Dedicated to quikslvr53.

---

Chapter 19 - Soul link

---

The shadows were everywhere.

They lurked inside the shadow mist, dancing in and out of Skye's view, somehow always coming closer, closer, reaching out for her with limbs she couldn't focus on, and nothing she did halted their advance.

Closer.

Touched her.

They grew backlit eyes that dug into her like their fingers and ripped the insecurities from her soul. Skye struck out again and again, desperate not to let them claim her. She tore at their shapeless bodies with her nails until they bled, raking lines into the faces that scabbed over immediately and left horrific, weeping scars on faces she suddenly knew. 

 Why are you doing this? they whispered. Why do you hurt us so? We are like you.

The faces of people she cared about looked back at her, staring at her like the monster she was. Tayne, Kya, Verdrana, her father, all standing in front of her, hands clutching the injuries she'd inflicted upon them as they staggered back like they couldn't believe she'd been the one to put them there.

You're responsible, they cried. No one else did this to us--why are you doing this!

Skye froze, horrified at herself. 

What was she doing? Hurting those that were like her? 

Am I truly worse than a demon?

She hesitated. The blood mixed with shadow, the emerald sparks fleeing her fingers lest it too become corrupted. It bothered her less than it should have. As far as she was concerned, she hadn't deserved it in the first place. She'd only dragged the Master's attention to the Silverborn and got them killed because of it. 

The faces snarled at her, shapes shifting once more as her thoughts spiralled out of control. 

Useless, said one face, slithering around her ankle.

Pathetic, said another, sliding along the ground and encircling her with the shadow.

Worthless, said the third. It latched onto her arm, biting deep into her shoulder over the Master's mark. The black tendrils sprouted from her skin and raced down her hands, covering her in darkness. She struggled. She didn't want to be corrupted--she couldn't let them take her. Couldn't--

The thought cut off. A wave of fatigue swept over her as silver stars pinpricked the mist around her. 

Ash, Ski, Infuse! Darkness be gone!

An explosion of silver light banished the shadows, sending them back into the abyss yet the light didn't fade. Skye had to shield her eyes against its strength, barely able to watch as it enveloped her world in warmth. 

From the all consuming darkness, a new scene blossomed.

Skye found herself on the floor in a large arching room carpeted in a soft white material. She ran her fingers over it, marvelling at the texture. She'd never seen its like in Naisha, there was no one skilled enough even if they'd had the materials to waste on it. 

The rest of the room echoed the carpet's elegance. 

The walls curved delicately, coming to a point in the ceiling which Skye found odd. The idea of anything but a flat roof seemed ridiculous. Curious objects and paintings lined the edges of the room, somehow combining with the bookcases decor and making for an impressive sight, all perfectly highlighted under the orbs of light that hung from the ceiling. 

Skye remained, fingers entwined in carpet, gaze shifting slowly from item to item for a long time just taking it in. It was nearly ten minutes until she noticed the figure standing patiently behind her.

She scrambled to her feet, assessing the potential threat. She tried to focus, but a cloud of fog hung over her mind. It was difficult to think or establish any kind of thought pattern, like her brain was trying to adjust.

"It is something to look at, is it not?" said the figure. "I often found myself lost in the intricacies of this room, much to the dismay of my mast... teacher."

Skye rubbed the side of her face with her hand, trying to wipe away the disorientated feeling plaguing her. She sensed they intended no harm but was still unable to retain a thought for more than a few seconds.

"I don't mean to be rude, but who are you and where the in the Nether am I?"

The figure--a woman--considered her for a moment. "I am Kiarae. I imagine it would help recognition if you had seen me through your own eyes before. I imagine it must be quite different." The woman smiled, resting her hands on a gleaming bladed staff. "And this," she said as she gestured around, "is a soul link. Restrictive to Sentinels bound through a Linaye, the teacher-student bond, if you remember, it can be initiated by either person at any time. One's first experience is quite disorientating, if I remember correctly, but it shall be my method of passing my knowledge on to you."

She extended a hand towards Skye. Skye took the offered hand and she stood carefully, narrowing her eyes in concentration.

It made sense. The woman's hair illuminated the space around her, shining with the silvery light she remembered from her first meeting. While the woman was slender, as to be expected from captivity, she emanated such strength that it was impossible to... to...

Skye swayed, planting her feet in the ground to avoid falling. Her knees buckled and she collapsed into the soft fuzz.

Kiarae frowned and knelt beside Skye. "I sensed something through the Linaye before I established this connection. What happened?" she asked, stroking a thumb along Skye's arm.

"Uh... nothing. Nothing happened. Just dreaming again, nightmares, I guess and..." Skye pressed her fingers into her head, trying to focus. She sounded so much like Jesse at the moment. She felt pathetic in front of her teacher.

Useless. Pathetic. Worthless. The words rang in her mind, bouncing around inside her skull. She took a deep breath and tried again.

"Just... just a nightmare," she said. "I'm not sure though, it felt so real..." The orb of light above her head flickered. Skye flinched as a shadow appeared behind the bookcase.

Kiarae's frown deepened. "It appears Alguarde is not as safe for you as I had hoped. Which reminds me of a pressing matter."

She stood, and Skye lunged for the carpet as her body was lifted into the air. 

"Hey!" Having missed the carpet, Skye attempted to orient herself mid-air and failed. Kiarae swivelled a finger in the air, and the bandages covering Skye's shoulder burn unwound. 

Kiarae knew. Her teacher knew that she was already tainted by the corruption. 

Skye tried to cover it as shame pounded through her. To have Kiarae see it, an outstanding victim of the Master's, it felt like treason. She'd suffered through years, only to have Skye presented as the only means of salvation--a demonstration of what would inevitably happen to Kiarae if she remained in the Citadel. 

The invisible grip took her wrist and pulled it away. Skye tried to move it back, only to find that she couldn't, and involuntary images of Darni flashed through her mind. The ground became wood, the air beside her a table as the Commander forced her arm into the shackle, reaching for the blade to press into her flesh until it split--

"Stop!" cried Kiarae. "I cannot work if you fight me, Skye!" 

"Let me go," breathed Skye. "Please, please just don't--"

Skye's arm regained its movement. Without the resistance, it flung to her chest where the other locked it into place with her legs. She squeezed eyes shut, struggling to repress the memories flooding her thoughts and get her breathing back under control. 

"I apologise," said Kiarae. "I did not realise it would invoke such a strong reaction."

Skye nodded. The room came back into focus, and after a minute of floating freedom, Kiarae spoke again. 

After a minute of floating freedom, Kiarae spoke again. "I am going to tighten it again, but only slightly. I need to inspect it, and it will be safer for us both if you allow me to do so."

"I'm sorry," said Skye. Even when she'd actually been in the Commander's grip, nothing he'd done had instilled that kind of raw terror in her. She'd fought, but never panicked. "I don't know what's wrong with me." 

"Forgiven," said Kiarae.

Skye forced herself to relax as Kiarae's grip tightened. She felt vulnerable, and she didn't like it. 

Kiarae placed a gentle hand at the edge of the burn. She closed her eyes, one finger tapping on the grip of her staff.

"There is more than just shadow magic in this," said Kiarae. "It was shadow that inflicted it, but corruption that sealed it into your skin. You made it into Alguarde without issue from the wards, I take it?" 

"Yes," said Skye. "But they were distracted with the Master at the time." 

"Did he delay capturing you perchance?" asked Kiarae, fingers moving to the centre of the mark. 

"He did seem to take his time," said Skye with a frown. "He didn't show up at the fight that he sent everything else too, either."

"I must take credit for his absence there," said Kiarae. "He was going to shadow step to you, so I knocked him out." 

She said it so casually that Skye had to check the sentence for a hidden meaning. "Oh. Appreciated, I had my hands full with the tainted."

"I had to keep my student safe," murmured Kiarae. "But if this mark made it through the wards, it is possible that something else may have aswell. You will need to watch yourself in Alguarde. The wards prevent corruption from entering, but once it is inside it will remain undetected. Be wary of anyone that works against you, as the corruption often influences their actions subconsciously." 

Skye was finding it harder to remain calm under Kiarae's grip. Talk of an infiltrator wasn't helping the situation either. "Is there any reason I can't remain on the ground while you do this?" 

Kiarae replied without opening her eyes. "Because," she said. "It is easier to affect something with magic if it already under another effect. If this has a surprise attached to it, I will have an advantage with my magic already affecting you, and by extension, this shoulder mark. I assume the Master was responsible for it?" Her fingertips glowed with a silvery light, sending tingles down Skye's arm.

"He used the shadow flame magic on me attempting to curb my rebellious streak. I think he intended for it to corrupt me, but I don't feel any different." Skye tilted her head to watch Kiarae work. "Can you heal it through this link? Does magic not require physical contact?"

"It is what I am attempting to figure out now, but it is possible. The Linaye makes many things possible between a Sentinel and her student. It is a fusion of souls."

They were silent for a few more minutes until Kiarae sighed. Skye drifted to the ground until she stood on her own once more. She stretched, enjoying the feeling of energy rushing through her limbs.

"Can you get rid of it?" asked Skye.

Kiarae bit her lip, tilting her head to the side. "Of that, I am not sure. It is a curious mark. It was intended to mark you with the corruption - and that, it has done."

Skye's heart skipped a beat. She felt cold. The dream came back to the forefront of her mind. Was it a prediction of what she would become? A danger to everything she cared for?

"So..." She hesitated, collecting her thoughts before continuing. "What does that mean?"

"I will not lie. I am not sure. It appears it was intended to spread and corrupt your being, but it has not. I believe-"

"Am I a... danger," said Skye, forcing the word out. She had to know. She refused to put more people at risk because of her ignorance. "... because of this mark?"

Shaking her head, Kiarae reached for Skye's hand. "No. From what I can tell, you have somehow developed a resistance to the corruption. You displayed it on our first meeting. The Master tried to infect you then, but his magic was unable to penetrate your defense. Even his work around did not succeed." She paused. "However, be wary. Though your soul remains pure, your body, marked by corruption, may serve as a conduit to it. It will be easier for certain things to take hold."

Kiarae lifted Skye's hand to eyelevel. "The mark is something that you will have to bear, but it shall remind you of your goal: preventing others from falling to the same fate."

Skye sucked in a breath, somewhat relieved if not convinced. "So I can't heal it away?"

"It cannot be cured with any healing I am capable of. However," said Kiarae, pushing Skye's sleeve back down her arm, "the cuts across your arm can indeed be rectified. We shall begin with that as our goal for your first lesson." She waved her hand, and a green book laced with gold flew to her waiting hand. "I have always wanted to do that ever since my own ma--apologies, old habit--teacher did it." She grinned. "Now, what do you know of Sentinels?"

Taking back her hand, Skye smiled. "Not a lot."

Floating the book across to Skye, Kiarae raised her hands and behind them, a shimmering pale surface appeared in mid air. "I shall start from the basics, then." She straightened her back, lifted her chin, and took on an imperial expression that Skye assumed was similar to Kiarae's own teacher, once upon a time.

"There are five elements of magic. Water, fire, nature, shadow, celestial." As Kiarae spoke, symbols appeared on the surface behind her - blue, red, green, purple and silver. "Each has an associated colour, and are all unique from each other, having different strengths and weaknesses."

"Magic is ether, isn't it? The air-liquid the wards are made of and what I drifted through in the dream to find you?"

Kiarae nodded approvingly. "Indeed. I am glad you remembered. Ether is effectively raw magic. It exists in the Nether realm, generated in part by each deity. When we harness it, we draw our deity's ether into the mortal realm through our soul and refine its power into magic. Now, the soul is--"

"Can I actually use magic at some point?" interrupted Skye.

Raising an eyebrow, Kiarae put her hand on a hip. "I do not remember myself being so impatient."

"I've always learned better doing something than hearing about it is all."

Kiarae sighed. "I suppose. My brother was the same. Always impatient, always needing to be doing something." She looked down, considering. "We shall proceed. You will heal the cut on your arm."

Skye flipped her arm over. She glanced at it, wondering how Kiarae expected her to do that. "I've already tried. It doesn't work." She prodded it with a finger, wincing as it flared with pain.

"Possibly because I have not taught you how to channel your magic into healing yet," said Kiarae dryly. 

"I figured that out already," said Skye. "I healed the Silverborn after the fight, it's the reason why we made it back to Alguarde at all. It's just when I try to heal myself that it doesn't work." 

"You have already healed outside your initial burst of power?" Kiarae sounded surprised. 

"Yes," grumbled Skye. "I'm not that slow. Give me some credit."

"It is just..." Kiarae shook her head. "Very well. I suspect these injuries are giving you trouble because they are inflicted upon your soul, not just your body. The Commander had a soul-blade, if I remember correctly. The physical mark is merely the entry point to the real damage." 

Skye considered that for a moment. "So I have to heal my soul?"

"Yes. Now, I want you to..."

The next hour was infuriating. Skye tried and failed several times to heal the wound and was became increasingly annoyed with herself. Useless. She was useless. Finding her soul, as Kiarae called it, was difficult when the forest wasn't there to pressure it. The magic refused to listen to her. She covered the wounds with her palm again, willing the green light into existence.

As the light faded again, she clenched her teeth. It hadn't worked, again.

Kiarae's patience was infinite. "You are using too much force. Direct it. Guide it. It should be like the sun, filtering through the window, or the way the moonlight streams through the trees. You cannot force it. Guide it to your soul, let it flow through you."

Guide it to your soul.

Like moonlight? Skye had no idea what Kiarae meant by the moonlight filtering through the window. Or was that the sunlight that was supposed to do that? She slapped her arm, regretting it instantly as the pain shot up the limb. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why did she keep failing? She'd used this magic before easily on the Silverborn--why was this so hard?

"You need to relax. Stop trying too hard," said Kiarae. "Just feel it."

Skye tried again. Light, but the slash remained. She glared at it with silent fury. Feel it? How was she supposed to feel something she couldn't find? Comparing it to sunlight didn't help. Moonlight just made her think of the nights when her mother left her alone. "What if it just isn't meant to work?"

Kiarae tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"You said there'd never been a pairing like this before. What if I screwed that up, and went towards you instead of a nature soul? What if this," she said, extending a hand around the room, "just isn't meant to work? What if the magic's different and you can't teach me?" She folded her arms, digging her nails into her palm. She looked at the ground, trying to stop the frustrated tears from falling. "That, or I'm just a failure."

She shrugged the hand off her shoulder, not wanting to be comforted. Kiarae sighed. "I do not know. Skye, a Linaye bridging elements has never been done before. You have to understand that. While celestial and nature are different, they have things in common that I am trying to work around."

"And if I'm the problem?"

"I doubt that. Your magic has developed, progressed further by itself than I would have expected from a Sentinel at the academy in a month in less than a week." She tilted her head. "For you to be able to heal others already is a feat unheard of in my time. It took months before Sentinels of my time were able to embrace their magic, years before they could channel it to any extent, though we were never placed in a situation such as yourself."

Skye suspected Kiarae was merely attempting to make her feel better. "And how long did it take you?" 

"It was four years before I managed my first soul healing, and I was considered a prodigy," said Kiarae. "Now, try again." 

Skye took a deep breath. Closing her eyes, she let Kiarae's words ring through her mind as she tried to decipher them.

The soul is the essence of magic.

Every person has one with an affinity for a certain element, even if they are unable to wield magic.

A Sentinel is chosen upon the strength of their soul, because magic requires more than physical strength.

Look for the link between body and soul. Search for your soul, find the place in your mind where it resides and direct your healing there.

Like the forest, Skye realised. The forest knew where to find it.

She found herself drifting in her mind, trying to recreate the corner where the forest had touched. Where the forest, she realised now, had soothed her mind and her thoughts, allowing her to reach the magic, to save the Silverborn and aid her flight. Once she started, it was surprisingly simple.

It was drifting through the forest, lying in the soft grass with Kya, watching the wind rustle the leaves and the grass around her fingers. Skye felt rather than saw the green light surround her, and instinctively knew she'd found it, the same place she'd hidden from Kiarae's wrath after accidentally invading her body. It was familiar and not quite physical.

She called on the magic. 

Her arm tingled, and the light caressed her arm. Freedom and a powerful joy coursed through her body, like when she'd healed Jesse for the first time except stronger. So, so much stronger. She lost herself in the blissful feeling, a tide of emerald light sweeping her away.

When she opened her eyes, the wound was gone.

"I knew you could do it." Kiarae smiled down at her, and Skye smiled back. The feeling still tingled in her limbs. She felt like dancing around the room until she collapsed from exhaustion.

"It feels amazing," breathed Skye. 

"Careful not to lose yourself in it. It is a powerful thing, the soul. In essence, it is us, but to a Sentinel, it is everything." Skye raised an eyebrow at Kiarae's cryptic statement. The elder Sentinel shook her head, soft silvery hair falling around her shoulders. "You will learn later. For now, we celebrate, as we have proven it is possible, in some way to bridge the gap between elements."

Kiarae threw her hands into the air, and hundreds of shining sparks exploded into a thousand tiny stars, igniting the room with light. Together, they chased the stars around the room as they drifted out of reach. Skye didn't pause to think of her odd behaviour, so lost she was in the ecstasy of magic. Minutes later, they collapsed to their knees, giggling on the floor like idiots. Kiarae still held her staff. It glowed, sending beams of light around the room.

"I have not had fun like that in two centuries. My old master used to do it, when I succeeded at something that particularly bothered me," said Kiarae. A sadness fell over her face.

"When I am strong enough, I will free you, Kia," said Skye. "I will not let you stay a prisoner forever."

Alarm rewrote Kiarae's features. "No, you must promise me you will never come here. Never, under any circumstances He is stronger than you can ever imagine. The corruption aids him."

"Something must be able to beat it. You said I had a resistance. That could develop into--"

"No! You must not come here! You would doom us all, fighting him for my cause!"

"You've resisted him for years! He hasn't killed you, but you can hardly say he's left you alone! The bond might be one way, but I can figure out that you, in the last few days, have suffered for my cause at least once! He was in your cell when I was in your head, merely to punish you for happiness!"

Kiarae was silent. She gazed at the ground, lips pressed together as Skye pushed again.

"Kia, you're my teacher. What if he kills you? I'll be lost without you!" Skye was almost yelling, leaning on her hands towards her teacher that still sat, unmoving on the carpeted floor. 

"He won't kill me," whispered Kiarae. "Or, at least, if he does, it'll be in that darkened rage that consumes him... but it won't be him."

"How can you be so sure?"

Kiarae exhaled shakily. "Because," she said. "He's my brother."

*+*+*+*