange between a mentor and his student, she couldn’t help but adore Rowan even more. Nor could she help but remember with a pang that he had probably learned the skill of compassionate leadership from his father.

As they moved across the large field that separated the walls of Baltimore from the surrounding forest, Rowan and Una grew silent and tense. Woven could be anywhere. They found a small clearing, and Rowan instructed Una to build a fire.

“We’ll wait here for Tristan and Breakfast to catch up while you and I heal Lily,” he explained while he opened his pack and began taking out his cauldron and herbs.

Lily sank gratefully to her knees. Her shoulder was still throbbing. “I’m going to try to find Caleb and your Tristan,” Lily told him.

Rowan nodded while he worked, his nimble hands laying out the tools he would need. His lips softened in a small smile. He loved being a mechanic. Lily had to force herself to concentrate; she could have stared at him the rest of the day.

She reached out and felt for the particular energies that were Caleb and Tristan. She could feel their relief and their happiness at hearing from her. “They’re close,” Lily said. “Can you reach them, Rowan?”

His eyes stared at nothing for a moment. “Not yet.”

Lily sent Caleb and Tristan an image of exactly where they were. We’re outside of Baltimore, she told them.

We’re only a few miles away from you. We’ll be there soon.

Lily relayed their message to Rowan, and he smiled with her before becoming serious again. Rowan set the cauldron onto the fire and turned to Una.

“I’m going to teach you how to heal a dislocated joint,” he told her, and the lesson began.

The ritual was over quickly, and it was a bit different from when Rowan and Tristan had healed Lily’s broken ankle all those months ago. The mineral-and-herb brew that bubbled in the cauldron was similar, but this time Rowan had Una use the power in her own willstone to direct the heat of the brew into Lily’s shoulder instead of having Lily do it as he had with her ankle.

Una willed the heat to form microscopic fingers of energy, which utilized the elements in the brew to rebuild the damage in Lily’s shoulder. Not even witches could create something out of nothing, and having the iron, calcium, and collagen in the brew was essential to create new cells and heal an injury. Energy alone wouldn’t do it.

Una understood the principles easily enough, but she had some trouble following through. Her true skill was fighting, not healing, but she managed to pull it off. As they worked, Lily noticed that Rowan’s smoke stone took on a slightly reddish hue while Una’s nearly black stone could not. Rowan’s stone was more flexible than Una’s. Lily made a mental note to mark which of her mechanics’ stones could change color to fit the different tasks of magic. This was supposed to have been a lesson for Una, but Lily found that she was still learning as well.

“Good job, Una,” Rowan said as they packed up their silver knives and their hunks of ore. “You’ll—”

Rowan suddenly broke off and stood, his eyes flying to the trees and he unsheathed his long knife.

Lily. Give us strength.

The Woven were on Una and Rowan before Lily could even draw the heat of the fire into her body. Coyote-like shapes burst out of the underbrush and launched themselves at Lily’s mechanics. They had impossibly long tails, and when Rowan grabbed one of the Woven by the throat, the snarling creature used that tail like a whip, lashing its tail overhead, and whipping Rowan across the shoulder and back. His wearhyde jacket was slashed open, and blood slicked down his back.

Lily’s witch wind turned the breeze into a moaning storm. She was tossed six feet into the air and immediately sent power exploding into Una’s and Rowan’s willstones. But she didn’t stay airborne long.

Lily felt a distinct presence react to her display of magic. It was not unlike the fear and awe that she could sense when she heard people scream the word “witch,” and then she felt a tearing pain in her left forearm as she was pulled to the ground. A huge white coyote Woven, the

largest in the group, pinned her to the forest floor and loomed over her.

No! They have Lily! Caleb, Tristan—help me, brothers! Rowan called desperately in mindspeak.

Lily had no weapon and no idea how to defend herself, so she did as Rowan had done and grabbed the Woven by the throat to keep it from biting her. As she dug her fingers into the creature’s neck she felt something hard buried under its skin. Lily pinched the lump between her fingers and felt that odd presence again. She decided that the presence wasn’t a mind, but a collective of minds—inhuman minds that had no language. The eyes of the pale Woven above her widened, and the idea of distinct smells lit up a quiet, long-forgotten section of Lily’s brain. Lily recognized each scent as a being, and each being belonged to this pale Woven.

For half a second, images blurred through Lily’s thoughts. She saw Una hanging above her from a tree branch, slashing down at her with a knife. Then she saw Rowan straddling her and pushing a knife into her heart. Then she saw Caleb running her down on horseback. Lily only recognized the dizzying sensation for what it was because she’d felt it once before—when Rowan had taught her how to make a mind mosaic.

Lily suddenly felt an urge to jump to her feet and head toward the place where the sun sets. The pale Woven broke eye contact and wrenched herself away from Lily desperately. She sent out a howl, and her pack retreated into the trees to the west.

Still reeling from having her mind splintered into multiple perspectives, Lily blinked her eyes and tried to steady herself. She placed her palm down hard on what she thought was a wall and heard a thumping sound. When her eyes came back into focus, Lily realized that she was smacking Caleb’s meaty chest. He’d picked her up and he was moving her closer to the fire.