"Not just me," Eva said, feeling sorrow at the memory of the red back's death.
"No."
The mist curled in on itself, nearly boiling as something inside caused upheaval.
Eva's chest tightened as a force she couldn't see barreled down on them.
Mist's expression was distant, her eyes unseeing. "The Caller will either unite us or watch us fall. She will be our salvation or our doom. Trust wisely, Caller. Not all who call you have your best interests at hand."
Eva fought the urge to flee, fear making it difficult to breathe as that massive wave stopped.
The top of the wall of mist shredded, pieces of it crashing toward them from above.
Eva's heart was in her throat as Mist suddenly focused on her, the full weight of her gaze bearing down on her. "You no longer have the time to be lost. We need you."
The scene dissolved around the edges. Eva lurched forward, reaching for Mist and failing as the girl's figure was swallowed by the mist.
Her words echoed in the haze. "Be the strength who unites us. See beyond..."
Mist's words faded as Eva lost her grip on the scene. The blackness of true rest claimed her.
Eva drifted. The world snapping into focus in disjointed pieces. The feeling of rocking. A warm embrace holding her tight. Caden's husky voice in her ear as he issued orders. His scent promising safety.
Through it all Eva could distinguish the clop of hooves against stone and dirt. The soft snorts and whickers of horses. The low drone of other voices.
Eva opened her eyes to slits, registering her surroundings from a distance.
Cliffs stretched to the sky on her right, trees and rock formations gracing their tops. Steep mountain slopes jutted above them.
To her left, the ground dropped sharply, transitioning into a deep gorge. A river wound through its bottom.
The day was cloudy and wet, dampness clinging to her skin.
Pebbles skittered down from the cliffs above, amber eyes meeting hers from the trees. The Tenrin girl darted out of view in the next second, disappearing back into the shadows almost as soon as Eva registered her presence.
Eva's eyes drifted shut before she forced them open again.
Caden's arms tightened around her as her head shifted. "Eva?"
With the last of her waning strength, Eva looked up at him, her gaze already losing focus.
"Caden." Eva tried to smile, her face numb as the world retreated from her grasp. "Safe."
Eva's eyes slipped shut, unsure if she'd managed to convey her message. One Caden needed to know.
Lips touched her forehead. "You are. Rest well, my love."
Eva let herself sink back into slumber, barely registering Caden tucking her closer to his chest, his cheek pressed against her head.
"Thank you for coming back to me."
Eva's consciousness dimmed, a drowsy promise on her tongue—always. She'd always come for him.
Eva opened her eyes to find a fabric ceiling above her. It rippled in the wind as Eva lay unmoving, trying to understand the nagging sense of wrongness plaguing her.
There was a gap where her memories should be, she realized. Instead of the forest where she'd been standing, she was now here. In a tent that wasn't her own.
Scenes came back to her in drips and drops. The cicadas and the drone that had knocked her unconscious. Her conversation with Mist.
Eva inhaled, releasing it slowly. That was no dream. If everything Mist told her was true, they were in danger.
More importantly, Eva had lost a lot of time already, wandering in her dreams.
"You're awake," a gentle voice interrupted her thinking.
Chirron's eyes were kind as they met Eva's, the softness in his expression a contrast to the sun at his core. The power was as dense and strong as diamond but with the delicacy and fine control of an artisan.
Strange how the myein kept popping up around her after a lifetime of thinking she was alone.
His power was easier to see now. Maybe because of the cicadas or the time spent wandering in the dream mist.
Eva started to sit up only for Chirron to push her back down.
"Where do you think you're going?"
She resisted his touch, only to find it far stronger than she expected—and herself far weaker.
With little choice, Eva slumped back into the bed. She was more tired than she should be, a headache throbbing at her temples. Whatever the cicadas had done had taken it out of her.
"I need to warn Caden," she argued, trying to push away the covers Chirron was drawing to her chest.
He won their brief struggle.
"The only thing you're going to do is lay there and recuperate your strength," he informed her.
Eva summoned a glare, the expression bouncing off Chirron with zero effect. Understandable since she felt about as ferocious as the mouse Ajari sometimes called her.
"You can't keep me here," Eva argued.
Chirron quirked an eyebrow at her. "You and the Anateri commander share the trait of stubbornness. He tried to tell me how to do my job too. Guess how well that went for him."
Eva's lips pressed together, trying not to feel impressed at the healer's gumption. Not many could give Caden orders and survive. Let alone get him to listen.
Guess they hadn't been kidding when they said Chirron's influence was unlike any other clan leader.
Not directly, of course. He wasn't the type to get into a physical confrontation. He was far more subtle than that.
Healers had always occupied an interesting place in Trateri culture. On one hand, the Trateri respected strength—physical strength most of all. They were a warlike people, and it showed in the esteem they held for their warriors.
However, when you dug deeper, you couldn't help but see how complex their society was, far from the barbarians the Lowlanders painted them as.
Without strong warriors, a clan would inevitably fall and its vulnerable would be prey to the less scrupulous.
But that didn't mean they were the only ones considered worthy of status.
Those who held unique skill sets or were beneficial to the whole also enjoyed positions of power.
Take Eva for example. Except for Caden, she was the highest ranked member in camp. Her will superseding all others. Not because she was considered an exceptional warrior or particularly powerful. Rather it was due to her being able to do something no one else could. Something that was considered important.
Chirron and the rest of his healers were the same. It was why they were allowed to travel anywhere, visit any clan they wished. For that to work, healers had to give up formal claim to their clans when they joined. Someone who must be willing to treat everyone could have no loyalties preventing their duties.
Theoretically at least.
It was also one of the reasons why they were so rare.
In a society where your ties to family and clan were often considered more important than your own life, not many were willing to make the sacrifices necessary to follow the healer's path.
Perhaps that's why Eva found herself a little intimidated by Chirron. A single word from him held the potential to move mountains. What clan wouldn't want him on their side? Someone who held power over life and death. They'd fight among themselves to carry out his wishes.
It was what made him just a little bit scary. If he ever decided to see her as an eye sore, he wouldn't need to attack her directly. No, a whisper would do the job quite nicely, sending ripples throughout the clans. Eva wouldn't stand a chance.