Bricrui (The Forgotten: Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

progressed into
this.” She waved a hand at her husband, worry creasing her
brow.
    “Is he lucid at all?” Gryffon asked, kneeling
next to the man and laying a hand on his forehead. Layna caught a
subtle look he gave her and came to stand beside him. She linked
her power to his and immediately felt the probe he had sent into
the lord’s mind.
    Something was definitely not right.
    “There are brief moments when he knows who he
is and where he is, but they are becoming fewer. I’ve had the house
mages working feverishly to find out what’s wrong with him,” she
seemed to suddenly remember that she had made false excuses in
order to keep the situation from them, and she hastily explained.
“I wanted to either fix it, or at least figure out what it was
before we contacted you about it. I know you have a lot of other
things to deal with right now.”
    Layna half-listened to the ramblings of the
woman while following Gryffon’s magic through the man. There was a
dark spot in his mind which seemed to be pulling his sanity into
it, like a black hole. But the origin of the spot was elusive. They
pulled out.
    - Telvani? – she mind-spoke to
Gryffon, a talent they had discovered they could achieve together
after the binding of their magic while fighting Nuko.
    - I would say so, but how did he
accomplish it? It’s like no other mind-spell I’ve ever seen. The
closest I can think of is the collar that the Order was using to
control people, but there’s no sign of a physical link . –
    “We’ll send someone over to look at him,”
Layna promised the distressed lady out loud, and exchanged a look
with Gryffon.
    Once back in the carriage, they made their
way to the next Council member in somber silence. Their fears were
confirmed as one after another they made the rounds to all the
Council members within a reasonable distance, and one after another
found similar situations. Two of them lived too far away to warrant
a visit that day, but messengers were sent with explicit
instructions to report the true reason for the Counselor’s
absence.
    The pair finally returned to the palace
exhausted and discouraged. It appeared as though the entire Council
was out of commission for the moment. Layna and Gryffon would have
to handle things on their own.
     
    *
    Katya drifted in and out of consciousness.
She groggily awoke to find broth being poured down her throat, but
she was out again before it reached her stomach.
    Voices sounded somewhere near her, but she
couldn’t understand them, and soon the effort of trying to listen
exhausted her, and she faded back into sleep.
    Finally she woke with her senses returned,
her mind clearing. She groaned and looked around, searching for
Hunter. He was lying sprawled out next to her, and she rushed to
his side. She regretted the sudden movement instantly as pain shot
through her head, but was rewarded at Hunter’s own moan of pain
when she touched his shoulder. He was alive.
    “Are you alright?” she whispered, hastily
searching their surroundings. They were all-too-familiar. It
appeared to be the very same cell she had just broken out of,
though meticulously repaired. Curses .
    “I think so,” Hunter answered, prodding at
his head. He stood carefully and started running his hands over the
walls methodically.
    “It’s no use,” Katya informed him. She moved
towards the window and stood as close to the wall as possible so as
to see out the edge. She could see several people rushing around
hurriedly. Something was up.
    “How long do you think we’ve been here?”
Hunter asked, finally abandoning his futile search of the cell
walls.
    “I don’t know,” Katya answered regretfully,
“my last clear memory is of Gareth breaking me out of here.” The
thought of her father made her eyes water. She had gained much more
control over her emotions since having her collar removed, but
though the emotion was not all-consuming as it may previously had
been, it didn’t hurt any less when she