Blazing Earth by Terri Brisbin Page A

Thinking it was one thing, but hearing it said aloud brought the possible danger much closer.
    â€œDo you pray while you work? Do you offer thanks when something works to cure or aid someone who seeks your help?”
    â€œCertainly,” she said. “Do you not pray during your work? While you till the soil and prepare the fields?”
    â€œAye.”
    A strange expression crossed his face then, one of surprise mixed with guilt and satisfaction. From that look in his eyes, she wanted nothing more in that moment than to watch him as he tended to his fields.
    â€œI think it is those prayers that are imbuing your herbs and your other concoctions with healing power.” He paused and then met her gaze, his now serious. “And that is why my fields are fertile and my lands and the ones I care for do not suffer as others do.”
    â€œShow me.”
    She had not planned on calling his abilities into action, but he nodded and came to the corner where she yet knelt. He tugged up his sleeves and would have thrust his hands into the soil when she stopped. There was a bandage on his forearm.
    â€œYour arm.” He stopped and looked at her. Sliding her sleeve up, she revealed a matching bandage, one she still wore to cover the mark there. “I have one as well.” They peeled them off at the same time, unwinding the linen to reveal the skin underneath it.
    Where hers was shaped like the sun, his had the appearance of a tree. And like hers, his moved as though alive, its branches waving as though blown by a gentle breeze.
    â€œDoes it hurt?” he asked, sliding his thumb across the skin marked by it.
    â€œAt times, but not now. Yours?”
    â€œThe same. It appeared a few weeks ago and grew to this size. It seems to react to you, though. Look.”
    Both of the marks grew brighter as they held their arms closer. As did the green color surrounding him.
    â€œYou are brighter now, too,” he said. “Can you see it?”
    â€œI feel something, aye, but do not see it.”
    â€œBut you could when you healed Linne?” he asked.
    â€œAye. And when I healed old Rigby.”
    â€œHe has suffered so much, Thea. Does he know?” He sat back on his heels, and the look of admiration in his eyes nearly made her cry.
    â€œNay, not yet.” Shaking her head, she rubbed her eyes. “I only knew when it happened. He felt the warmth of it when I laid my hands on his leg. Tolan, he has been in such pain, it will take some days for him to realize it is gone.” The feelings threatened to overwhelm her then, so she nodded at the ground. “Show me what you do.”
    There were so many more questions, but they would hold for now. This was what she wanted most to see.
    He nodded and then leaned over, plunging his hands deep into the soil. The green glow spread into the ground, and the earth began to churn under his touch. Soundlessly, it moved as though someone stirred it. Tolan’s eyes were closed and his lips moved in silence. This went on for several minutes until he opened his eyes and gazed down at the place where his hands connected to the earth.
    â€œI see it now, Thea,” he whispered, staring at the same thing she saw. “I did not know.”
    His eyes closed then and he finished this ritual of his, sliding his hands free and rubbing the loosened soil from them. Reaching across the small gap between them, he entwined their fingers and just stared at her.
    â€œI cannot wrap my thoughts around such an idea or such a thing,” she finally said, nodding at the corner of the garden that was perfectly prepared for the seeds she would plant and nurture.
    â€œI have known about this since reaching manhood, but never dreamed there would be another. Not here. Not now,” he admitted.
    â€œThere is so much I need to know,” Thea said, releasing his hand and standing. “Will you tell me what you have learned?”
    She watched as Tolan stood, still