by Jada Fisher
Sitting back, I allowed myself a single nod of accomplishment before I settled. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on only her. The way the smoke wafted from her, the slight smell of sulfur and a campfire whenever she was near. How gratefully she’d sipped that coffee in the fake diner we’d been in. The way I could almost see her face, shifting as if it was actually there, but translucent enough so that the skull below the shifting smoke was always visible. And then I thought of how she cut my arm off. Of her conversation in the hall.
I linked all those spaced-out events in my mind, one right after the other, compressing them into a single string of energy. And it was with that string that I yanked her toward me, pulling her closer and closer until a blast of heat knocked me flat onto my back.
“How… How did you do that?”
It took a bit more effort than I liked to admit to sit up and look at my handywork. Sure enough, the spirit was right there, her form heaving as if she was breathing heavily.
“Oh hey, it worked.”
“What worked?”
“I would think the whole being summoned to a spell circle on the ground part would be obvious.”
It was almost comical how she looked down, looked up, then looked down again. “You read the book.”
“That I did.”
She sagged in relief, her smoke puddling out on the ground like water. “I’ve been so weak. I couldn’t reach you. I couldn’t do much of anything.”
“Yeah, I figured. Thanks for the whole healing thing, by the way. Still a bit screwy in some ways, but much better than I was. You know, actually functional.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more, but that took up nearly all my energy. I… I wasn’t supposed to.”
“Yeah. I got to that part of the story. You did a real number on your own people.” It was strange to see her looking so human, so vulnerable. Even though she hadn’t been my direct enemy in a long while, she was still some sort of ancient, intensely mystical being that dozens of earth cultures shared. It was like seeing the boogeyman act all nervous. Uncomfortable.
“What happened to make you join someone like him just to turn around and foil his plans in the end?”
“It is a long story.”
“I doubt it. That’s just what people say when they don’t want to talk about whatever you’re asking about. Come on, give me the cliff notes version.”
She didn’t answer for a moment, just floating there, barely visible if the lantern I had flickered the wrong way. But after a few beats, she spoke. “I wasn’t from the seer continent. I was born to a fey mother and father, but neither were oracles. When I displayed ability, I was elected as my village’s mouthpiece to the gods.”
“That sounds like a lot of responsibility for a teenager.”
“It was. And then my village grew sick. I prayed and prayed and prayed for our gods to help them. And then this man began to appear in my dreams, and he taught me, bit by bit, how to save them. But when it came time for the final steps, he told me knowledge always comes with a burden and a price. I had nothing to pay him with, so he had me sign myself over to him.
“I can’t entirely explain what happened after that. I wrote on a piece of paper and then suddenly, he was the center of my world. Everything out of his mouth was amazing. I loved him, truer and deeper than I had ever loved anyone. I would have done anything he asked of me.
“…I did do everything he asked of me.”
“And how did you break free?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know? How is that possible?”
“If I don’t know, how can I have an answer for you? It wasn’t like a block broke over my head and suddenly I was able to see through all of his lies. It started as little things, questioning in my head why he wanted something done. Wondering if his choices were the best decisions. Then it went on to noticing the missing shifter children. Then the maidens.
“But it wasn’t until I began to remember all the people he’d ended that the cracks really started. Little by little, they grew all along the core of me until one day, I realized that following him was the last thing that I wanted to do.”
“And that was when you turned?”
“Pretty much. There’s more nuance and story, but that’s the rough draft of it.”
“Well, we’re on the same page now then for the most part.”
“Alright… Was all that why you summoned me?”
“No. I mean, don’t appreciate you implying that it wouldn’t be worth the trip, but there’s more. I actually called you here because I want you to help me.”
“I’m not sure what you think I can do. I’m barely even here. I couldn’t guide a single soul to the beyond if there was anyone to take. Even being corporeal enough for you to see me is difficult.”
“Believe it or not, you not being seen is a help.”
“How so?”
“It’s so because Faeldrus is trying to start the same ritual that you managed to stop the first time, and I think he’s going to sacrifice the rest of the anti-humanist dragons he has in his fold to do it. I need to know where he’s doing that and when.”
It seemed like it would be impossible for a ghost to go pale, but she absolutely blanched at my words. “How do you know this?”
“The book. I read all about the ritual. He’s already kidnapped all the humans he needs. Been around the world. I’m surprised you didn’t notice, you know, given that he’s a giant dragon.”
“I’ve been in slumber, unable to reach your mortal plane,” she said sharply. “If you hadn’t summoned me, I wouldn’t be here right now.”
“Ah. Right. Well, I need you to do that. Find out the thing for me.”
I was pretty sure that she didn’t need to breathe, and yet the spirit let out a long sigh. “And you are aware that he is able to see me, correct? That even at my weakest, we are bound together by my punishment.”
“I, uh, guess I didn’t get to that part. Tied to him how?”
“He can’t destroy me. I can’t destroy him. His power fuels me and my power stops him from ever being able to pass on.”
“Wait, your curse is what made him immortal? Why would they do that?”
“As someone who was dead once and magically became not dead, I’m surprised you even have to ask that question.”
“Ah. Right.”
“All he would have to do was kill himself in his prison and he could possibly be resurrected in a different dimension. In order to be trapped, he had to be prevented from having any possibility of escape. Even in death.”
“So we can’t kill him then? There’s no beating him?”
“You can defeat him. But if your plan involves ending his life, then no.”
I sighed, rubbing at my temples. “Look, I don’t know how, I just need you to find out where he is and when this thing is happening. Maybe, like, go spy with the dragons. See if that elder we double-tapped with a car is still alive.”
“You hit an elder with a car?”
“Twice. That was implied with the double-tap.”
“Fine. Whatever we need to do to stop him. But I need energy. I barely have anything left. The moment you break this circle, I’ll return to the ether until I’m strong enough to reform.”
“And how long do you think that might take?” Overnight? A couple days? Did we even have that kind of time?
“I can’t say exactly, as this has never happened before. But if I had to guess based on the time that’s passed already, anywhere from a decade to a century.”
“A what!?”
The spirit leveled a look at me that made my toes curl inside my shoes. “The dead are dead. It’s not like they have anywhere to go while they wait.”
“I… Let’s not even go into that. Alright, so I need to give you energy. How do I do that?”
“You can’t. You’re still healing and using what I gave you. If you were to return it to me, I fear it could end you entirely.”
“And I’m guessing I
wouldn’t be able to be brought back like last time.”
“You could potentially, but I am fairly certain that Faeldrus would do his best to make sure that your flock won’t have the ability or resources to do so.”
“Right. Okay, so we need to get you energy, but not from me. What then?”
“Actually, I think our answer is already here.”
I craned my neck to look in the direction that the spirit was staring in and was surprised to see Sokhanya standing there with her arms crossed, observing the two of us.
“Oh hey,” I said, standing. “I know this might look weird, but—”
She just walked past me, holding up her hand. There was already a piece of paper in it and I took the thing, unfolding it to reveal shakily-written words.
I ALREADY SEE
Ah. A vision. Weird when other people got those and not me. But Sokhanya didn’t pay my surprise any mind and marched right into the summoning circle, offering her hand.
“Are you sure of what you offer? It will hurt.”
“She’s deaf. She can’t—”
“We can communicate just fine. You would be able to again if you were fully connected to your gift.”
“Ah. Right, I knew that.”
There was another moment where an exchange happened between the two that I couldn’t hear and then Maedryell’s smoky, bony hand joined in Sokhanya’s.
I wasn’t prepared for the blast of light that filled the entire tunnel, causing me to throw up my arms to shield my face. It was like the sun had just risen right in front of me, minus all the temperature and cosmic radiation that would kill me instantly, of course.
But there was a weird sort of pulling sensation in my chest, like all the air was being sucked out of the room. I stumbled forward, barely catching myself by gripping one of the metal bars of the grate, which unfortunately took a hand away from my eyes, which were registering way too much light even with my lids closed and one palm over them.
It was all over in just a moment, however, and then I was left standing there with light spots dancing in my eyes.
“Hey, I’m totally blind here. Is everyone okay?”
I didn’t hear anything, and worry started to bubble up in me. What if it had all gone wrong? What if Sokhanya was dead!?
But then a cool hand caressed my cheek, barely a breath of air. “She’ll be fine. Make sure to get her food, water, and rest. I will return when I have the information you need.”
I nodded. “What—”
But I felt the absence of her as she left, leaving me alone in the silence.
It was at least five or six minutes before my vision began slowly crawling back, and the cubby returned to me in patches. I called out for Sokhanya a couple times, but naturally, she didn’t answer. Man, I wished that I had any iota of my abilities. I had never realized how much I depended on them, even for little things like being able to tell where the other oracles were relative to me or communicating with Sok. Sure, we had paper and pen, all of us were learning sign, but none of those really made up for being able to communicate mind to mind.
When I could finally make out more details, I saw her sprawled on the ground, her dark hair fanning around her head almost artfully. Rushing over, I feared the worst.
She was still breathing, which made some of the urge to heave dissipate. But she was clearly unconscious, and her skin was deathly pale. She looked similar to how she had over a month back, when she was recovering. I knew that she had to be in terrible pain, or at least she would have been if she was conscious.
“Hey there, don’t worry. I got you.”
I slid my arms under her, fully intending to pick her up and cart her off, but then I almost ended up toppling forward. For a moment, I couldn’t understand what was happening considering I had once carried her on my back with no problem, before I remembered that I wasn’t exactly myself.
Whoops.
“Okay, change of plans.”
I grabbed the bag I had brought with me, pulling out a water bottle and the small ration of jerky I’d managed to yoink. Sliding the bag under her head, I set the supplies out and settled next to her, pulling her feet into my lap to get her circulation back toward her heart and her head.
“Thank you, Sok. Really.” I gave her leg a pat then opened my book. If I was going to have to wait for Maedryell to come back, I might as well be productive.
9
Full Blown Collapse
“On the beginning of the new moon, he will hold his ceremony. He has called all that are able to come to him under the guise of preparing a full attack on humans. He has summoned dragons from all over the world, not just the few anti-humanists left in the city. Even with significant interference from all your resources, I have no doubt that he will have a great enough number to sacrifice.”
Those were the words that haunted us. It hadn’t taken long for Maedryell to get them back to us. There were perks to not really being a part of our world but still being able to listen and look. I wasn’t sure why none of us were able to force a vision with that info, but if I had to guess, it was probably Faeldrus running some sort of interference. In fact, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had been using some sort of spell to obscure certain things from us ever since Sokhanya awakened.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Bronn asked grimly. I understood it, though. We’d gone on a lot of impossible mission before, but our current one? Well, it was about as lethal as they came.
Mostly because we weren’t rescuing anyone. We weren’t escaping, spying, or fighting. We were merely going to crash the event where all our enemies were going to be gathered and try to convince them that Faeldrus was about to kill them all.
And if that didn’t work…well, the whole place was probably going to be bombed.
I didn’t know where the dwarves got access to planes or munitions, but that probably wasn’t information they felt a twenty-something oracle with no abilities needed. It wouldn’t kill the rotted dragon, of course, but it would wipe out all the dragons before they could sacrifice themselves to him.
It also stood a very good chance of killing us.
Ironic, us trying to stop them from sacrificing themselves by risking sacrificing ourselves, but we didn’t really see a way around it. Especially since we only had a total of three days to stop him. And true to the spirit’s word, Bronn reached out to all the dragons he could to intercept those traveling to our city. They did what they could, but it wasn’t like there were enough to provide a round-the-clock barrier, and if we did, the rotted dragon would definitely know what we were up to.
So that was how Krisjian and I ended up with Bronn, waiting for what could be our final mission. Mickey had wanted to come, of course, as had Mal, but there wasn’t much they could do. Besides, if we failed, I didn’t want them to be there for it.
I didn’t like the idea of Krisjian being there either, but something that the seer had said about Faeldrus’s appeal had reminded me of a couple of things the boy had done. I couldn’t help but wonder if the power of persuasion was a literal oracle gift. It would make sense considering I’d seen him compel someone who hated me to tell the truth and a spirit that she and I were magnets that were repelling each other.
“I am,” I said with a nod. I’d done my good-byes. I’d cried. I’d been uncertain and scared and all of that was dealt with. It just made sense for me to go with Krisjian. He was too young and too inexperienced to have to face off alone in what could be the most important diplomatic moment of our kind, and I’d already died once. Plus, if we were all brutally honest, I was detached from my own power. I couldn’t protect myself, couldn’t see into the future, couldn’t even run from one end of the room to the other. If things did go south… Well, they wouldn’t be losing someone helpful beyond being able to read a book. And in reality, Sok could do that herself once she got better at learning to read in general.
We really were at the end of the road. Either we won or we didn’t. I didn’t see any oth
er outcome besides that. We were about to break into a religious event with the equivalent of a cult leader and a horde of his followers and try to convince some of them not to drink the Kool-Aid. That was it. No bells, no whistles.
“Wait, no, I’m not.”
“What do you—”
I turned to Bronn and pulled him down into a kiss, my mouth moving against his, trying to send him everything that I was feeling. No matter what happened, I wanted him to know that he had my heart. That I would be forever grateful for that moment he ran into me in the café that I worked at and tried to protect me from harm. That he never really forced me to do anything, that he trusted me even when I asked impossible, unfair things from him.
“Uh… I will get some water.” I heard Krisjian say behind me then a small set of footsteps receding away. Okay, maybe we were being a little heavy on the PDA for a young teenager, but I didn’t want to die with any regrets.
Well, any regrets about showing my love. I still wasn’t too happy about being tricked into ending the world by our greatest enemy.
I was breathing hard when we broke our kiss, Bronn resting his forehead against mine as his arms wrapped around me. We stood there a moment, just rocking, before he spoke again.
“Of all the people in all the worlds, I still thank every ancestor that somehow I was the one lucky enough to run into you.”
Oof, that went right to my heart, filling me with warmth from the soles of my feet right up to the top of my head. He was just so good.
“Me too,” I said with a sigh. “You know, when this is over, we’re going to have to go on a real date. Just the two of us.”
I could feel his grin against the top of my head. “I would like that very much. There’s this nice sushi place that I remember I used to love to go to. Maybe we could make a whole night of it.”
“Yeah. That sounds nice.” I pressed another kiss to him then took a step away. “I’ll hold you to that.”