Read Online Glyphbinder by T. Eric Bakutis - Free Book Online Page A

bearing, fit a woman this confident and strong. She smiled at him, and it felt like they had known each other forever.
    “I’m glad you came.” Trell sat up. “Kara? I owe you my life.”
    Kara walked to his bed as a hint of a blush colored her cheeks. She sat down beside him and looked him over, like a healer would examine a patient. Concern or curiosity? Trell had no idea.
    “Yes, I’m Kara Tanner. Landra is a level-headed sort, but she does embellish things on occasion. All I did was drag you here. Landra and her healers saved your life.”
    Trell smiled back. Both Landra and Kara had saved him, but neither felt he owed them for it. He focused on that, on good people who were willing to help him. The rarest kind.
    “Even so, I’m here because of what you did for me. Thank you.”
    “That’s a lovely place to leave it. May I ask who you are?”
    “Trell.”
    “Just Trell?”
    Trell hesitated. “I do not mean to be rude, but I cannot remember much. Landra told me whatever hit my head … a rock? … it must have damaged my memory.”
    “You’ve lost your memory.” Kara’s brow furrowed. “I don’t suppose you remember how you broke your leg?”
    Trell glanced down at his legs. Both were fine. “No. I’m sorry. I don’t remember that.”
    “Landra fixed it. She can do some amazing things. She even fixed that porthole in your head.”
    “I see. You said there was a porthole. In my head?”
    “Sometimes, I embellish things too.” Kara leaned close. “You really remember nothing of what happened? How you sustained your injuries? Nothing about trees?”
    “Trees?” Her intense gaze left him feeling vulnerable, trapped. “No, not really. The last thing I remember is a town in the sand. Faces. Voices. Not much else.”
    “You’re Tellvan, then.”
    Trell thought about that.
    “You mentioned sand, and there’s a lot of sand in Tellvan.”
    “Perhaps you are right. But why can’t I remember?”
    She huffed softly. “I wish I knew.”
    The healing room panel slid open and a man of many years entered the room. When she saw him, Kara hopped off his bed and stood up. Trell’s gaze snapped to the newcomer.
    The man wore a deep crimson robe that matched Landra’s in design. A golden, rounded sun hung from a silver chain around his neck, glittering with a corona of platinum. Spiky blue tattoos ran up his cheeks, surrounded his eyes, and wound down the sides of his nose to his dimples. They framed a short black beard.
    “Elder Halde.” Kara bowed.
    Trell stood as well, but before he could bow his legs gave way. Kara caught him, arms tense, and Trell stared at her. She was stronger than she looked.
    “Please, stay seated,” Halde said. “We need not stand on ceremony.”
    Trell pushed with trembling legs, embarrassed and conscious of how warm Kara’s hands felt clenched around his arms. She grunted as she helped him back onto the bed, mouth quirked.
    “I know you have had difficulty with your memory, Trell,” Halde said, “but we must still discover what we can tonight. Your presence could be considered inconvenient.”
    This was an academy for mages. Trell was an interloper here. “I can leave—”
    “You will. Once you can stand.” Halde’s faint trace of a smile mirrored Kara’s. “First, we must discover where you came from. Otherwise, where will we send you?”
    “Of course. If there is anything I can do to repay you, you have but to name it.”
    “All we ask is you help us find your home. I know what Kara has told me, and I know you were attacked. Who attacked you, and why?”
    Trell felt a compulsion to answer, a desire to speak that was not wholly his own. Magic. It was an odd feeling, a weight on his shoulders as heavy as a damp tarp, but the memories simply wouldn’t come. It seemed even magic could not recall his past.
    “I’m sorry, respected elder. What memories I have all blur together. Landra said I must have fallen into the Layn, and I do remember water, but I remember