"How much of your arm was black when you first came here?" she asked, and Zachary stared at her again, his face trembling and shaking.
"It was just my hand," he told her, as he drew even more power and tried to burn the shadow from his arm, but his expression turned to a frown. "I will not win this battle."
"It has been within you for too long," Carly told him. "It feeds from your power as quickly as you burn it away."
"Is there nothing I can do?" Zachary asked, and Carly shook her head.
"There is only one thing that can be done, but you are not going to like it, and neither am I," she warned him. "I will have to take your arm."
"Do it," Zachary said.
Carly drew the long dagger from its leather sheath on her leg and she stepped closer to him, wincing from the intensity of his heat.
"I am sorry," she said as she held up the knife.
"Don't be," Zachary told her with a desperate grin. "Just do what needs to be done."
Without further warning, Carly sliced her dagger through his arm, just below his elbow. Zachary cried out from the pain as the flesh and bone of his forearm and his hand separated from him. His flames guttered for a moment, and the shadow tried to leap across the gap to latch onto his bleeding stump, but Zachary blasted it with his power, burning it and the missing limb to ash. Carly put her hand on his shoulder.
"It is done," she said. "You can let go of the fire."
Zachary slowly released his flames and Carly used her power to create a bubble around them and she reached out and caught him as the mage slumped down upon the smooth ocean floor that had turned from sand to glass, from the heat of his fire. The flames disappeared completely, and Carly called her own magic, turning the water around them luminescent, and now that the flames no longer obscured him, she could see that Zachary was very badly burned from using his power for so long, his clothing in tatters and his skin burned and charred. He looked up at her wearily and tried to crack a smile, then his eyes fluttered as he fell unconscious upon her lap. Carly put her arms around him, then she willed the waters to carry them slowly upward, toward the surface of the sea, which had calmed, turning smooth as glass, a glittering reflection of the starlit sky above.
NOTES
'A Dark Tide' is the sixth novel of the 'Book of One' novels. The seventh and final book in the series is expected to be ready in Fall 2014.
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LEGEND - THE BOOK OF ONE
PERSONS
Aaron Coromay - a young warrior plagued by mysterious magical headaches
Ariana of Maramyr - House of Coromyr, Princess and heir to the throne. Half human, half elf and has magical talent.
Berant - Lord, lesser noble of House of Belamyr
Borrican Akandar - Prince of Kandara, second son of King Eric.
Borric Akandar - Duke of Kandara
Brian (of Ashford) - boyhood friend to Aaron
Calexis of Xalla, Queen of Xalla and Empress of Xallan Empire
Calthas - a mage of Maramyr, tutor to Ariana
Carlis - Lord and Magistrate to the Court of Maramyr, Captain of the Al-Andor
Cerric Coromyr - Regent of Maramyr, King of Maramyr, uncle to Ariana
Crag Avandra - a drake of the line of the Avandra
Coraline - mage of the priesthood
Dakar - mage of the priesthood, first disciple of the one god
Dash Larian - former assassin, protector of the Maramyrian throne
Diller - Brian of Ashford's younger brother
Draxis - half-Darga Prince of Xalla, son of Calexis
Elric Akandar - Prince of Kandara, first son of King Eric, heir to the throne
Erik Akandar - King of Kandara
Ehlena Al-Aran Valamyr - heir to the House of Valamyr, and birth daughter of King Toren Al-Aran of Aghlar
Elaine Valamyr - Lady Duchess and Princess of House of Valamyr
Elara Valamyr - (deceased) Lady Duchess and Princess of House of Valamyr
Gregor of Maramyr - (deceased) House of Coromyr, King and mage, father of Ariana.
Jax Larian - a thief and Ranger
Kaledra, Duke of Eastern Kandara
Kasha - Ansari warrior
Kaz Vakandra - younger line, cadet branch of Akandra
Keira - Ranger of Elvanar, member of the Queens' Guard
Kiva Vaalandra - drake of cadet branch of Alandra
Lexi - half-Darga, Princess of Xalla, daughter of Calexis
Matthias - brother to King Toren, adopted father of Ehlena
Margo - Ranger of Kandara
Manfred - Baron of Kellern - minor noble
Milli - Innkeeper at Rivergate
Mirdel - Duke, house of Daramyr, landholder
Nathas - Senior Captain of Maramyrian Academy, Ranger, Maramyrian commander
Petra - an elven healer
Quenta - Prince of Elvanar - House of Solari, son of Laurana, Queen of the Elves
Raz Vakandra - younger line, cadet branch of Akandra
Rene - an elven healer
Rolan - member of the Elven Court, and speaker
Shadar - mage priest of Xalla
Stavros - the last Head of the Council of Mages, and twin brother to Tarnath
Storm Akendra - drake of the line of Akendra, cadet branch of Akandra
Talon Akandra - legendary dragon, founder of the Dragon Throne of Kandara
Tarnath Coromay - Aaron's uncle, former Armsmaster of Maramyr, granted title as a lesser branch of the House of Coromyr
Toren Al-Aran, King of Aghlar, Captain of the Al-Dea
Vale Aledra - wyvern of dragon line of Aledra
Vana Aledra - wyvern, queen of the Aledra line
Yanick - mage priest
Willem - a mage of Maramyr
Zachary - former Head of the Council of Mages
PEOPLES
Aghlar - seafaring people of the southwest
Ansari - the ancients of the desert, an elder people though not a race
Bashane - the people of the desert, who are not of the Ansari
Darga - lizard people of the northeast
Dragons - creatures of the northern wastes
Elves - forest people of the west
Kandarans - the people of the mountain lands to the north
Maramyrians - inland people, in the land of lakes and rivers
Mistrani - lost tribe of Ansara, seers of the past
Maerans - pirate people of Meer Island
Xallans - people of the east