Druidess Found (Druidess Trilogy Book 1) by Machelle Hanleigh (interesting novels to read txt) 📕

entrance. To his horror, Kaily was in a fetal position rocking back and forth, sobbing uncontrollably. He felt energy surrounding her and her mind filled with a pain that was nearly tolerable for him to endure. He rushed to her and knelt beside her. He held his hands over her to drain the energy she gathered and send it back to Ki. Once he drained the energy, he reached to pick her up. The minute his hands made contact, she screamed and blindly lashed out at him. He ignored the fists flying at him and gathered her into his arms. He held her tight to keep her from hurting herself, rocked her back and forth, and swept her mind with calm while telling her repeatedly that she was safe. He didn't know how long before her sobs and fight quieted, and her mind cleared of the pain filled haze that clouded her awareness.

She lifted her head and looked around. Her eyes locked with his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed as close to him as possible. Her sobs increased and shook her body with their intensity.

His heart broke at the sounds coming from her. He tried to hush her, but she was hurting so badly that nothing he said helped. He picked up his talisman while keeping her close to him. The talisman felt moist and he didn't like the red spots of liquid. He cleansed it with his ability of fire, and then sent it back to where he kept it with his mind. He carefully stood with her cradled in his arms. He carried her to the pallets where he sat with her so that he could continue rocking her. Despite the pain that filled his heart, he knew that she needed the emotional release. Finding out what happened to her in the training room would have to wait. He couldn't think of what could have happened in such a short period of time. It had only been ten of her Earth seconds! He resisted the urge to demand answers and find out what happened. Answers would have to wait until his Kaily recovered enough to be coherent.

He took a deep breath of relief when her sobs began to diminish at long last. He carried her to the table and sat in a cushion chair with her arms still locked around his neck. Kaily?

She kept her face buried in the crock of his neck.

"Kaily," he said aloud.

She sniffled.

He called the water skin to him. He forced her hands to let go of his neck and lifted her face, forcing her eyes to meet his. Her eyes met his and then drifted down. He held the tip of the water skin to her lips. "Drink," he ordered.

She obeyed.

"Better?"

She shrugged. She still would not look him in the eyes.

He set the water skin aside. He pried open her hands and cringed at the ugly red, burn marks on each of her palms in the shape of his talisman. Oh Kaily. What happened in there?

She didn't reply, but neither did he expect her to.

He took the ladle dipped out some healing liquid from the pot that was still on the table.

Her eyes grew wide and she tried to pull her hands away from him. "Please, no." She closed her hands into tight balls.

"It won't hurt like before." He held her gaze. He wanted her to trust him, but neither was he expecting her to. He pried open one of her palms and poured liquid into it. He waited until the redness started to fade. Better?

She nodded and held out her other palm to him.

He poured liquid into the palm, and then replaced the ladle in the pot. He wanted to ask her what happened, but he couldn't bring himself to ask it again. He didn't want to send her over the edge. He knew it was close to dawn, and he could feel the exhaustion within her to match his own exhaustion. He took her to the pallet and lay down with her in his arms. He would wait until she was less rattled to try and figure out what happened. She snuggled as close to him as was possible. He covered them both with blankets and made soothing sounds within her mind until she fell asleep. Despite his own exhaustion, sleep did not come to him. He held her close and monitored her mind for when the night terrors returned. He needed to see what she dreamt about if he hoped to help her.

***

It had been three days since the incident in the training room and it wasn't getting any better. Moto woke for the umpteenth time that night to Kaily's night terrors. Each time they woke him, he soothed her mind and swept her with feelings of calm and safety. At the same time, he reviewed the images that passed through her mind. The night terrors were not the exact same, except for the Druid. He was prominent in every single one of her cursed night terrors. He saw images of her being lowered into a pit that sounded filled with snakes, but never saw a single snake. He saw her locked in a tiny room with no escape and no discernible door and the cursed Druid hitting her with energy balls one right after the other while she curled into a fetal position covering her head and begging for mercy. It was one horrible scene after another. He felt her terror and feelings of being trapped. It was all he could do to hold on to enough calm to push them aside so she could rest easier only to have them begin again after a short respite.

Their waking hours didn't fare any better. She refused to talk about the night terrors or share how much she remembered. She refused to tell him what happened in the training room. If it wasn't for his ability to connect to her mind telepathically, he wouldn't know that part