Free Darach by RJ Scott Page B

there and I couldn't read anything in the Council. I can't even see his Fire inside me." Ceithin stopped, bowed his head and clenched a fist against his chest over his heart. "I am convinced he's crossed to the Otherworld, either by choice, or by force."
    Ceithin sounded so sad. It physically hurt Darach to see others in pain. It always had. But he sensed a shadow of the other man's pain inside himself, and the reaction it evoked was primitive and intense. How would he himself have felt if his brother was missing, if he had no idea of where he could be, or even if he was alive? He pushed the reaction down. He had questions he needed to ask, and now it seemed Ceithin was ready to give answers.
    " He wouldn ' t choose to cross , would he? No one would choose that. Kian only went because one of the Eicio that escaped through to that side. "
    " Maybe it was the only way he thought he would be safe, maybe he was forced to go, but I just know he ' s in the same world where Kian has gone . " H e leaned forward , confiding in the enclosing dark . " I feel it in my bones. He ' s i n the Otherworld with Kian and his Hunter . M aybe he is even fighting the Eicio with them . "
    "I want to cross over to get him, get them, and bring Kian home. I need your help, or your father's help, and when I go, I could see if I sensed your brother. As a thank you?" Uncertainty tinged his final words.
    "You don't need any help to get there, youngling. You just need to harness your Fire and the element."
    "How do I—"
    "I will show you but it will take a while, all depending how quickly you learn."
    "I will listen." Darach was eager to prove he could learn. He was so close to passing through and reaching Kian.
    "There is one thing."
    Silence descended as he stopped, and Darach felt the irritation of wanting to know rise in him.
    "What?"
    "If you are crossing to find Kian, then, youngling, in order to find Trystyn, I am going with you."

Chapter 6
     
    The lessons were going well, according to Darach's way of reckoning, badly if Ceithin's moaning was anything to go by. Ceithin was irritable and antsy and just annoying.
    He had been in the village three weeks already. Wearing clothes borrowed from a Cariad boy who couldn't have been a day over sixteen, Darach looked like he belonged but he just didn't feel it. He had explored the village as much as he could, talked to everyone, smiled, was gracious, but still he felt like an outsider. The Cariad were friendly but cautious around him, apart from Ceithin's family, of course. They were both friendly and accepting. The village didn't have a name, but the entire valley was named in Ancient as the Valley of the Rainbows.
    Despite myths to the contrary, it appeared the Cariad weren't as nomadic as they were made out to be. Llewellyn's generation was the fourth to live in this valley, with its strong wards and ancient barriers. The origins of the name for the valley were in the rainbows to be seen in each of the seven waterfalls. Given the number of waterfalls tumbling into the river traversing the vale, a flickering constellation of constantly changing color filled the air every time the sun blessed them with its presence through the sketchy clouds. The falls, the pools, and the winding river fascinated Darach and scared the life out of him at the same time. Water might well be what Ceithin insisted was Darach's element, but gods, just the thought of it, the water over his head, and not being able to swim caused fear to course through him. He hated water any bigger than a bath, and clearly, water hated him right back.
    "Use the element as well as the Fire. I keep telling you—"
    " Telling me doesn ' t help , Cariad , " Darach snapped, his patience as thin as Ceithin ' s, " Y ou may believe that Ancient rubbish but I don ' t, and if I can ' t do this water element control, then I can ' t. I have my Fire under control now . Isn ' t it enough for me to cross? "
    "Your Fire is not under your control by any stretch