We left Elizabeth, Vinnie and the sleepyheads and made our way over to Miranda's. The snow outside was indented with our tracks from the day before, and I could literally retrace my steps, which I of course did. Kyle knocked on the door and Miranda quickly answered it, not surprised to see us standing there.
"Good morning, guys," she said, ushering us in. "Let me just finish putting my boots on and I'll be ready to go."
We stood around waiting for her to finish. It was clear the house was actually hers, which I hadn't been sure of. I still didn't find anything that made the home personal, and I wondered if all the houses were like that. Elizabeth's had the doctor setup that said she lived there, but I hadn't seen any photos or anything that said something about the person who lived there.
"The place I was being held is up by Eek Lake. So it's about twenty miles away. What mode of transportation do you think is best?" Miranda asked.
I thought teleportation would be best, but I supposed that wasn't an ability anyone in the present company had. I wasn't sure if I'd prefer that ability or invisibility better. I needed to add to my list of things to do some tests to see if I was capable of doing either of them.
"I think walking would take just a little bit too long," Rick gave his two cents.
"I think we'll take the snowmobiles for most of the way and then walk the last few miles. We probably won't get there for about an hour, even walking that little, but we want to have whatever element of surprise we can get." Kyle said.
We headed over to the snowmobile shed. The guys attached a sled to Liam's snowmobile to carry extra gas. After we got a general heading from Miranda, we fired the snowmobiles up and took off. It was a little warmer, so I wasn't cursing the day snow was invented, or created if that word works better for you.
On the way to the secret hideaway, Nate and I decided to do some mental conversing. I'd gotten the hang of the snowmobile controls and my eyes had adapted to the snowy landscape, which meant he wasn't worried about me running into a tree.
"So, what evil plans do you have in place for the berserkers before you give them their answer?" he asked.
I could come up with all sorts of fun things to hassle the brothers with, but my idea was pretty simple. I thought asking them to wrestle a tiger or something would be a bit too exciting for them.
"I think it would be fun to come up with a list of everything that will be required of them if they make the move," I replied. "Mostly silly stuff like washing Winnie for me and other chores around the house."
"I could see that turning into an interesting list. You should let Rick help you. I imagine he has all sorts of good ideas, and he knows a little bit more about berserkers' personalities, which will help you figure out how far to take things."
He wanted me to work with Rick and not himself? That was a little weird, but not totally out of the blue. I could tell there were other things on his mind.
"The things he comes up with might scare them away, but I'll ask him what he thinks when things settle down. Everything okay with you?"
"Everything's perfect. No new memories overnight?" he asked, changing the subject.
He knew I could tell when he was lying, and something wasn't right about his perfect comment. He was known for hiding things from me, but I couldn't think of a new thing worth deceiving me.
"No, which is probably good. Yesterday was a major workload." Getting that whole block back was really cool, but it was just memories of one person in millennia worth of little moments, so I knew there was so much more I was still forgetting.
"You know, with the threats happening here to the uniques, I think it might be time to teach you how to shift. In a fighting situation, being able to shift and fly away might come in handy," he said, more than likely still working to get me away from the topic of what was on his mind.
I looked over at him. "Are you serious? That would be great. How soon are you willing to try this out? Do I have to wait until we get home or will you let me try while we're here?"
He smiled. "You'll probably practice in both places, but I'd be okay with showing you as soon as things calm down here."
I did a happy dance in my head. All the powers had been great, but to supposedly be able to change form and not be allowed to, wasn't cool. Especially since I'd seen him change before, so I had an idea of the freedom I was missing. Maybe we'd have to move somewhere more remote, so I could spend my afternoons soaring through the air. They kept telling me that once I could fly on my own I'd love it. I was willing to test the theory immediately.
"I was hoping we could figure out what happened with your resurrection and why it went crazy before you attempted a change, but I think we're running out of time. Now that we're dealing with a warlock and all this talk of some war, it makes me wonder if someone said some kind of spell that was supposed to either kill or contain you, and that's what caused the abnormality."
Neither of those options sounded great to me. I guessed I was kind of contained for a little while, so maybe I was just awesome enough to break free from the bonds. My mind started to drift a little and the reality in front of me changed.
Instead of the snow, I was looking at myself standing in a ball of fire. I couldn't see it very clearly, but my lips were definitely moving. I started getting thoughts coming across that told me what was going on. As the scene played out, the fire increased until eventually it and myself were gone.
"Avery!" I heard Nate shout both mentally and vocally.
I shook my head, coming back to reality and saw that my snowmobile had gone off course. I brought it to a stop and caught my breath. During any previous vision-type scenes, the world had always stopped around me.
"What in the world was that?" Kyle asked as everyone made their way to me.
"That was different," I said.
I wasn't sure how to describe it to people who may not have been clued in on the fun things that happened in my life. I didn't think Nate had enough time while I was out of the room to go into great detail about my visions.
"Why do you say that?" Nate asked.
"Usually, as you've witnessed, things stop around me for one. This is the first time life went on when I was having a vision. The other thing that was different is that I wasn't in my former self. I was watching it like a movie. Oh, and to answer your question Nate, I was the one that said the spell," I informed him.
"What are you talking about?" Rick asked.
"During my last resurrection I said a spell just before the fire consumed me. I don't know the exact words, but that's the reason why things were different. I needed this time to be different so I could prepare," I explained.
"Prepare for what?" Liam asked.
"The war. I remember my general thoughts leading up to those final moments. It isn't a war just against phoenixes, like we were hoping. It's a war against all uniques. I have a feeling these abductions are just the start of it. I remember seeing a vision that showed a final battle."
I looked over at Rick, and melancholy briefly seized my chest, because in the vision it sure looked like he was dying. I vowed to do everything in my power to make sure that didn't happen. Not wanting anyone to pick up on my emotions, I brought myself out of my funk before I let it settle.
"So, do you know who this battle is against?" Nate asked.
"The person heading it is one of those warlock shifter hybrids. I'm not certain of his name, but I'm pretty sure the shifter part of him is a big cat, like a tiger, but not the current day version of the model. Something bigger than what we see today and, with the warlock capabilities, way meaner."
I wasn't sure I trusted what my mind told me, which was a little unnerving. Something was telling me that maybe it wasn't a hybrid. I didn't know exactly where I got the information to begin with, so I didn't know if it was the source I questioned or what. I imagined whoever the opponent was, he or she was just as bad as what I'd described, so I didn't say anything about my doubt.
"Do you remember anything about the weapon that can kill us
?" Rick asked. "That's what really has me concerned. Any information we can get about it is more important than the person we're fighting. If we can find it and destroy it, the war is over."
"Yes. It's most definitely a knife. He has been enchanting it over the years and believes he finally has the spell worked out. Supposedly, I did something similar to the knife we found in the shoebox during the days leading up to me going into the fire. It's the only weapon we have that can kill him."
I loved being able to pass along useful information, but I hated how bleak things looked. I'd done everything I could to make things winnable on our side. It didn't change how powerful the person we were up against was. I didn't have all my memories on the subject, but I knew things were going to be difficult.
"Do you think the guy we're going after now is this person? Should we go back and get the knife?" Rick asked.
"That isn't an issue. I have it with us," Nate told everyone.
It didn't surprise me. With all the people who'd been coming and going in the house, it was best to keep it close by.
"It's good that it's safe, but will be unnecessary for this trip. This guy is just one of his worker bees. I suspect he has people like him working anywhere there is a high concentration of uniques. They're trying to whittle down any troops who could fight against them."
"It's a good plan on their part, but we need to figure out a way to stop it," Nate said. "I'm still stuck on the part where you said you were the one who said the spell. You haven't ever used magic before."
"I don't have any answers that would comfort you. I know I cast the spell on the knife and when I was starting my resurrection I said something that caused me to come back a little altered, but I don't even know what I said, or exactly what it did."
I was glad I'd finally done something that was confusing to Nate. It made me feel not so alone in the bemused department.
"I'm not sure what you guys are talking about, but we still have about five more miles before you are close enough to walk," Miranda said.
"We better get on with it then. I'd like to get the rescuing work out of the way, so we can have some lunch," Liam said.
"Is that all you ever think about?" I asked.
"Nope, but I had a mighty good breakfast and I'm thinking you can whip something equally as good for lunch," he replied. I had a feeling our food budget was about to skyrocket.
Even though at least half of us wanted to continue trying to figure out what my most recent memory meant, we got back on our way and before long we made it to the spot Miranda thought was close enough to walk, but far enough away he wouldn't hear us coming. We parked our transportation so she could fill us in on where to go.
"Okay, you're going to head east for two miles and then turn towards the north for another mile. If I'm remembering everything correctly, you should run into an old abandoned cabin right about then. That's where I remember being taken. Are you sure I can't go with you guys? I'm supposed to help protect the queen," she said.
Not that stuff again, I thought to myself. Miranda didn't look any more defenseless than I did, but I didn't think for a second she'd be great in a fight.
"You're going to leave and go back home, and that's an order," I commanded. If she wanted to make a point that I was a queen, I'd use that against her and start issuing orders. "You're still healing and you don't need to worry about me."
"Fine," she said, reluctantly getting on her snowmobile to leave. "If you find you need anything, you've already spoken to me telepathically once, so just give a shout and I'll turn around."
"I will," I said, waving as she turned her snowmobile the other direction. "Let's get to walking boys."
We headed off in the direction she indicated, hoping the warlock hadn't planted any traps or alarms that would let him know we were coming.
CHAPTER 18
What do you do when all the psychos in the world turn against you?