Chapter 20: The Priestess’s Apprentice
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None of them spoke, not Eli, who sat with his staff across his lap and one hand pressed over his wound. Not Iris, who was still gripping the scorched branch as if the Shadreks might rise from their ash and attack them again and definitely not Xander, who hadn’t moved since the girl had spoken.
The stranger took a single step forward, careful and cautiously, her voice was soft. Too soft for someone who had just scorched monsters into memory.
"May I?" she asked.
Xander blinked. "Uh... may you what?"
She raised her hand, hovering it just above her own collarbone as though mimicking the spot on him.
"Your chest. Please," she said.
Xander glanced at Iris, then at Eli-who didn’t intervene.
The crystal under his ribs hadn’t pulsed in minutes. Maybe it was tired too. Maybe he was imagining this entire moment and any second now, he’d wake up choking on reality.
Still, he nodded.
The girl stepped closer. Her cloak shifted slightly as she raised one hand. She wasn’t tall, barely reaching his shoulder.
Her fingers brushed the space just above his heart the she gasped, her hand jerked back her hand trembled. Her lips parted but no sound came for a full breath. Then, barely above a whisper: "You’re really him... the Kaelhi."