Rain’s hands gripped her shoulders. Love and strength poured into her. «Weave your blessing, shei’tani. I am with you.»

At his touch, peace settled over her raging emotions and muted the dahl’reisen’s despair. She closed her eyes, gathering her emotions and summoning the shining golden magic of her shei’dalin’s love. Fierce love. Unwavering acceptance. Belonging. Family. Ellysetta wove those emotions and memories into her thoughts and sent them arrowing into the mind of the warrior whose face she held between her hovering palms.

“You honor me, Varian. May the gods watch over you and keep you safe. Go with my blessing and my love, and come back to me if you can.” Instead of delivering the traditional shei’dalin’s kiss to his brow, she poured upon him a small, radiant burst of her essence, absorbing his terrible sorrow and returning love in its stead.

When she released him, he bent his head and clumsily reformed his shields. Though his dahl’reisen eyes, incapable of tears, remained dry, his shoulders quaked with the force of his emotions. He fumbled with his Fey’cha belts, pulling free one of the many black-handled daggers. Both his hands and his voice shook as he sliced his palm and let six drops of blood fall upon the small blade and spoke the vow of blood-swearing. “I know a dahl’reisen has no right to this honor,” he declared, staring up at Rain, “but I do ask that this pledge be witnessed.”

“Witnessed,” Rain agreed. He glanced at Farel. “The bond requires a second.”

“I do not understand you at all, Tairen Soul,” the dahl’reisen general muttered, his expression wavering between disapproval and disbelief. Then he turned to Varian and barked, “Witnessed. And may the gods have mercy on all our blighted souls.”

Varian’s blade flashed briefly, sealing the bond, and he held it out to Ellysetta, hilt first.

She took the Fey’cha and Rain spun a quick Earth weave to add Varian’s steel alongside the other lu’tan steel woven into her studded scarlet leathers. “Do you have family in the Fading Lands, Varian?”

Startled, the dahl’reisen looked to Rain as if for guidance before answering, “Aiyah, kem’falla. I have two younger brothers—at least I did when the Wars ended.”

“And your parents? “

“They died in the Wars.”

“What are you brothers’ names?”

“I am dahl’reisen. I do not speak their names.”

“Then weave them to me in Spirit. Your brothers should know that dahl’reisen or not, you remain, in your heart, a warrior of honor and a champion of Light. I want their names so that I may tell them.”

After a final, brief hesitation, Varian gave her the names on a wispy thread of Spirit, whispering them as if he feared dread repercussions for speaking them even in his mind. «They are Silvannis and Moren vel Chera, of Lissilin.»

«Beylah vo, Varian vel Chera.»

Rain’s hand touched the small of her back. «Well done, shei’tani.»

She took a deep breath and exhaled the remnant pain from standing so close to an unshielded dahl’reisen. «You were right about his pain. I don’t think I could have borne it without you.»

With Rain at her side, Ellysetta repeated her blessing for each of the remaining warriors. One by one, they hunched over, sobbing as her shei’dalin’s love tore through the numb, emotionless barrier that blanketed their dahl’reisen souls. One by one, they bloodswore themselves to her and gave her the names of any family who’d still been living when they left the Fading Lands.

And when they rose to their feet, one by one they retrieved their Soul Quest crystals from Farel and presented them to Ellysetta.

She did not immediately accept the proffered crystals. All she could think of was the Fey custom of giving a shei’dalin the crystals of the warriors who died on her behalf. Though she had blessed them, though she knew she could not stop them, she was still horrified that they would sacrifice themselves to save her.

«Ellysetta,» Rain’s Spirit voice whispered in her mind. «Look in their faces. Look in their eyes. You have given them back their honor and their hope. This is not a sacrifice to them. This is their salvation.»

Ellysetta looked at her newest lu’tan and realized that Rain was right. The dahl’reisens’ eyes—normally so shadowed and grim—seemed lighter, all but glittering with eagerness. These were not innocent boys, rushing off to their first battle with false expectations of glory and heroism. These were battle-hardened warriors who knew the bitter truth about what they were about to face. And still they embraced their fate willingly, even joyfully.

She held out her hand and accepted their sorreisu’kiyr. “I will hold these for you until your return.”

The lu’tan stepped back. One of them wove Earth, and their leathers changed colors from black to vivid flame, the chest blazoned with a golden tairen rampant whose green eyes glowed with a magical light.

As one, they cried, “Miora felah ti’Feyreisa!“

Before the last echoes of their cheer faded, a familiar, icy tingle ran up Ellysetta’s spine. Her knees went weak, and she had to clutch Rain’s arm to keep from falling. “Rain—” Her voice broke off on a groan as a blanket of agonizing foulness engulfed her.

“What’s wrong?” Farel asked.

Rain turned a grim gaze in his direction. “Not all the chemar were destroyed. The Well is open. The Mharog are here.” «Shei’tani, can you run?»