Chapter 31: Scars of War

The second Selia's bonds were snapped, she leaped to her feet and threw her arms around the mage. "You have a lot of explaining to do," she said, blinking back tears.

"And I'll tell you everything soon," he responded. He knelt down beside Tenno. "I see you made a new friend."

Tenno eyed him suspiciously. "If you touch me, I break your face."

Sparks shrugged. He lifted his staff, and a jolt of lightning sprung forth from it. Four yellow streaks cut across the chains binding her to the rock, snapping them. "I didn't touch you," he said.

Selia burst out laughing. That sly humor, the assuredness... Sparks was really back.

Tenno got to her feet. "I assume you two know each other?" she asked Selia.

She nodded. "We lost him in a cave-in before we met you. I thought he was dead." The memory came back to her; the shriek of stone on stone, the roar of collapse, Sparks lying eagle-spread in the center of destruction. "You should be dead."