Kinshield's Redemption (Book 4) by K.C. May Page A

the last of their hazes joined within the white gemstone, the two Elyle died.
    Gavin jerked to consciousness and opened his eyes. He was lying flat on his back with Daia and Cirang kneeling over him, their faces crinkled in concern. A hammer pounded at his skull from the inside.
    “Gavin, what’s wrong?” Daia asked in a voice shrill with fear.
    “Must’ve fainted,” he croaked, his throat raw and dry. Daia gripped his elbow to help him sit up. His vision spun. He felt queasy, like he was going to disgorge. As he sat up, he became aware of wetness on his upper lip, and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. Blood.
    “Here,” Daia said, handing him a handkerchief. It was already dotted with fresh blood, and he wiped his face and the sides of his neck, where blood trickled from his ears.
    Cirang handed him his water skin, and he guzzled down its contents. The water quenched him and settled his stomach. The healing magic calmed the headache bit by bit.
    “You’re looking a bit green,” Daia said. “What can I do to help?”
    “I’m awright. Just had a... vision.”
    “You witnessed our transformation, Emtor,” the Guardians said. Their ghostly forms hovered as if standing on the surface of the shallow water above the spot where he’d dropped the Nal Disi.
    “I saw you die,” he said, looking at them with awe. Was he seeing their ghosts?
    “You saw me die?” Daia asked.
    “No, them.”
    “Our original bodies died,” the Guardians said. “Our intention was to merge our khozhi within the gemstone and withdraw it again, so that each of us would be balanced and could live our lives separately, the way your people do. We didn’t understand until it was too late.”
    “Understand what?” Gavin asked.
    “That is so confusing,” Daia said, looking at Cirang. “I’m beginning to hate when he does that. I feel left out.”
    “That the essence is what animates the body,” the Guardians said. “Without it, the body dies.”
    Gavin was confused. He’d been told that the essence wasn’t the same as the spirit. “So essence is the spirit?”
    “No. The spirit is the core of what makes us unique as individuals. Both essence and spirit are needed for beings of intellect to live in physical form. The spirit is immortal and moves from body to body throughout time. The essence is fixed on one body until that body dies. It can be removed for a few moments, but must be immediately replaced. Even if the heart stops beating, the body can be revived if the essence remains. Our transformation failed. We were unable to return to our bodies, and they began to decay. We remain trapped in this vessel for eternity.”
    For eternity. Gavin shuddered. He couldn’t imagine such a horrible existence, unable to talk and laugh and be with his own kind. “And what of your spirit?”
    “We linger to protect our essence within the Nal Disi.”
    “So am I talking to your essence or your spirit?”
    “You’re communicating with our spirit filtered through the essence like for every being of intellect. What you see is an imprint of our combined essences. When seen with a mystical vision, it inherits its life-bound form.”
    “Is that why you remember everything that happened?” Gavin asked.
    “Yes, Emtor. Our experiences past and present are bound to our spirit, and we’ll take them with us to new bodies, when that time comes.”
    Gavin glanced at Cirang. That explained why she had the memories of Sithral Tyr. Why, then, would she have Cirang’s memories, too?
    “Your companion understands this,” they said, as if in reply. “We see in her a spirit not born into the body she’s using. The essence itself is native, yet it is pure zhi. We would like to know how that came to pass.”
    “You’ve captured their interest, Cirang.” Gavin reached into the wellspring and pulled the Nal Disi from the water. “They want to know how you managed to take over another body.”
    She shrugged. “I simply awoke, as though