"It is a mark of absolute protection."
I looked at the shimmering blue lines. "Protection? From what—besides you making my hand a literal lighthouse?"
It was glowing, literally a beacon, as he said.
Thalor's expression turned solemn.
"The well wasn't just deep, Arinya. Something beneath this land is trying to choke it so it does not stay clean for long."
That…after all of this? It's going to get dirty again?
"But because you are my anchor, you can now sense the water's health. If the well gets filthy again, you will feel it. If the sea is in pain, your wrist will turn cold."
He looked at Noah and Fenric, his tanned face pale but determined.
"I know you think I have stolen a piece of her. But in the sea, the anchor is the one with the power. I have not bound her to me; I have bound my life, my magic, and my very breath to her command. If she wishes me to perish, the mark will carry the order to my heart."
