Ral - Electricity effect on heartbeat

          He was surprised, though, to find that it was a ten-year-old boy.

          That made him hesitate just long enough for the boy to get inside his reach. Ral felt a sharp pain in his side, and instinctively slammed his hands down to shove the child away. His power leapt out as soon as he touched the boy, crackling through him in a vicious arc that set his limbs jerking and hurled him into the wall. He collapsed, twitching, as the woman screamed.

          Ral stared down at his side, where a short-bladed knife had been driven in to the hilt. He wrenched it out and tossed it away, scattering blood. The woman had run to her son's side. Ral knelt beside her, bending over the child, feeling like he was in a dream. She screamed something at him, pounded her fists against his shoulder, but he ignored her.

          He put one hand over the boy's heart. It was pounding wildly but irregularly, as current still coursed through his system. Ral closed his eyes and drew the electricity to himself, pulling whatever he could from the boy's small body. His shocks normally weren't fatal—he hadn't yet had to kill anyone in Bolas's service. But I don't usually hit kids, either.

          Slowly, he felt the boy's heartbeat return to normal.

***

The Gathering Storm, Chapter 8