Not a member of Pastebin yet?
Sign Up,
it unlocks many cool features!
- As much as I’ve confided in them both, this is something else entirely: almost as terrifying a secret as my real name, and with equally dire consequences if the Hierarchy ever finds out about it. But I don’t have time to second-guess.
- I close my eyes. Focus on the stone, feel the gentle pulsing of Will in it. I’ve been practicing this for more than a month now, ever since Placement. Refining. Experimenting.
- Connection.
- The metal triangles beneath my tunic shiver. Adoption doesn’t seem to disrupt whatever Will I’m already using, but it does add the mental strain of another connection to the ones I already maintain. Not that I can’t handle it, but it’s like someone tossing another brick atop the pile I’m already carrying. Even knowing it’s coming, I still have to adjust.
- Otherwise, though, it’s almost laughably easy.
- The Will’s original purpose remains in the mind of whoever imbued it—Veridius, presumably, in this case—and so I don’t need to worry about its mechanics, as they’ll simply resume when I release it again. And the imbuer’s sense of connection remains, so this won’t draw their attention the same way snapping the bracelet and releasing the Will would. It’s like rifling through someone’s belongings while they’re not looking. As long as I leave everything the way I found it, they’ll never know anything happened.
- I mentally prise apart the two stone halves, catch them as they slip off my wrist, and then touch them together again before quickly relinquishing control. They snap back firmly. An empty circle.
- Finished, I turn to Aequa. She’s watching with wide eyes. “How?”
- “New trick. A story for once we’re over the wall.” I gesture for her to offer her wrist; a few moments later her bracelet is off as well. I hide them at the base of a tree. “I assume you’re going to be able to get yourself over those spikes, Quintus Claudius?”
- The Strength of the Few Chapter 36
Advertisement
