The Raven And The Wraith (Completed!)

Chapter 16

The Wraith
Chapter 16

I sighed. He was right, it was time to explain my past a bit. So I told him about Crael Crest. I did not mention Genevieve's betrayal, or her attempt to ensnare me. Those were points to all of this that I supposed were likely extremely important, but I was not willing to share them.

I had been making a good show of ignoring that part of my past. Ignoring the fact the Council had been hunting me night and day before I had even set foot on Crael Crest. And then even more feverishly after I left.

"That's quite a story..." Tad said quietly. Well, quietly for him. Meaning the leaves nearby didn't rattle, my hair wasn't blasted back, and the ground didn't shiver underfoot.

When I said nothing, Tad lifted his piercing blue eyes to mine. I met his gaze levelly, knowing he was sharp enough to have deduced there was much, much more to the story. Wondering if he was going to push it, or if he was patient enough to wait for it all to come out in the next few days. As I was certain it would.

"This ward I wear...it's only active like that around other dark beings, or if it senses danger." He lifted his hand, gesturing at his ring.

I waited for him to continue. Tad was not one to waste his breath on idle chit chat. He somberly twisted the ring gently on his finger, his expression distant as he stared into the fire.

"When it senses danger AND a dark being, the ring also grows quite cold. This ring has been freezing nonstop ever since I met you."

I looked into the fire, considering that. Was I dangerous? I knew I certainly could be, if needed. Was I a dark being? A month ago I would have scoffed. Now...I had no idea what I was.

"I think your ward is misreading me. If I were a dark creature, where is my master?" I didn't look at Tad as I asked him this. I didn't want him to read the confusion in me and mistake it for deception.

Tad looked at me thoughtfully. Long enough that I finally looked over and met his eyes.

He gazed at me steadily. "Yes. Exactly. Where is your master?"

I looked away. Tad had once again unnerved me with how astute he was. I wondered how long I would continue to underestimate him. On the outside he was a huge, loud, bumbling galoot with such a halo of frizzy silvery hair that it was comical.

But on the inside, he was shrewd, quick, and nobody's fool. And far more knowledgeable about magic than many of the Council masters I had met.

"I'll let you know once I finally meet it." I told him calmly.

Tad drew his fuzzy eyebrows together at that. "When you meet "it"?"

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees and my chin on my joined hands. Enjoying the warmth from the fire. Trying to pull my mind away from the treacherous whirlpools this conversation had created. Or maybe had re-awoken.

"Seems unlikely my master, if I have one, would be human. Or even of the Common Races."

Tad blew out a breath at that and shook his head slowly.

"You're just as full of surprises as the day I met you."

I didn't answer him. Even though the fire was a huge tower of blazing heat, my neck hairs were starting to tickle unpleasantly. I had assumed that it was due to the physical proximity to that foul, vicious ward Tad wore. But the sensation was increasingly more and more insistent. And it was starting to feel like it was coming from behind us.

I turned and looked out into the night, pulling my knives, letting them twirl and tumble around my hands. Next to me, I could feel Tad readying himself. Allowing his ward to slip out and surround him.