She took her time before replying, mostly to get her nerves under control, but she hoped it conveyed some sort of contempt or intimidation. “I’m just evaluating the scene, making sure you don’t have anyone waiting to jump me.” Zandrue had told her to keep her eyes peeled for that possibility. She had forgotten, but she started now.


    “You haven’t given me any reason to trust you, Dyle.” There didn’t appear to be anyone else, but it was difficult to tell. There were so many shadows. Zandrue had told her to pay most attention to the shadows, but they just looked like shadows to her. Maybe that was all they were.


    “You sneak around, appear and disappear. You spy on me. These are not reasons to trust you.”


    Quilla almost laughed, but he gave no hint of sarcasm or joke. She scowled. “Really?”


    Quilla shook her head. “You’re going to have to be specific, Dyle, because this isn’t telling me anything. If you’re protecting me—and by the way, I don’t need your protection—but if you’re protecting me, then why all the sneaking around? Why the stalking?”


    The road in both directions was lined with trees and shrubs.


    The Volgs who had kidnapped her had called her Catalyst. She had not known what that meant.


    Corvinian was lying unconscious on the ground, surrounded by the crackling, yellow light that streaked out from the direction of the Temple. Felit?a was standing by the line of light, looking towards its source—a staff held by a glowing Volg on the Temple steps.


    “What are you doing?” Quilla asked.


    Felit?a didn’t look at her. “Finding out how close I need to be to the Volg before I can safely stand in the way of this energy stream.”


    That didn’t make any sense. The energy was pushing anything that tried to touch it away. How would getting closer help? Wouldn’t it be stronger nearer its source?


    And just standing out in the open like this. What was Felit?a thinking? Corvinian was lying helpless on the ground. People were fighting ahead of them. Volgs were flying overhead.


    “I’ll explain later,” Felit?a said and began walking alongside the line of light, towards the battle.


    Quilla stayed with her. Felit?a was the only protection she had right now, and as strange as her actions seemed, she trusted Felit?a knew what she was doing.


    After a short distance, Felit?a reached for the beam of energy. Her hand rebounded from it. She continued walking forward and Quilla followed.


    One thing she’d learnt during her captivity by the Volgs was that one of the best ways to tell the beasts apart was by their horns. They each had unique horns. This one had particularly large horns. And then there were the black robes he wore.


    “The glowing Volg,” Quilla said. “He looks familiar. Is he…?”


    Felit?a nodded. “It’s Nibdenoff.”


    The Volg who had been her principal captor.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Two Volgs broke off from the battle and flew directly towards them. Quilla’s heart skipped a beat and she clutched Felit?a’s arm even tighter.


    A tingling shot through her body, and she felt awake! Alive! In an instant, she was full of… Energy? Magical energy? It was like nothing she had ever felt. It flowed through her, moved about from her toes to her fingers, back to her legs, then her neck, leaving that tingling sensation momentarily behind in each spot. At first, it seemed to move randomly, but then she realised that wasn’t the case. Felit?a was controlling it.


    More than that, her senses magnified. She could feel every breath of air she took move through her lungs and into her body. She felt her blood pump. She could distinguish between every yell, every swipe of a sword, jab of a spear, or flap of a wing. Every insect’s chirp, every purr from the still-sleeping jaguar. Her heartbeat slowed to a calm pace and her shivering stopped as she no longer felt so frightened. Everything was going to be okay now. She just knew it.


    And every remaining bit of magical energy in Felit?a flowed more freely, too. Somehow, Quilla sensed that. She knew Felit?a just needed to route it through her and she could easily move it wherever she needed it. Felit?a only needed the tiniest drop to put the first Volg to sleep, and then the second.


    Then Felit?a sent half of it all at once in multiple directions. Volg after Volg fell asleep in the battle, fell over where they stood, or crashed to the ground from the sky. In the blink of an eye, they were all lying on the ground.


    Except Nibdenoff on the Temple steps.


    Felit?a didn’t target him, just looked at him for several seconds. What was she doing?


    But then the energy moved again, jolted through Quilla. Not all of it. Just a small portion. And the Volg collapsed, the staff falling from his grasp, and the yellow light vanishing.


    Then the magical energy swept out of Quilla, every last drop sucking painfully back into Felit?a. Quilla gasped and let go.


    Her senses returned to normal, and her fear returned. Quivering, she asked, “What happened?”


    “They called you Catalyst, isn’t that right?” Felit?a said.


    Quilla nodded.


    “Now we know why.”


    “Catalyst,” the Volg said, glaring in her eye as he clutched her chin. His snout curled into something like a smile. Then he shoved her back into the arms of the Volg behind her, growled something in their language, and turned away.


    “The Volgs who captured me used it.” Quilla shivered. That was a time she didn’t like to remember. But the memories came back to haunt her from time to time. She’d been so focused on Garet’s death lately, they’d stayed at bay. But now… Days, weeks she’d spent in that cave with barely enough food and drink to survive, forced to live in her own filth because there was nothing but the floor to relieve herself on. She’d had no idea what they were planning for her. She still didn’t know, though she suspected now that part of it involved waiting until they had caught Corvinian.


    She groaned. “I’m not your wife. Not anymore.” At least now her anger could drown out her fear.


    “Gods, I don’t know what I was thinking coming out here. Get to the fucking point already. Others want my powers and are willing to kill me for them, but you want to help me. How?”


    He held up his hands. “I’m sorry, but I need you to understand. I will be Dusk Supreme soon. The current one’s time is running out. There’s only one other serious contender for the position, and that one will be dealt with soon. Once I’m Dusk Supreme, I can give you anything. I can protect your friends for you if you want. Anything at all. All you have to do is use your abilities for us. Together, we’ll have the whole world at our feet.”


    “Then what do you want?”