by Liv Curtis
“What’s Caelí?” Audrey asked quietly as Blythe walked back to her table.
“It must be Latin for conceited.” Eliza rolled her eyes as she ripped off a bite of bread.
“El!” Sage laughed as she looked over her shoulder to ensure Blythe didn’t hear her.
“What? You were all thinking it. Remember, I can hear you.” Eliza tapped her right temple and laughed as she threw a small bite of bread at Sage.
“They are actually the ones who can harness the power of wind. But you’re not wrong about Blythe. Even the others in the Caelí Tribe don’t like her.” Cade spoke quietly and continued to eat his food.
“So, last night at the ceremony, Blythe had said something about a prophecy right before I blacked out. What was she talking about?” The word prophecy made Sage nervous, but she was eager to know the truth. Cade sat back from his empty plate and looked at Sage with concerned eyes.
“Before the previous Oculus died, he wrote down his last prediction. This became known as the Prophecy of the Eight.”
Cade stood from his seat and placed his empty plate with the others.
“I can show you if you want?” Cade offered, and the others followed him, placing their empty plates with his. They followed Cade through the Circle and back towards the Oculus house.
Instead of going through the front door, Cade grabbed the lantern and led the group behind the small cabin. There was a door in the ground that Cade opened to reveal a set of stairs that led deep underneath the house.
Cade took the lead and lit the other lanterns that were scattered throughout the darkness. Sage could finally see the room and was shocked by how clean it was. There were several books on a shelf and other strange sketches that looked as if they had been drawn in a rush. On the far wall was a large wooden desk with a single book sitting in the middle of it.
The book was bigger than any book Sage had seen before, and it was bound in white cloth that looked similar to the robe she had tried on earlier. The lock on the book was a glass dome that had a soft gray mist moving inside. Sage realized that it was the same mist as the sphere from the night before, and she went cold.
She placed her hand on the sphere causing the mist to swirl and turn the same pearlescent white as the larger sphere had the night before. There was a quiet click and the lock opened. Sage carefully opened the book and ran her hands along the smooth paper.
“That is the Book of Prophecies, it only opens for an Oculus. But these scrolls have been left for the other Ingenium.” Cade smiled and nodded to a shelf that had several pieces of paper that were wrapped around small metal rods.
“These are the prophecy scrolls that have been left behind by the last seven Oculus.” Cade retrieved a scroll from the bottom of the hanger and opened it.
“The Prophecy of the Eight will begin when eight emerge from the chink in the armor. She will be there but not aware at first. The son will take time before being awakened, but the lightning will eventually strike. The eight will be the end of time and the beginning of a new,” Cade read the prophecy and placed the scroll back on its shelf.
“What does any of that mean?” Emery questioned as she moved to look at the book with Sage.
“Well, the first line says that we will emerge from the chink in the armor. That must mean the mine entrance,” Sage explained.
“The second line must be referring to you Sage. ‘She will be there but not aware at first’ when we came here you were unconscious.” River pushed his hair back off his face as he spoke.
“Okay, but what does the third line mean?” Sage looked at Cade, hoping he would have the answer.
“That’s the part I have been stuck on. It doesn’t make sense to me, even seeing you all standing in front of me.” Cade rubbed his neck as he examined the book.
“These prophecies can take time to unfold, so I suppose we just have to wait and see. But, for now, we have to get back before it gets too late and the storm is here.” Cade shrugged and turned back towards the stairs. Sage closed the book and the lock reengaged. They followed Cade up the stairs and back into the Circle.
The sky was beginning to darken as the storm grew closer, and Sage could hear thunder in the distance. They quickly made their way back to the house stopping only to say goodbye to Cade as he turned to leave. Sage was the last one in as she locked the door behind herself.
They all made their way to their rooms to get ready for bed since there were only two bathrooms in the house, they took turns showering. Sage was in her room, waiting for Eliza to finish when her door burst open. Jax tumbled into her room, looking frantic as he steadied himself against the bed.
“What is going on?” Sage quickly moved to sit Jax on the bed and steady him.
“It’s so loud! Make it stop!” Jax covered his ears with his hands and hunched forward in pain.
His eyes were squeezed shut tightly, and Sage could see tears streaming down his cheeks. Suddenly, she could see blood on Jax’s neck and when she pulled his hand away, she could see that it was coming from his ears.
She ran to get a towel from the hall closet and when she returned Jax had slipped off the bed and was lying on the ground. His hands were no longer over his ears and his body convulsed aggressively on the floor. Sage panicked when Eliza came into the room.
“Sage, it’s your turn… Oh, my God! What happened?” Eliza quickly retrieved Sage’s pillow and placed it under Jax’s head.
“Go in the bathroom and get a wet towel!” Eliza commanded, and Sage quickly ran to get the supplies.
She returned, and Eliza took the towel, rolling it up and carefully placing it in Jax’s mouth. She flipped him over, and the shaking stopped. Sage knelt to his side and cupped his face in her hands. His cheeks were hot in her hands and his tears stung like boiling water when then rolled over her fingers.
Suddenly, the room went dark, and Sage was seeing Jax on the beach behind their house, the sky was black with clouds. Jax knelt with his hands pressed into the sand when suddenly a bolt of lightning shot from the sky directly into his back.
Sage screamed, but there was no sound that could be heard over the thunder. Jax looked up and locked eyes with Sage and the sight made her step back. The irises of his eyes that were normally a warm caramel brown were black with white strikes of lightning flickering through them.
Then, as quickly as it began it was over, and Sage was back in her room holding Jax’s face in her hands. He was no longer shaking, but he was unconscious, his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
“We have to get him to the beach, now!” Sage stood and ran to get River who was down the hall. Together, River and Sage carried Jax down the stairs and out the front door.
Eliza left to get Cade while the others followed Sage and River down to the beach. The storm was blowing sand and sea spray into Sage’s eyes as she and River sat Jax down in the sand. Jax had started to wake when the first bolt of lightning hit the water.
River jumped back, and Sage slowly backed away, leaving Jax alone on the beach, kneeling as he tried to steady himself. Eliza and Cade joined them, and when Cade took a step towards Jax, the second bolt hit the sand in front of him just as the rain poured.
“Stop! Just wait!” Sage yelled to the others, who looked on with worried eyes.
The clouds above Jax swirled and flashed white when the third bolt of lightning shot down and slammed into Jax’s back. He screamed and gripped the sand in his hands until the lightning stopped, and he eased. Sage took a step towards him, and he looked up with the same black eyes she had seen in her vision. She could see the white strikes of lightning in his eyes, as she got closer.
“Sage, watch out!” Emery yelled and pointed up at the sky as it was preparing for another bolt.
Before it hit Sage, Jax had knocked her to the ground and shielded her with his body. She could feel the electricity as it passed through his body, leaving small shocks wherever their skin touched. The lightning stopped, and Jax moved quickly, pulling Sage to her fee
t and running to the tree line. Sage’s hand felt numb under his palm as the electricity flowed through his veins.
They ran through the trees and back to the house, the others following closely behind. Once they made it into the house, Cade shut the door behind them as they all tumbled in to the living room soaking wet.
Andrea went to retrieve towels while Sage and the others all shut the windows. Jax was breathing hard as he sunk into the couch. Sage was by his side with a towel, attempting to remove the sand, tears, and blood from his face.
“What just happened? And how did you know to do that?” Cade asked as he passed water to everyone.
“I just saw it, in my head, and I knew it would help,” Sage said as she dried off her hair. She realized she was still wearing the dress from the Oculus house, and she attempted to remove the bloody handprint on her leg. She sat back on the couch next to Jax when he finally spoke.
“I couldn’t hear. There was this sound. It was so loud, like thunder inside my head, I couldn’t hear anything else. I found Sage, and then I blacked out. Next thing I know, I’m on the beach, and I feel like I’m on fire. Then everything went cold, and I was fine. I think…I think I was dying before the lightning hit.” Jax’s voice was raw when he spoke, as if he had ripped his throat open when he screamed.
“I don’t think you guys realize what just happened. Before the war, there was a small group of Ingenium that chose to stay separate from the rest. The story says they lived in caves on the beach because they were dangerous to others, but since we never found the caves, we thought it was just another myth.” Cade looked around nervously as he spoke, and Sage went cold at the mention of caves, but she was too exhausted to show it.
“They were known as the Electro Tribe. They could use the power of the lightning to manipulate the electrical currents, but they feared the government would use them as weapons so they hid, until they all died out. There hasn’t been any record of an Electro since the war.” Cade took a sip of his water and rubbed his chin.
“The prophecy. It said that the son would learn his power by the lightning.” Emery stood and paced as she tried to dry her soaking wet curls.
“Is there more information about this in any records?” Sage asked, but she was becoming increasingly tired.
“There might be something in the Oculus house, those books are specifically about the Ingenium, so it’s very possible.” Cade’s eyes were tired as he spoke. Audrey and Wesley had fallen asleep on the floor and the sight of them made Sage even more tired.
“We can look there tomorrow, I think we are all a bit too tired to do anything else tonight,” Eliza said as her head relaxed back against the couch. Sage looked over at Jax, who was leaned back looking out the window. She reached over and took his hand.
“We will figure this out,” she reassured as the others in the room dozed off. Jax looked down at Sage and smiled his eyes soft and tired.
“I guess I owe you for saving my life twice now.” Jax smiled and shut his eyes, leaving his hand in Sage’s. Sage was the last to fall asleep, despite being so tired she couldn’t stop thinking about all that had happened.
Chapter 19
“Sage, wake up,” Eliza’s voice was soft as she spoke, waking Sage from her deep exhaustion.
Eliza stood in front of Sage with wide eyes and waved for her to follow as she left the living room where they had all fallen asleep. Sage rubbed her eyes and realized she was still wearing the dress from the Oculus house, and her hair was still damp from the rain.
She had hoped that it had all been a nightmare, but the bloody handprint on her knee and dried tears on her cheeks told her it had been real.
She stood slowly, careful as to not wake Jax, who had slumped over on the couch next to her and was breathing deeply. She followed Eliza through the front door and sat next to her on the front porch step.
“Is everything okay?” Sage yawned as she wrapped a sandy towel from the night before around her shoulders. Patches of sun started to appear on the forest floor as the sun began to rise, casting tall shadows of trees throughout the forest.
“Honestly, no. Nothing has been okay for a while, and I’m tired of pretending.” Eliza exhaled and dropped her head into her hands.
“I’m so sorry El. Every day, I wish that I wouldn’t have done what I did at the Deciding Ceremony.” Sage felt her stomach drop at the thought of that day. She had let her emotions get the better of her, and now her family was paying the price. Eliza turned towards Sage and placed a small hand on her knee.
“Sage, you need to know something.” Eliza swallowed hard before she spoke again.
“When the chancellor called me into her office that day, I may have said something that tipped her off. I was so nervous and when she asked me about your decision, I told her that you were making the right decision for you.” Eliza’s eyes were shifting back and forth over Sage’s face as if looking for something she had lost.
“I guess I just wasn’t thinking, and I realize now that it was probably what I said that started all of this, not you.” Eliza’s eyes were sad as she looked back towards that sunrise.
“El, I don’t think that we could have stopped this. I think this was something that was supposed to happen. We can’t change what has already happened, but we can change what happens next. For starters, I will do anything to get our parents back, even if that means going to war. So, for now we have to focus on getting them back, not how we lost them.” Sage smiled and put her arm around her sister’s shoulders. Before Eliza could retort, the front door squeaked open, and Cade stood in the doorway looking uncomfortable.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt anything,” he said shyly as he shut the door.
“No, Cade, it’s fine. We were just catching up. I was actually about to go upstairs and get cleaned up for breakfast.” Sage smiled as she dusted the sand off her dress and turned to go into the house.
Cade nodded and took Sage’s seat next to Eliza. Sage shut the door behind her and made her way up to her bathroom to shower. She peeled off the silk dress that was stuck to her with salt and sweat, and stepped into the shower, closing her eyes as the hot water rinsed away the evidence from the night before.
She scrubbed her fingers in an attempt to remove the blood that had gotten stuck under her nails from Jax’s ears. She thought back to the beach and the way Jax’s eyes had changed, and she shivered.
She felt her stomach flip when she thought about her premonition and how Jax could have died if she hadn’t seen it, but she pushed that thought aside and focused on the heat of the water on her skin.
After her shower she walked down the hall to her room, leaving a trail of wet feet print in her path. She slipped on her favorite canvas pants, a black V-neck tee and her boots. She ran her fingers through her damp hair and slipped on her key necklace before leaving her room and going to join the others.
When Sage got to the kitchen there was a large bowl on the table full of different fruits and pastries. Andrea and Emery were staring at the bowl suspiciously when Sage joined them.
“What’s with the gift basket?” Sage laughed as she reached for an orange and peeled it, the smell of fresh citrus filling the air.
“Blythe and Violet stopped by and gave it to us,” Emery explained as she fastened her freshly washed hair into a ponytail high on her head.
“I guess Violet grew the fruit in her garden and helped make the baked goods and wanted to bring them by for us. She seemed excited, but Blythe seemed off. She kept staring at Jax as if she knew what happened last night,” Emery said as she picked up an apple and inspected it. River had joined them and grabbed a small handful of grapes that he handed to Audrey.
“There’s no way she could have known. We were alone last night nobody else was crazy enough to go outside.” River laughed as he tossed a single grape into the air and caught it in his mouth. He tossed another grape, but instead of it falling into his mouth, it simply hovered above his head. He looked at it for a moment, then f
ixed his gaze on Emery, who stared at the grape with amber eyes and a playful grin.
“I’ve been practicing.” Emery grinned, and the grape fell from the air and directly on top of River’s head. Sage laughed and took another bite of her orange.
“What are you laughing at?” River smirked, and his eyes turned dark blue as he looked towards Sage’s orange. Suddenly, the orange grew lighter in her hand as the juice from the fruit evaporated right in front of Sage’s eyes.
“That’s not fair. I don’t have any tricks!” Sage laughed and threw her dried orange at River.
“Wow, you guys seem to be getting pretty good with your new abilities,” Cade said as he entered the room with Eliza.
Behind Eliza and Cade, Sage noticed Jax at the end of the hallway as he walked down the stairs and out the front door.
Sage grabbed a second orange and stepped around Cade quickly following Jax as he made his way into the woods, nobody noticed that they had left since they were distracted by the food and practicing their knew skills.
Once Jax had made it to the tree line, he stopped walking. Sage wasn’t sure if Jax wanted to be alone, so she paused and watched as he climbed up into a tree and perched himself in the crook of a limb. She was surprise at how easily he climbed the tree since he had spent most of his childhood locked in Chancellor Kelly’s jail.
Sage realized she had gotten lost in thought and had been watching Jax. She blinked and looked away but it was too late. He had already seen her and waved for her to join him. Sage made her way to the tree and scaled it until she reached the limb he sat on. She swung herself around and sat on the branch. The limb was wide, and Sage had no trouble balancing on it as she hugged her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.
Jax had his head leaned back against the trunk of the tree with one leg bent at the knee and the other hanging freely in the breeze.
“You know when I was a kid, I used to dream about climbing these trees that were at the edge of the Frame. They were so tall and strong looking and all I wanted was to be able to climb to the top and look out over the city. It sounds dumb but it’s one of the only memories I can remember from my childhood.” Jax smiled as he leaned forward and took half of Sage’s orange. He looked out into the woods where the gathering hall was, his warm brown eyes flickering gold in the morning sunlight.