Prophecy of the Seer Read online

  Nani looked from Lilae to Liam, and then cast a troubled glance to the smooth stone beneath her small feet.

  “Ayoki,” she said, and Rowe met her at her side.

  “Has betrayed us all,” Rowe added, glaring back at the tower, as it began to fade into the thickening fog.

  5

  Lilae’s shoulders slumped as she watched the Shadow Tower continue to fade.

  “No,” she shouted. She began to run toward it, when Rowe caught her by the arm, stopping her.

  She shot a glare at him.

  “Let go of me,” she demanded, her tone taking an authoritative edge that she hadn’t heard come from her own mouth in quite some time.

  Shaking his head, he didn’t loosen his grip. Instead, he pulled her close and pointed toward the tower.

  “See that?” Rowe asked.

  Lilae’s brows furrowed as the image before them seemed to flicker in and out of view. The sky erupted with lightning and flashes of blue light.

  Rowe shook his head, peering at the fading tower. “We can’t go back there. The Ocura won’t allow it. The magic of the tower is ruled by her, and she has turned Ayoki against our cause.”

  Delia stepped around them and stood on the path, watching the Shadow Tower fade into nothing.

  “It has begun then,” Delia said, almost too softly for anyone to hear, but Lilae heard her, and her belly tightened with dread.

  “What has?” Liam asked. He knelt on one knee and peered at the open space that had once housed the massive tower. Taking a handful of dirt, he let it fall from between his fingers and back to the ground. “Perhaps its time we were all brought up to speed on the inner workings of this war.”

  Delia glanced over her shoulder, and gave a single nod. “Very well.”

  She turned to Runa and held her staff toward the darkening sky. “It all begins in Aden, where the gods were born—where the whispers of new worlds materialize and actually bring them into fruition. The Ancients of Ellowen all originate there, where battles for supremacy are hard won, but final. There are universal laws that govern these worlds, but when those laws are broken, there are specially trained beings who step in to bring the balance back. Alchemists of light and dark.”

  “Ocura is just one of them,” Runa added, following Delia’s gaze to the stars. “She travels from one world to the next with one mission.”

  “To prevent the destruction of those worlds,” Delia said, and Runa nodded. “For if one world is destroyed, the chaos doesn’t just effect those within it, it ripples outward and is felt by the others as well.”

  The air grew colder as the sun began to shine its last ray of the day. Still, she felt nothing. Numb, and despondent, she wished she could have coerced Ayoki to a different path.

  “So,” Liam said, raking a hand through his hair as he came back to his feet. “Whatever the Ocura does is ultimately for the good of everyone—for all life? Is that correct?”

  Delia smirked. “You could say that.”

  “Doesn’t make her pleasant to deal with,” Runa said.

  “What about Kenichi and Grand Master Neru?” Liam asked. “What happens to them if she’s made an entirely different choice than any of us had to make?”

  Rowe shrugged. “Wish I knew. I reckon the Ocura sent them back to Nostfar.”

  “Or worse,” Nani said, under her breath.

  “No,” Delia said, shaking her head. “They aren’t in any danger. Rowe was right. They were sent back to Nostfar.”

  “They’ve served their purpose on your journey,” Runa said.

  Rowe clasped his hands together. “Very well, then,” he said. “If she’s going to be diverted onto a different path with an elf from a foreign world, she is no longer of our concern.”

  No one spoke, yet they shared wary glances at one another.

  “That means, we can all say farewell to the pity party and press on,” he added.

  “I suppose,” Liam said.

  “He’s right,” Lilae agreed.

  “Brilliant,” Rowe said. “Who’s making the rabbit stew for supper then?”

  “How are you hungry right now?” Jaiza asked, lifting a brow.

  Rowe shot her a look of disbelief. “How are you not hungry?”

  “There will be no supper in these woods,” Runa said. “We must move as far from this section as we can.”

  Delia nodded. “Runa is right. There are many dangers in the dark woods in this part of Auroria. During our travels when the girls were only children, I did my best to keep far from this place. We traveled further than we needed to, just to avoid it.”

  “We aren’t children anymore, Delia,” Lilae said. As she said those words, a faint stirring of something foreign but nostalgic arose in her heart.

  It was as if she began to take stock of all of her experiences and how they led her to that moment. Delia was right. All of her struggles and suffering were tough to live through, but they made her strong.

  They made her a force that could withstand anything.

  Delia smiled at her, a smile that Lilae couldn’t resist returning. “No,” she said, tucking a wild red lock of hair behind Lilae’s ear. “You aren’t. But, we cannot afford to take risks. There is dark magic around the Shadow Tower’s territory. There are creatures who cannot be killed with swords or arrows.”

  “Let’s get moving then,” Liam said. He turned away from where the tower had stood, and peered toward the white, ice-capped mountains in the distance.

  “You’re telling me that after all of that shite, we need to trudge through the snow throughout the night?” Rowe asked, a look of distaste on his face.

  The cold was bitter and brutal, but Lilae couldn’t feel it the way the others did. Memories of taking midnight swims in nearly frozen lakes returned to her.

  Auroria was a realm of snow and frost, and its essence ran through her blood.

  The fact that flames also ran through her blood explained so many things that never made sense to her in her youth.

  “We can rest in one of the nearby cities,” Delia said, and that seemed to shift the mood of the entire group. “Johansburg would be a suitable place to rest, and prepare for the final trek to Auroria. I can arrange for a messenger to announce our arrival.”

  “Do you think that’s wise?” Risa asked, brows furrowed. “I’d much rather sneak up on them.”

  Rowe chuckled. “See? I told you I liked this one,” he said. “My twin.”

  His comment made Risa’s cheeks flush, even as she suppressed a smirk.

  “I’m starting to wonder,” Lilae said, grinning. “You two do have a striking amount in common.”

  “You never know,” Rowe said, nudging Risa. “She might start glowing at any moment.”

  Risa tilted her head as she met Rowe’s gaze. “I would look pretty stunning with a Tryan glow.”

  They shared a laugh and Delia simply watched, a look of pride and love radiating from her gaze.

  “I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Delia said. “For a very long time.”

  Lilae took her hand into her own. “So have I.”

  Never did Lilae imagine herself and her sisters befriending beings from Kyril. But, now that they had, she couldn’t envision it any other way.

  These were her people. She would do whatever it took to protect them.

  “Right,” Liam said. “Let’s make our way to Hansburg, then. The sooner we get inside Auroria’s gates, the better. There’s no telling how close the Imperial armies of Avia’Torena are.”

  Lilae’s blood ran cold at the thought of Kavien quickly approaching her homeland. She could only imagine the hate he bore for her after their last meeting.

  Still, the cold that had flooded her veins brought a distant yearning within her.

  If only she hadn’t had to break his heart in order to sate her own.

  “Off we go, then,” Rowe said, leading the way.

  With that, they began off into the cold night, and thick forest, with Delia’s staff to l
ight their way.

  6

  A whole new world was revealed when Ayoki stepped out of the tower, and onto lush, green grass.

  She left the dark and eerie tower to enter a land of enchantment.

  Ocura Maga stood at her side, and together they embraced the warmth of the sun on their faces.

  Sunlight usually hurt her sensitive eyes. It was the reason Shadow Elves chose to dwell underground, or in mountain kingdoms. Now, she simply delighted in the bliss it caused by its caress on her skin.

  “Isn’t it beautiful?” Ocura Maga asked, her eyes closed and a faint smile on her face.

  Ayoki scanned the scenery around her, mystified by its beauty. Sweet smells of nectar and fragrant flowers delighted her senses. A warm breeze swept in, and hugged her like an old friend.

  She looked downward. The grass was the greenest she’d ever seen, the sky a perfect blue, and at closer examination, there were pixies fluttering about with butterflies from one pink flower to the next. The flowers littered the landscape, and continued for miles into the distance.

  It was like a dream, vastly different from the jungles and subterranean lands she lived around all of her life.

  Memories of Kenichi meeting her in the old forgotten temples returned to her, and a pang of guilt shot into her gut. She began to realize that she might never see him again, or feel his kiss against her lips.

  “What will happen to Kenichi and Grand Master Neru now that I’m with you?” Ayoki asked, kneeling down to a stream of glistening water that trickled past her feet. It headed toward a pool of water that reflected the light of the sun. “Will they return to the others now that I’m gone?”

  Ocura Maga shook her head. “No, I sent them back to Nostfar.”

  That was surprisingly disappointing to her. She imagined that they’d at least be allowed to continue their journey alongside her newfound friends. Then again, Kenichi would be needed to protect his family against whatever forces were coming from the Imperial armies.

  A loud, piercing cry came from the sky. Ayoki’s eyes widened as a flock of crows flew above them in the shape of an arrow. Their sleek, black feathers fluttered as their wings flapped rapidly against the flow of the wind.

  One shot downward at her, diving toward her face, and only shifted direction at the last second.

  The others croaked down at her from the sky, as if in warning—to get her attention.

  That’s odd.

  When they flew by, the wind seemed to smack her in the face, and spun her around.

  The entire energy of the area changed from light and airy, to heavy and oppressive.

  Something had changed—something had gone terribly wrong.

  Her senses were heightened, and she crouched, touching the grass. A faint vibration met the palm of her hand, and all of the hairs on her body began to stand on end.

  With a shudder, she watched the crows, following them across the sky.

  Was a predator coming? Or a storm?

  She wasn’t sure what this sensation that clung to her extrasensory awareness was.

  Then, she saw it.

  A crushing weight seemed to be placed on her shoulders, and her heart clutched from within, as if by an unseen hand. What she spotted coming from the south was unlike anything she’d ever seen—yet oddly familiar.

  “What is that?” Ayoki asked, narrowing her eyes at the thick, black mass that seemed to rise from the ground and slowly head her way.

  A bestial cry shattered through the air, and nearly knocked Ayoki backward.

  It came from the darkness.

  Its roar made the ground shake, and quake open beneath her feet.

  The crows changed direction, and flew back toward her, escaping what was coming.

  Her breath caught in her throat as she noticed that the mass was eating away at all of the beauty it crossed, leaving a trail of desolation and destruction. The ground was stripped of all grass and vegetation, and all that was left was dirt and pebbles.

  What was once full of life and color was left gray and barren.

  She ducked as the mass picked up speed, and flew across her, sucking up all of the pixies and butterflies.

  This was not how she wanted to die, before she even got a chance to stand against Wexcyn and his armies.

  She reached out to Ocura Maga, who still had her eyes closed, and seemed unaffected and unbothered by what was happening.

  Rubble and debris was thrown around them, and all life was sucked away within seconds as the mass continued its assault on the once-beautiful countryside.

  Ayoki watched in horror as it left her and Ocura Maga untouched and flew away, eating up everything in its path.

  She stood, panting and held her hands on either side of her face as she followed it with her gaze.

  Ocura Maga finally opened her eyes, which were now completely white, and took Ayoki by the hand. The moon elf placed her other hand on top of Ayoki’s and met her frantic gaze.

  “That,” she said. “Is Necro, the Dark.”

  Ayoki worked at catching her breath. Just moments ago, she was certain she’d be ripped apart or swept upward into the darkness.

  “Why did it do that?”

  She looked around at the utter destruction. Not a shred of green or color was left.

  “Because, that’s what it was created for,” Ocura Maga said, with a sigh. “To destroy. And, it will do what you just witnessed to all of Ellowen if it isn’t stopped.”

  Shaking her head, Ayoki inhaled a sharp breath. “Is Wexcyn behind this?”

  Ocura Maga nodded. “Yes,” she said, with a frown. “He allowed this pestilence in when he broke every law of the universe. What he thinks will assist him in taking over this world will ultimately be the cause of its utter destruction.”

  “And, you expect me to stop this?” Ayoki said, her eyes widening.

  Ocura Maga shook her head. “No dear,” she said. “I expect you to tame it.”

  “Tame it?” Ayoki was left stunned. She couldn’t fathom how such a thing was possible.

  “Yes,” Ocura Maga said.

  “How?” Ayoki asked, raising her hands in exasperation. “I’m no one, nothing. I can barely tame the murderous magic that lives inside of me. How can you expect me to make any impact on that monster that just ripped this place apart?”

  “See?” Ocura Maga said, pointing at Ayoki. “That’s the first lesson you will learn, Dearest. You are not no one. You are not nothing. That monster that just left this place can only be mastered by someone who understands the source of its power. That master is you, Ayoki.”

  7

  Night fell on Avia’Torena, and Dragnor walked the empty halls of the palace, hands clasped before him. His boots were a soothing, steady sound on the granite floors below.

  Human servants quickly moved out of his path, eager to hide from his dark gaze. He paid them no mind.

  They wouldn’t last long in the new order anyway.

  Wexycn had entrusted him with new duties. But, that didn’t ease the strain pulling Dragnor into a foul mood.

  The scent of Luvorias wafted in with the warm breeze. It was a pleasant scent that reminded him of home, but did nothing to dull his senses the way it did to other mortals.

  When he entered the room, he was pleased to see the Bellens had already arrived. Such remarkable women, able to cross space and time within moments instead of traveling by foot like the other races.

  They sat at a long table, drinking what looked to be water. He poured himself a glass of wine, and drank a few sips before turning his attention to them.

  “Evening,” he said.

  They turned to face him, and he pulled up a chair at the table. Dragnor sat at the table with his leg folded over the other.

  He leaned back in the chair, and peered at them with his sharp, raptor-like gaze.

  “Sister Evaline,” he said to the beautiful woman across the table from him. “Thank you for meeting me on this fine night.”

  Her beauty was strik
ing, unnatural.

  She lifted her cool blue gaze to meet his.

  “It is lovely, but not quite a full moon,” she said.

  “Ah yes, I know how important the moon cycles are to you and your people,” he said with a nod. “Who are these lovely souls with you?” He directed his attention to the two women at her side.

  They all wore heavy black robes. Their hoods were down now, which was a rare occasion. The women of the Darkened Moon were a coven who kept to themselves, usually staying out of the affairs of the humans, unless, it was to steal another little girl to pass their power onto.

  Their long white hair reached the back of their ankles. They cut it anytime it grew longer than that, but never before.

  Hair, it seemed, held power. And, when they cut it, they used it in their spells.

  Dragnor had been studying Bellens—witches—all of his life. What made them special was also their weakness. They did not pass their power on to the male sex, and never allowed themselves to be claimed by men. Therefore, to further their lines and increase their numbers, they converted girls, and young women with potential.

  It was all very complex, and that was just the reason why he summoned her.

  “They are my sisters,” Evaline said, with pride. “We are many, and we are without fear. And, that’s all you need to know.”

  He stared at her—her cool confidence—and nodded. “Very well. ”

  “I’ve cleared your request with Wexcyn,” Evaline said. “And, if we are all in agreement, my sisters and I are prepared for our mission.”

  Dragnor stood. He turned toward the window and peered at the bright moon. For a moment, he considered requesting to join them. His failure at keeping the Flame after her capture would forever haunt him.

  Even so, he knew that one day—one day soon—that he would have her back, and on that day, she would breathe her last.

  Once the Bellens left his sitting room, Wexcyn exited the palace and ventured into the sprawling jungle.

  There was still warmth in this part of Eura, but as he focused on the scent he’d picked up on Lilae from the curse he’d carved into her flesh, he knew she was home.