endurance. He’d gone through enough hell in his human lifetime to last an eternity. And that was before he had the magnified healing abilities as a Pure One.
What he fought against was himself. His aversion – no, phobia – of being touched. If the trials did not involve direct contact with the Healer, it would be simple endurance. But if they did… Valerius’ jaw clenched as he fought off a wave of nausea.
He could not fail. He would not fail.
The Healer entered with Wan’er a few steps behind. Without looking at him, head held high, back ramrod straight, she stepped before him until she was merely two feet away and closed her eyes.
Without warning, she stretched out her arms until her palms faced his chest and blasted him with a shock of energy so powerful, he would have fallen on his ass if not for the restraints. Even as his torso felt as if it’d been struck by lightning, relief washed over Valerius in a soothing rush.
No physical contact. He could do this all day.
And then the Healer seemed to levitate from the ground, as if supported in a magnetic field that radiated from her body. Her loose robes flowed in the air, rippling with the currents of energy around her. Her hair stretched away from her face, each tendril extending outward until it formed a white semicircular halo behind her back.
She floated closer to him, her extended hands almost touching his skin, the pressure and electric shock she exerted increasing until Valerius felt as if every nerve was on fire.
His breath quickened as he tried to free his mind from the pain, and just when he thought he’d disciplined his senses, the countless needles of her hair inserted deeply into his skin.
He felt torn asunder.
Never had he felt such acute, incredible pain. Not like this. This was continuous, ever increasing, mind bending agony. And it went on and on and on.
Just when he thought he’d break his jaw from clenching so tightly against the screams that were building in his throat, he heard a distant gasp.
“My lady!” Wan’er entreated, watching horrified as the warrior endured ten times the level of pain Rain had ever used in the Rites for already twice as long.
Abruptly, the needles retracted and the pressure released, leaving Valerius doubled over in a fit of coughing as he tried to find his center of balance again, as his nerves sucked in oxygen and his muscles slowly unclenched.
Rain descended slowly to the ground and lowered her arms to her sides. Eyes still closed, she ordered her handmaiden, “Leave us.”
Wan’er looked at her with alarm. This was simply not done. The handmaiden always attended the Healer in the Rite, more because of tradition than anything else. But given where Rain had taken this particular trial, Wan’er was seriously worried for the warrior. Surely her lady would not go too far, she thought, but just the same, she’d like to ensure –
“ Now ,” Rain issued the command with enough force to send apprehensive shivers down the handmaiden’s spine.
Wan’er took one last look at the Protector, who had recovered enough to stand tall once more between the two steel poles, and decided that she could not interfere even if she wished to. This was between Rain and the warrior.
It was their time of reckoning.
When the handmaiden left them and closed the doors behind her with a soft click, Rain opened her eyes and gazed fully upon the Protector.
“It is no surprise you surpassed the other applicants in this test,” she said quietly. “I would expect nothing less.”
Holding his gaze, she closed the short distance between them until they were almost toe to toe, barely an inch separating their bodies. Had Valerius not been secured to his position, he would have stepped back immediately. As it was, his heart began to pound harder, faster, his breath breaking into rapid bursts, as if he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs.
And then he felt her palms on his chest, lightly grazing his ultra-sensitized skin. The thick muscles
What he fought against was himself. His aversion – no, phobia – of being touched. If the trials did not involve direct contact with the Healer, it would be simple endurance. But if they did… Valerius’ jaw clenched as he fought off a wave of nausea.
He could not fail. He would not fail.
The Healer entered with Wan’er a few steps behind. Without looking at him, head held high, back ramrod straight, she stepped before him until she was merely two feet away and closed her eyes.
Without warning, she stretched out her arms until her palms faced his chest and blasted him with a shock of energy so powerful, he would have fallen on his ass if not for the restraints. Even as his torso felt as if it’d been struck by lightning, relief washed over Valerius in a soothing rush.
No physical contact. He could do this all day.
And then the Healer seemed to levitate from the ground, as if supported in a magnetic field that radiated from her body. Her loose robes flowed in the air, rippling with the currents of energy around her. Her hair stretched away from her face, each tendril extending outward until it formed a white semicircular halo behind her back.
She floated closer to him, her extended hands almost touching his skin, the pressure and electric shock she exerted increasing until Valerius felt as if every nerve was on fire.
His breath quickened as he tried to free his mind from the pain, and just when he thought he’d disciplined his senses, the countless needles of her hair inserted deeply into his skin.
He felt torn asunder.
Never had he felt such acute, incredible pain. Not like this. This was continuous, ever increasing, mind bending agony. And it went on and on and on.
Just when he thought he’d break his jaw from clenching so tightly against the screams that were building in his throat, he heard a distant gasp.
“My lady!” Wan’er entreated, watching horrified as the warrior endured ten times the level of pain Rain had ever used in the Rites for already twice as long.
Abruptly, the needles retracted and the pressure released, leaving Valerius doubled over in a fit of coughing as he tried to find his center of balance again, as his nerves sucked in oxygen and his muscles slowly unclenched.
Rain descended slowly to the ground and lowered her arms to her sides. Eyes still closed, she ordered her handmaiden, “Leave us.”
Wan’er looked at her with alarm. This was simply not done. The handmaiden always attended the Healer in the Rite, more because of tradition than anything else. But given where Rain had taken this particular trial, Wan’er was seriously worried for the warrior. Surely her lady would not go too far, she thought, but just the same, she’d like to ensure –
“ Now ,” Rain issued the command with enough force to send apprehensive shivers down the handmaiden’s spine.
Wan’er took one last look at the Protector, who had recovered enough to stand tall once more between the two steel poles, and decided that she could not interfere even if she wished to. This was between Rain and the warrior.
It was their time of reckoning.
When the handmaiden left them and closed the doors behind her with a soft click, Rain opened her eyes and gazed fully upon the Protector.
“It is no surprise you surpassed the other applicants in this test,” she said quietly. “I would expect nothing less.”
Holding his gaze, she closed the short distance between them until they were almost toe to toe, barely an inch separating their bodies. Had Valerius not been secured to his position, he would have stepped back immediately. As it was, his heart began to pound harder, faster, his breath breaking into rapid bursts, as if he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs.
And then he felt her palms on his chest, lightly grazing his ultra-sensitized skin. The thick muscles
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