“Please go on,” I murmured, unable to stand the silence a second longer.
“She told us that she had passed on the gift of her abilities, meaning for it to be an act of kindness to the children of The Shade, so that King Derek might be able to protect your home for centuries to come. At that point, she had not been able to see what was coming—her mother, an Ancient, had kept certain visions from her, essentially blinding her to the existence of Eritopia so she did not go seeking answers or move from her safe haven in Nevertide. Her last wish was that the children of The Shade she had imparted her gifts to were to be brought here—away from Azazel’s reach, able to live safely, even if it was not happily.”
A stunned silence settled over us all. My mind reeled as I tried to understand what this meant for my brother and friends.
“Let me get this straight.” I spoke slowly, trying to focus against the rush of white noise that was running through my head. “Phoenix, Vita, Aida—they’re all going through a transformation that will result in them becoming Oracles?”
The Druid nodded. I looked over at Field and Jovi. Jovi was staring at the Druid like he wanted to physically harm him, his fork gripped in his hand like a weapon. Field had paled, staring at some point in the distance in disbelief.
“Sorry, how is that even possible?” I asked. Oracles were only born when a jinni and a witch bred together—there was no other way one of them could be created, as far as I understood. They were almost an accident, a biological supernatural twist that occurred so rarely that I had thought only one existed after the twins, Hortencia and Pythia, killed themselves by jumping into a volcano, way before I was born.
“It wouldn’t be possible under normal circumstances.” The Druid smirked dryly at his use of ‘normal’ and continued, “But your Oracle was a daughter of an Ancient, far more powerful than any that have gone before her, and any that will come after. She was able to pass on her gift somehow, and have it awaken when she willed it.”
“What? You mean she made this happen? Why couldn’t she let it stay dormant, so they’d be safe?” I was on the verge of screaming, willing to forgive the Oracle for passing on a gift she didn’t know was dangerous, but certainly not for activating it!
The Druid sighed, leaning forward in his chair and looking directly at me.
“We have to trust that it was done at the right time, and for the right reasons. Perhaps it had to happen—maybe the gift couldn’t stay dormant forever, I don’t know. And we will never know… not while Azazel keeps her.”
“This is ridiculous!” Jovi slammed his fists down against the table and glared at the Druid. “The twin Oracle sisters never faced a threat from whatever this man is, this Azazel, when they inhabited Earth—my sister and our friends would be just as fine in The Shade. If the threat is real, which, by the way, I’m still not fully convinced of, GASP could keep them far safer than you could.”
“The two women you speak of committed suicide,” the Druid replied calmly, unruffled by Jovi’s outburst. “They saw that he was coming. They knew their time was up, and so rather than be taken by him, they did what they believed was best.”
“And you know that how?” I asked. That wasn’t the story Benjamin had told us of how those twins had died… unless those twins had kept the real reason of their suicide from him.
“It was seen by another,” the Druid replied vaguely.
“Another Oracle?”
“Yes.”
His face darkened suddenly, almost as if a shadow had crossed it. I wondered if it was sorrow—had another Oracle been taken from here, or been lost to him and his father, before the Nevertide Oracle’s arrival in the In-Between? Before I could ask, Field interrupted.
“I want to know why you care,” he said, his voice matching the calm of the Druid. “What are our friends to you? Why are you so intent on helping the Nevertide Oracle, so much so that your father apparently lost his life trying to save her?”
“My kind once ruled Eritopia—happily and fairly. If Azazel no longer holds the power of the Oracles, we may find a way to end his rule,” the Druid replied. He rocked in his chair, turning his attention back to me. “That is enough questions for tonight. You can ask more tomorrow, but for now I need to return to your friends.”
“Do you know any more about when they might wake?” I asked quickly, ignoring his statement.
“No.”
He rose from the table, and without another word he left the room.
“I’m not sure I believe any of this,” Jovi announced the moment he had gone.
“I’m not convinced either—or at least, I’m struggling to fully understand it. But I don’t think we have much choice right now but to wait until they come out of the transformation,” Field replied. “Serena… what do you think?”
“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “He has a lot of information about us—about the Oracle twins, about the Nevertide Oracle. She did bless the trio, or do something, that much we know. What if it is all true?”
The consequences of that, if everything the Druid had said was true, were mind-blowing. Not only would my brother and friends become Oracles once they woke—with powers that were completely life-altering, and potentially damaging—but they would also be in grave danger… We all would.
Serena
[Hazel and Tejus’s daughter]
After the Druid left, we sat around the table in silence. My food lay half-eaten and forgotten on my plate. I tried not to picture my older brother, lying on that cold table-top, waiting for some supernatural transformation to take its effect. What would he be like when he woke up? The Druid had told us nothing about what it might be like—if he would be blind, for goodness’ sake! I looked over at Field and Jovi…were they worrying about the same things?
“We should try to get some rest,” Field said.
Rest? It was the last thing I felt like doing.
“How can we sleep?” I replied.
Jovi looked as surprised as I felt. Field looked pointedly at me.
“You need rest, Serena, you’re fading—fast.”
I shook my head. “I don’t care about that. I want…” I trailed off. What did I want? For none of this to be happening. That was what I wanted, and that was the one thing that wasn’t an option.
“Do you need to syphon, Serena?” Jovi asked.
“Tomorrow,” I replied, “not now. I’ve eaten a bit, I can wait.”
“Bed,” Field repeated. “We all need some rest. Tomorrow we can think about all this with fresh perspective.”
I raised an eyebrow at Field.
“And you?” I asked. He, like the rest of the Hawk boys, never needed much sleep—and he often slept outdoors.
“I’ll be on the roof. But I’ll be close, okay?” he replied.
“Okay,” I said, rising from the table. “I guess we rest then.”
I waited for the other two at the doorway, much less willing to move around the house alone now that it was night-time. They got up from the table, Jovi moving like he was in a daze. I took his arm and squeezed, hoping to offer him whatever small bit of comfort I could. He smiled dully at me, and we all made our way through the main entrance and then ascended the staircase.
“Call if you need anything.” Jovi turned to me as we moved to part ways, the boys moving toward the right of the hallway, and me to the left.
“I will. I’ll see you both in the morning.”
I dragged my body along to my allocated room, the tiredness suddenly hitting me. I guessed the time difference here was taking its toll. It had been the middle of the night when the Druid had taken us from the fire star, and so I’d lost out on a full night’s sleep. I pushed open the door to my room, hating the pitch darkness that met me. I felt around for the lamp by the side of the bed, which had gone out since I left, and then blindly hunted for the matches. After a few mistaken fumbles, I got the wick lit and the room was suffused with yellow light.
I opened both windows as wide as they could
go. It didn’t make much difference to the temperature of the room, but at least it would make it smell less musty. Leaning out, I could hear the ropes of moss moving gently in the branches with what small amount of breeze there was, and the hush of what sounded like cricket calls. The latter was reassuring just because it was familiar to me.
I sat on the bed, wondering how I was going to sleep with my head whirring the way it was and the blanket of heat that was drenching me in perspiration. I decided to take another shower, carrying the lamp into the bathroom with me and placing it down at a safe distance from the water.
When I was clean, I wrapped myself in the towel, dreading putting on my pajamas, which, quite frankly, were starting to seriously smell. I walked back to the wardrobe, pulling open the doors. It was empty as I recalled, but this time I noticed a single drawer beneath and tugged it open. The moldy scent was unpleasant, but I found neatly folded fabrics, and started to pull them out one by one, hoping there might be something I could wear in bed.
I found some bed-sheets, the same off-white ones that were currently covering the bed, an old woolen shawl that had seen better days, and then, at the bottom of the pile, two white nightdresses—once again, about as old-fashioned as possible, with long white sleeves with lace cuffs and a high, frilly collar. Under any other circumstances, I would have laughed at the thought of wearing something as ridiculous as this. I suddenly found myself missing Aida and Vita so much it made my heart hurt. I just wanted them to wake up—wake up and be perfectly fine, and exactly the same as they always had been, so they could laugh at me in this stupid nightgown.
After getting dressed, I started to wash my pajamas in the shower. They could dry overnight, and at least they’d be clean.
Once that was done, I started to pace the room. I was too shaken to sleep, and half contemplating the idea of going to see if Jovi was still awake, but I couldn’t hear any other sounds coming from the house. Either he’d managed to sleep, or he was at least trying to.
Do the same, idiot. Get some rest.
I placed the lamp next to the bed and shoved the sheets aside. Gingerly I climbed in, hating the smell of mildew and damp that wafted off the bedding. I lay back, staring up at the ceiling and unwilling to blow out the light.
My body felt exhausted, and it sank into the mattress gratefully, but my mind was tuned into every slight sound—every creak of plumbing or groan of the old house. It kept me irritatingly alert, my adrenaline spiking every time I heard a noise that sounded unfamiliar to me.
“Serena…Serena.”
I sat bolt upright in bed.
What was that?
I listened for the sound again, my heartbeat running at such a rapid and loud pace that I had trouble hearing anything else.
“Serena.” The call came again from outside the window. It sounded more like a whisper, called out in a tense, anguished voice… could that be the boys? I ran over and peered out into the garden. In the moonlight, I could make out two figures at the far end of the lawn.
What are they doing?
“Serena, come on,” they called again urgently, and this time I distinctly placed it as Field’s voice. I was instantly angry—whatever they were doing, we should have gone downstairs together!
“What are you doing?” I called out as loudly as I dared.
“Just get down here. We’ll explain!” Jovi shot back.
Ugh. “Okay, I’m coming!” I hissed, and waved at them both, indicating that I was coming down. I picked up the lamp from the bedside table and hurried out of the door. I ran as quietly as I could along the hallway, keeping my footsteps light and avoiding looking at any of the disturbing artifacts that had freaked me out earlier.
When I reached the staircase, I moved more slowly, avoiding the crack and wincing at every creak in the wood. I headed straight for the greenhouse, hoping that the Druid hadn’t had time to fix the glass pane. When I entered the tropical heat of the room, I was relieved to find that the exit was still open, and I picked my way gingerly across the glass-covered floor. I placed the lamp down by the exit and then stepped out onto the lawn.
I sighed with relief when I saw that they were still waiting for me—they hadn’t moved from their position at the edge of the lawn. I hurried into the overgrown grass, wondering if this was a stupid idea. The Druid had said that leaving the grounds was close to suicide…was it really something we wanted to be doing in the middle of the night?
“Serena, come on.” The voice came again, this time sounding more like Field.
“Yeah, I’m coming,” I replied angrily. As I ran across the lawn, the grass whipped at the nightdress and my bare feet, highlighting just how badly I was dressed for an escape plan—or whatever the heck this was.
The lawn was larger than it looked from above, and it seemed to take forever for me to reach them. They kept waiting patiently for me, not moving, and I wondered why Field wasn’t at least helping me out a bit by coming to pick me up. At the halfway point between the house and my friends, I heard the flutter of wings. Thinking that Field had finally got his act together, I looked up expectantly. It wasn’t Field, it was a bunch of ravens, circling me and squawking loudly.
“Go away!” I hissed at them, picking up my pace. Instead of backing off, they started to fly around my head—not pecking at me, but smacking their large wings into my face and leaving me disorientated. I threw my hands up, trying to knock them back, but they continued to circle me rapidly, their cries loud in my ears as they blocked out the moonlight and all I could feel was their thick feathers bashing into my face and limbs.
“Get off!” I cried.
“Serena, come on,” the boys called out again.
This time I lost my temper. Summoning up my energy as best I could, and focusing it on the crying birds, I tried to manipulate them through syphoning—telling them to leave me alone while simultaneously trying to drain their energy so they’d back off. It was a skill that was underdeveloped in me, and I wasn’t sure how well it would work. To my surprise, I felt myself connecting with the creatures, sensing their strange, hysterical panic. The syphoning disorientated them, and I took my chance, racing ahead to meet the boys at the other end of the lawn.
“Thanks for the help!” I called out, panting as I ran.
The moment I got within a few paces of them, I watched in utter disbelief as they turned and started running into the swamplands.
“Are you kidding me?” I cried out, coming to a standstill.
“We’ll explain!” Jovi hissed. “We just need to get a bit further from the house.”
His tone was the same urgent call I’d heard earlier, and it sent a rush of goosebumps up the back of my neck. What had they discovered?
“Serena,” Field called out, his voice fast fading as they ran on ahead.
As dumb as this idea seemed, I didn’t want to be left here on my own. I started to rush through the swamplands, my bare feet slapping against soggy soil. I stuck to the areas where the trees grew, not wanting to sink into water. There was just enough moonlight to guide me, and I could make out their shadowy figures up ahead.
As I ran, I resolved to talk some sense into them when I finally caught up with them. I was beyond angry, and in the past, would never for a moment have even thought that either of them would behave this way.
“Can you wait up?” I cried out, almost stumbling on a vine that caught around my ankle. I paused to untangle myself, and when I looked up again, they had gone.
“Jovi? Field?” I called out.
My voice sounded hollow and echoed across the silent swamp. The crickets had stopped, and now there was just an airless silence that sank into my bones.
“Jovi?” I called again, hating the sound of my voice—timid and alone.
I moved forward, brushing aside a curtain of willow boughs. The moonlight shone down on a small island rise in the swamp. Field and Jovi were standing still, watching me. I couldn’t make out their features properly—their eyes were cast in shadow, their f
igures not looking… quite right.
“Guys?” I stammered. “What…What’s going on?”
They didn’t say anything, just continued to watch me. My body screamed out for me to stop moving—to turn around and run back as fast as I could toward the house. My mind tried to act rationally, moving my body forward. They were waiting for me, that was all.
They’re not my friends.
The thought came as a whisper through my mind, and I stopped moving. My limbs froze in complete terror. Field smiled at me, and it was all wrong.
Serena
[Hazel and Tejus’s daughter]
I heard a shrill cry to my left, up in the trees. I looked up, seeing a black figure jumping from one tree to another. It moved on its hands and feet, giving the impression of something that was almost human, but not quite. I stumbled back, my eyes shifting in horror to where Field and Jovi had stood. They’d vanished.
Before I could turn and run, there was another ear-splitting cry to my right. It sounded like a child screaming—a wail that was desperate, hungry. More figures, all moving on four legs, jumped from the trees. The boughs shook, and I could hear the soft thumps as they landed. This time I turned and started to move across the swampland, jumping to the small patches of land.
Another cry went up, closer this time, almost as it if was right behind me. I turned, silently screaming as a pair of fangs—large, and shining a brilliant white in the light of the moon—snapped next to my face. I could smell the putrid breath of the creature, like rotted meat, hot on my skin. In a split second it was gone, and the black figure jumped onto another branch.
I had been tricked—whatever these creatures were, they had lured me into the depths of the swamp to trap me. I started running again, my breath coming out in harsh pants as I dodged the roots of the trees in the soil, praying not to stumble. If I did, that would be it.
I could hear them easily keeping pace with my strides. They screamed down at me from the trees and splashed in the water behind me, some of them running through the water as they gained on me. I kept running in a straight line, heading to where I could just about see the house in the distance. Leaping over a wide stretch of water, I landed clumsily on the other side. I stumbled, just for a moment, and one of the creatures dropped down in front of me.