‘Give me that.’ I motion for the scroll, eager to inspect it. But the moment it touches my fingers, an unnatural shock travels through my fingers. I jump back in surprise, dropping the parchment to cling to the bark of a jackalberry tree. ‘What's wrong?’ Tzain asks.
I shake my head. I don't know what to say. The strange sensation buzzes beneath my skin, foreign yet familiar at the same exact time. It rumbles in my core, warming me from the inside out. It beats like a second heartbeat, vibrating like...
Like ashê?
The thought makes my heart clench, revealing a gaping hole inside me that I didn't even know still existed. When I was young, ashê was all l ever wanted. I prayed for the day I would feel its heat in my veins.
As the divine power of the gods, the presence of ashê in our blood is what separates divîners from maji. It's what we draw on to use our sacred gifts.
Ashê is what maji need to do magic at all. I stare at my hands for the shadows of death Mama could conjure in sleep. But is that what's happening now?