Cloud Warrior 05 - Forged in Fire Read Online Free PDF Page A

disappointed that Amia had abandoned the People.
    The shaping went on like that for nearly an hour. The First Mother would demonstrate one and Amia would replicate it. Each time, the shaping became ever more complex, to the point where Tan could no longer follow the distinction between each.
    While connected to spirit, he could sense Cora slowly coming around. Whatever the First Mother and Amia were doing seemed to be working. Tan was certain that it had nothing to do with him. He had taken to holding the steady spirit shaping the First Mother used when the healing began. Even that taxed him, straining his ability to concentrate.
    Then the First Mother nodded. “That is enough for now.” She glanced at Tan as she stepped away from the bed and pulled a chair away from the small oak table nestled into the corner by the window, dropping to it. Exhaustion painted onto her face, but there was something else there as well. Relief? “When I first met you, I did not think you would manage spirit. Then when you forced spirit together with sheer strength, I did not think you would ever manage spirit with much skill. You have grown, Tannen.”
    He wasn’t certain what to make of the compliment. “I think I’ve always been able to shape spirit. That’s why Amia I and are connected.”
    The First Mother smiled wearily. “You think spirit the only reason for your connection?”
    “Not the only reason, but a part,” Tan said.
    The summoning coin vibrated softly in his pocket. He resisted the urge to check who it was. Probably Roine trying to make certain they were safe.
    The First Mother frowned and leaned back in the chair. Her eyes looked as tired as the rest of her, but she watched how Amia remained near Cora, shaping occasionally, not exhausted after everything that they had done. A hint of pride shone in her eyes.
    “Will she recover?” Tan asked. He had sensed a hint of what could happen with Cora, but it was not enough for him to know with certainty.
    “Only the Great Mother knows the answer.”
    “How was it that she was fine before?” he asked. “When she came with me from Par-shon, she wasn’t like this.”
    “She was never fine,” Amia said softly.
    Tan went over to her and placed his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him. With his other hand, he pulled the summoning coin from his pocket and glanced at the rune. Wind. That meant his mother.
    “When we left Par-shon, I could sense it. She might have walked and eaten, but that was all. She was something like a shell, nothing more. With healing, her body recovered enough that her mind began to rebel. That was when she attacked us.” Amia met his eyes. “Your shaping took away that last protection on her mind. I can feel what she had done. It’s almost like she placed a shaping of spirit to keep her from remembering.”
    “Are you saying Cora can shape spirit?” Tan asked.
    Amia shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m saying. Spirit is a part of it, but it’s hard to tell. You did what you could to keep her alive. I can see that. But it confuses what is left.”
    Tan shifted his attention to Cora. She breathed slowly but steadily. Her eyes remained closed and she had not moved in the entire time that they had been working. “I… I thought I was helping,” he said.
    “You did help. Without your shaping, I think she would have died.”
    “And without my shaping, she wouldn’t have lost what protection remained over her.”
    “You did what you needed to,” Amia said.
    Tan sighed. There might have been a different way, but he had thought using spirit would have been the least likely to risk harm. Instead, his shaping had only caused her more.
    “I will stay with her,” Amia said. “It is slow, but there is hope for her.”
    Tan didn’t push, but if Cora could shape spirit as well as the other elements, they would need to know how. She might have bound the other elements together and used those to forge the connection to spirit. Even