“Different than the Remnant bonds?”
“Yes.” He pauses tightly. “Two separate powers unify into one intractable maegic. A joining of souls that cannot be forced—and cannot ever be undone.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“Nor would you. Even in the days of the empire, soulmerges were exceedingly rare. Some claim they were no more than legend. Others believe the emperor himself was the product of such a union, that his parents had soulmerged and, in creating him, passed on a potent medley of elemental power.”
“Is that even possible?”
“I’m not certain. But it is said he could wield more than one element in his heyday.”
“Which ones?” I ask, heart beating rapidly.
There is a bated beat of hesitation. “Fire and air.”
Our eyes hold for a long time, neither of us saying any more. Eventually, Penn’s hands squeeze mine and he seems to snap out of the daze he’s slipped into.
“We’ve veered off topic. Let us get back to more important things before we lose the daylight. Close your eyes.”
I am all too happy to oblige, suddenly desperate to escape the intensity of his gaze. When I’ve refocused and am once again bobbing in the still waters of my mind, he sends a short blast of heat down the bond.
“You feel it? The pulse?”
I nod.
“Good. Now, I want you to send it back to me.”
“What? I can’t—”
“You can. Just like you did on the mountain, when you created your air shield to keep the fire at bay. But instead of blasting it physically outward, channel it internally down the bond. Into me.”
“What if I send too much?” I ask, nervous at the prospect of losing control. “What if it overwhelms me and—”
“This is a safe place. The sigils carved into the walls of this cavern are wards. Any power you expel here will be absorbedinto the volcanic ash. If your control slips, you’ll provide the barriers that protect Caeldera with a surplus charge. So even if you fail, you’ll be helping. Not hurting.”
That soothes me some. My voice is small as I put words to my final worry. “But you’re here with me. What if I hurt you? What if—”
“You won’t hurt me.”
“But—”
“Trust, Rhya.” His hands tighten almost to the point of pain. “Trust me. Trust yourself.”
The dark storm clouds of my power swirl faster, pressing in on me. In the distance, lightning cracks down over the water, a splinter of untempered power. Wind, raw and ravaging, howls in my bones.
“Now,” he urges. “Release it. Give it to me.”
I do.
It ripples outward, a shock wave blasting through me. Out of me. From my skin. From my soul. As it had on the mountain, but magnified tenfold. Penn jolts backward as it passes through me into him. The bond between us grows taut, pulled tight as a bowstring, screeching under the sheer force of power flowing between us. My hands flex against his, holding on with all my strength, afraid to let go. Afraid, if I lose hold of him, I will also lose hold of the maegic that threatens to overwhelm me.
I try to keep it contained. To keep the power from breaching the confines of my mind. But even as I struggle, the storm clouds that ring that quiet, safe place within turn to pitch, blacking out the sky as they close in from all sides. The waters in which I bob, once warm and still, turn to froth as unpredictable swells churn riotously around me.
I feel the moment I am swept away—feel the moment the cavern around us goes static, the wail of power in my bones, in ourbond, turning to a real, visceral howl in the air as incorporeal power turns concrete.
“Rhya!”
My eyes fly open as air tears violently at our clothes, a swirling vortex of mist and dust. Penn is there, chestnut hair whipping around his head, eyes burning into mine. The maegic in them smolders close to the surface. He is holding my hands, absorbing the shock waves of my power. All around us, the wards in the walls are aglow in the gathering dark, scores of red burning against the black volcanic stone as the wind surges out of control.