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"What does it mean for me, that I bear these?" I asked

"You are unique," he said "I do not know the full iled to put everything into soer slipped away, and I let it go I couldn’t hold it indefinitely It felt as if soh I knew I still had a lot more to deal with I reached for hed and lay back on the blanket

Well, I definitely learned one new thing while I ith Rhyzkahl, I thought, as I watched puffy clouds drift across the too-blue sky I was totally wrong in thinking that de about? What other misconceptions would coah to slowly spin above me, then left me alone to brood and ponder

Chapter 22

Apparently I brooded and pondered so hard I fell asleep Or perhaps Helori added so, with the sun in glorious display over the water I could get used to starting h preferably without the whole recovering-from-torture bit

Helori had put a blanket over me and tucked a pillow underof juice and an assortment of fruits and nuts on the blanket forin the surf with the unabashed enthusiasm of a five-year-old I ate and drank a bit, then pulledoff, ran down to the water naked, and dove into the waves

I swa in the siainst the resistance of the water and the rhythm of the waves After as probably half an hour, I cae in the shade to prevent the appearance of Red Kara A few minutes later Helori plopped down onto the blanket beside ed my shirt and pants back on "The savik at Szerain’s palace"

He sent, with a strong ability in the arcane" I frowned "So, why the hell are savik considered only second-level? And, for that matter, why are syraza only eleventh? Y’all totally kick ass and take narinned "Because, the summoner Isabel Blackburn in of a text in 1212 Earth time In 1352, it was discovered and beca with the list"

I blinked, then laughed "Holy shitballs, that’s hysterical," I said "I’d always been taught that the order of dehed again It felt really good

Helori joined hter "I know! That would mean a savik is less powerful than a kehza!"

"I never e as Turek," I said, still astonished "The only ones I’d ever summoned, or heard of, were about a third the size"

Helori reached elsewhere and then set a handful of small cakes before me "The ones summoned are immature," he explained as I nibbled one of the cakes experimentally In texture, it reminded me of cornbread stuffed with savory shredded meat, but the crust part tasted more like buttery bacon than corn Mmmm, bacon

"Once mature," he continued, "they tend to strike their nae for sue, and mostly discounted because they do not interact They are, however, highly skilled with the arcane"

"I arilish designation evolved from various forms of the name for the Elders, demahnk," he explained "In Latin it was dae of divine nature" He gave a light shrug "For some, that twisted into evil nature or evil spirit"

That enda for today, Doctor Hel?"

He appeared to consider "There are ifts" But then he smiled "However, I know the first place I want to take you" He extended his hand to me, and I took it without hesitation

A heartbeat later ere in a crystal cave--crystalline walls, huge crystal points, and prisinate froht from outside At first it was hard to be there As soon as we arrived, every cell of my body vibrated--or at least, that’s what it felt like I wanted to take ti, but Helori tugged es and over narrow crystalline bridges, before finally stopping before a pool that shimmered with subtle hints of all colors

"She is in stasis yet," Helori said with a gesture toward the depths of the pool "But she is aware you are here"