Gail Martin - The summoner

"Father," Kiara breathed. "Dear Lady, he's looking better, Carina, can you see?"

Carina nodded, wide-eyed, her smile joyous. "He does look better, though not his old self. Oh! Kiara, look!" she cried, tightening her grip painfully hard on Kiara's hand. "Cam is with him!"

"Wait, it's shifting again," Carina said.

The mist closed over the globe like a coming storm. All at once, the temperature in the room plummeted, and from the depths of the globe, a blood-red glow began to stain the mist, until out of its depths burst a ray of brilliant crimson light that struck Kiara full in the chest. Kiara sagged to her knees. "Break the circle!" Carina hissed to her. "You have to break the circle!"

Kiara, unresponsive, stared straight ahead, her eyes fixed and her form rigid.

"Wind and Fire, Land and Sea, I release you!" Carina commanded, her voice just shy of panic.

"Those are not your powers to command," a deep voice boomed from Kiara's open mouth.

"Kiara!" Vahanian shouted, diving toward her. Mikhail pulled him back.

"You can't stop it," Mikhail said. "Leave it to Tris."

Tris released the hands of those sitting next to him and took a step around the table toward Kiara. "Let her go," Tris said evenly.

The light pulsed and Kiara shuddered, her face contorting in pain as Carina and Berry screamed.

"Let her go!" Tris commanded once more, focusing his power and his will. "What do you seek?"

"I seek Martris Drayke," the voice rasped, tearing the words from Kiara's throat. "And a bargain."

"What bargain?"

"Surrender yourself, and I will not kill your friends."

"We've got our own scores with this one," Vahanian growled. "No bargains."

Tris took a step closer. "If it's me you want," he said evenly, "here I am. Let her go."

"We have sought her the length of Margolan for her treachery," the voice rasped. "She is ours."

"She is her own. Let her go."

"I'll let her go," the voice boomed. "Into the arms of the Dark Lady." A burst of light streamed from the orb and Kiara convulsed, held suspended in its blood-red glow.

"Not if I can help it," Tris grated, diving for the globe. He gasped in pain as his body cut through the crimson light. "Shield!" he cried, summoning his power, and a blue glow rose to envelop him, blocking the light from its target.

Behind him, Kiara slumped to the ground. Carina rushed to her side, placing her own body between Kiara and the globe.

"You have grown stronger," the voice boomed. "I should have killed you when I had the chance. Give up your foolish quest now, and I can cut short your sister's torment," the voice baited. Within the globe, Kait's face, twisted in fear and pain, pressed against the inside of the glass.

"Go to the Whore!" Tris rasped as he summoned all of his power to make one great push against the crimson light, forcing it back toward the nexus of the scrying ball. A scream, Kait's scream, tore through the chamber as Tris gave one final effort, hurling all of his strength against the crimson light.

The globe flared like the sun, blindingly bright. The ball exploded, raining fragments that glowed like embers. Tris fell forward and the blue glow vanished as the others crowded around.

"I think we can all agree-no more scrying," Vahanian said, getting his shoulder under Tris's arm and helping Tris into a chair. "Agreed," Carina said from where she and Devin and Royster knelt beside Kiara. She lay still on the floor and like the rest of them, bled from the shards of the scrying ball.

"You're not going to hear any arguments from me," Tris said weakly, sagging back against the chair, his head throbbing. "How is Kiara?" he managed, proud that he was still conscious.

Carina looked up. "Alive. Unconscious. I'd like to get her to bed so she can sleep it off." She looked at Tris. "That was Arontala, wasn't it?"

Tris nodded, then stopped as his head pounded so hard that he nearly blacked out. "It was the same thing I felt back with the caravan." He paused. "Jared wants Kiara," he said quietly. "She's defied him and he knows it. He won't stop until he has her under his control."

The worry in Carina's eyes showed that she had reached the same conclusion. "Then we really have no choice, do we?" Carina said. "We can't break the wasting spell on King Donelan while Arontala lives. Nowhere is safe for Kiara while Jared rules. We must help you defeat them, or Isencroft and Kiara will never know safety again."

"I agree," Mikhail said. "To destroy the beasts that plague Dhasson, we must destroy Arontala." He met Tris's eyes. "Even Dark Haven is no longer safe," he said. "I will help you."

"Thank you," Tris whispered, feeling the last of his strength fading.

Mikhail bent to gather up Kiara in his arms. Carina gave Devin and Berry a list of herbs and items from the kitchen.

"I'll get Kiara back to her room," Mikhail said. "You look like you've got all you can handle just getting back upstairs," he added, appraising Tris's condition.

"Here, lean on me," Vahaman said as Tris managed to stand up, then stumbled. "Carroway, come around on the other side, he's going to need some help."

Maire looked at Tris worriedly- "I will bring up some hot tea and something to clean those cuts."

Carina looked back at Tris, as she headed for the door behind Mikhail. "I'll be up as soon as I get Kiara taken care of," she promised.

"I'll send up Seldon," Royster said, promising the herbalist's help. The librarian looked scared.

Carina turned to Vahanian. "What about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Where do you stand? Arontala has to know you're with us. You don't think he's going to let you off any easier than the rest of us."

"Right now, my job is to get you to Principality City alive. If we live that long, I'll worry about it then," Vahanian said. Carina turned on her heel and followed Mikhail.

"I should have stayed in Margolan," Tris said quietly as Vahanian and Carroway helped him toward the stairs. "If I'd killed Jared right then, none of this would have happened."

"We carried you out on a stretcher," Carroway reminded him. "Did you forget that part? We were outnumbered. We'd all be dead by now. There would be no one who could stop Jared."

"I'll go back alone, I'm the one Arontala wants-"

"Your friends have their own reasons for choosing to go with you," Royster said from behind them. "Their quests are as important as your own."

"This is exactly the kind of stunt I warned you about," Vahanian grumbled as they worked their way up the stairs. "I've a mind to lock you in a cell somewhere just to make sure you live long enough to get to Margolan."

Tris found that he was too exhausted to reply. He managed to stand long enough to wave off further help once they reached his room, but halfway to his bed his vision blurred, and the last thing he remembered was grabbing at a chair to break his fall.

TRIS OPENED HIS eyes slowly. His head pounded hard enough that everything he saw was surrounded by a nebulous glow. Even the light from the fireplace was far too bright. The skin on his hands and face burned as if from nettles, and he felt as if he had been thrashed.

"Glad to have you back." Taru's voice came from the shadows beside his bed. He managed to turn his head to see her. The effort made his head swim.

"I made it as far as my room before I blacked out this time."

Taru sniffed. "As soon as your friends let go of you, you fell face down in the middle of the floor." She smiled slightly. "At least they pulled off your boots before they put you to bed," she added. "But you are correct. You stayed conscious after the working, you got up the stairs without being carried-so they tell me-and you have been out only a few hours. Your training is paying off." Tris closed his eyes. "Not good enough." Taru stepped closer, and laid a hand on his shoulder. "No, not yet," she said, her voice a little gentler. "But there are months yet before you must face Arontala. This is promising."