I smiled appreciatively and took a big swallow, loving how it was energizing my body.
“No,” I turned toward Thom, surprised at how his voice had changed from before. He stood in front of the fire, his startled eyes jumping between me and Dramin.
“What?” I asked, looking around, worried something was coming up behind me.
“You didn’t?” Thom yelled at Dramin.
“I did. You can imagine my own surprise when my sight showed me what would come if I did.” Dramin’s voice was calm against Thom’s outburst. I continued to look back and forth between them, my confusion growing.
“You could have killed her, Dramin!” I jumped at Thom’s shout, my heart thumping at his words.
“I wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t been shown that it was the right path, Thom. Besides, she just needed to be woken up,” Dramin said. “At least now we know and can work with it.”
“Know what?” I practically shouted. I needed to know what was going on.
“He gave you some of the Black Water to drink,” Thom said, his voice strained. “Your Father’s blood still flows strong in your veins.”
Eighteen
“Wait, what?” I looked between the two men, from Thom’s panicked face to Dramin’s gleeful grin. They seemed to be waiting for me to do something. I looked directly at Thom, deciding that his anger might prompt him to tell me the truth a bit faster.
“You,” I said as sternly as I could, my panic seeping out anyway. “Tell me what he did.”
Thom’s eyes narrowed at me as he grunted in disapproval. Normally I would have apologized for my rudeness, but right now I didn’t care. I glared at him for a moment longer before he grunted again and sat back down on his couch.
“The Black Water is the water that the Drak use to cultivate the magic of sight. It is their main food source, and essentially the very core of their power. The water can only be held in a mug made from the mud of the outer rim of the Wells of Imdalind. It’s why your Father could become so weak when Edmund kept it from him. If you keep the mugs away, you keep the Water away. The water is poison to any other being but the Drak. By giving it to you to drink, he could have very easily killed you.” Thom huffed before looking away from me, his continued frustration at the situation evident.
“But I didn’t die, so what does that mean?” I looked between the two men, waiting for answers.
“You are one of The Chosen, correct?” Dramin asked calmly before sipping from his cup.
“Yes.” I nodded my head, waiting for him to continue. That in itself was a reason none of this made sense.
“And you have a mark?” He smiled at me from behind his cup. I nodded at him. “Can I see it?”
I looked at him for a moment, before exhaling. I didn’t see any reason why I shouldn’t other than that I didn’t want to, and that wasn’t a very good reason. I closed my eyes before lifting my hair to reveal the small mark on my neck. Dramin exhaled sharply, which I wasn’t prepared for, but I still kept my eyes closed.
“Look Thom, it’s a dragon. How interesting.” His tone made it sound like it was far more then interesting. It made my skin crawl. I dropped my hair and opened my eyes, turning to face the two, only to be shocked at Thom’s open mouthed stare.
“What?” I asked, affronted. “Does that mean something?”
“Hmmm?” Dramin studied me and I got the same feeling as before, like he was looking inside of me. “Not yet, I think.”
I narrowed my eyes at him in confusion and he laughed at me.
“The important thing here, Siln?, is that you are in fact a Chosen Child, and yet you can hold the Black Water within your body.”
I waited but Dramin said nothing more, he only smiled. Thom grunted from the other side of the fire, making me more upset; at least I got answers from him.
“Which means...” I prompted him.
“Which means, you not only have the powers that the Sk?ítek and Trpaslíks carry, which were awakened within you when the Vil? kissed your skin. But also those of the Drak as well.” Dramin smiled like I was the most amazing thing in the world, but my stomach tied itself in knots of confusion.
“So... I can, like, see the future?” I asked, the disbelief heavy in my voice.
“Ohhh... I know you can do much more than that.” Dramin’s smile increased. Thom sat up again, swinging his legs to face us, the same disgruntled look on his face.
“What are you getting at, Dramin?” Thom asked, obviously irritated.
“Tell me, Siln?, what does the Black Water make you feel like? What does it do to your magic, your body, when you drink it?”