Free Beyond the Sapphire Gate: Epic Fantasy-Some Magic Should Remain Untouched (The Flow of Power Book 1) by R.V. Johnson Page B

his eyes changed so much perhaps that is what he asked. “I don’t understand. Am I supposed to have colors?”
    Camoe scowled his eyes staying light blue. “Every User has colors and every User can see each other’s color flecks that pulse in their eyes after they train and the Flow addiction saturates them. It gives some idea of a User’s ability level for accessing the Flow and their current addiction. The more addicted the less reasonable they are, which makes them dangerous. Have you not been trained?”
    Camoe was becoming impatient. Perhaps she shouldn’t have told him so much about her images. “I suppose I haven’t.”
    He nodded vigorously. “Yes, that would make sense. However, you are old to be a User without guidance. Most start with the first signs of potential. I may have to take it upon myself—”
    His aura rotated, drawing her in and making her head throb. She looked away. “Would you please tell me what those…things are out there?” Jade asked wondering what kind of place spawned such evil things. Her eyes fell upon the wall again. Nothing had changed with the crack, yet there was something about it. Perhaps it was the simple fact that everything about the room, even the ceiling and floor, was smooth. The crack stood out as the only blemish. Though, wasn’t it only a stain when she’d looked before?
    Clearing his throat before choosing to answer, Camoe regarded her as she regarded him. “They are wraiths the Great Lord releases after dusk. Some in the White Lands call them flickers, because they create an illusion of well-being in short increments to keep their intended victim from escaping. Their telepathic onslaught paralyzes their prey. A single flicker followed us into the passage. We were fortunate it went for you. I was able to ignore its weaker assault on my mind, so I am aware what you went through firsthand now. With such creatures roaming the halls, the Great Lord has no need for added watch in his halls as their number increased, though some believe the flickers were here long before the Dark Users and their Great Lord. The wraiths patrol without rest only at night, searching for the hapless souls caught beyond the protection of polished stone or iron. Once a season, Dark Users feed prisoners to them, swelling their ranks and keeping the flickers voracious hunger sated for a while. Tonight was such an occurrence.”
    She wondered what he meant about polished stone or iron, but something else he’d said made her pause. “Why would their numbers increase?”
    “You don’t die—but I suspect you would wish you had—should they catch you wandering, or by design in their area of telepathic onslaught. The Dark Users have developed what they call a Soul Lure to move them around for they cannot resist it. Once the flickers feed on your soul, you become like them, searching endlessly for a living, glowing soul, never satisfied.”
    Bitter cold seeped into her spine. These people feed people to wraiths. Why would anyone want to live here? The whole place sounded like a swarm of evil in one form or another. “Why are you here? Why take a chance with those horrid things?”
    “If you have not figured it out yet, I am not going to tell you. At any rate, as long as we stay in here we are safe. The flickers’ corporeal substance cannot pass through iron or polished stone. There are no miniscule flaws as in regular stone or wood.” Cocking his head to one side, his expression hardened, the lightening of his blue eyes blending toward gray added an emphasis to it she didn’t like. “There is something I am at a loss to understand. You entered the Great Hall from Lord Charn’s personal armory. How did you get inside? I have been trying for months, but there is no way to pick the lock without the dark throne room’s sentinels noticing, they guard it in shifts. Even during a relief change, it is done two at a time, leaving two to watch the Great Hall and guard the golden