I didn’t wait for their response. I shot through the arboretum, my legs flailing beneath me and the grass spiking against the bottom of my heels. I marveled that already, the grass had become so unlike it had been earlier that morning, after the snow had melted. I wondered if it was magic or the natural earth coming back to repair itself, or a little of both.
Of course, the boys followed behind me, as I knew they would.
As we grew closer to the swamplands, the fire burned brighter, orange and yellow and red between the gorgeous trees. Around us swarmed the remaining professors, who’d come, apparently, to attempt to put the fire out. I recognized Professor Springer near the line of trees furthest away, striking her hands through the air and attempting to create water, presumably out of air droplets. Closer to her was Professor Binion, whose face was blotched red with panic. I rushed toward him, my motions wild. I had no intention of slowing down.
When I reached Professor Binion, I reached out to grab his shoulder. He fumbled around, his eyes enormous, and he said, “Ivy! You’re here.”
“What’s going on?” I demanded.
“The same forces as before,” he told me. “Naturally. But it’s proven difficult to manage. It’s not a normal fire, because it’s not real. It doesn’t follow normal laws. All the water in the world we throw at it, does nothing at all. As a result, we’re kind of just trying to contain it.”
“Contain it?” This didn’t make any sense to me.
“Yes. Where the fire is now is where it has to remain,” he continued. “We’ve made it a tiny bit smaller, but there’s nothing else to be done.”
“What about the animals? The trees?” I demanded, my throat raspy.
Professor Binion stuttered, his eyes searching my face. I could feel his anger mounting. What the hell do you want me to say, Ivy? This is the situation we have. This is how we’re dealing with it. Grow up a little bit and realize that this isn’t our fault.
I wanted to get closer to the fire, but Professor Binion and the boys held me back. I staggered a bit, blaring that, if I could only get up toward the line of trees, maybe I would have a better sense for how to stop it. This was probably ridiculous. After all, it wasn’t like I could just reach out and touch the fire, feel what it was and how it would be stopped.
Still, I knew I had to figure out a way to stop it myself. It was up to me. It was a part of whatever weird murderous test these factions had put upon me.
Ezra gripped my arm, still attempting to keep me at bay. Over the top of my head, he muttered to the others, “I don’t know why we’re even out here. The professors can’t do anything about it but contain it. I think we should go back to the dorms.”
Raphael nodded. “There’s no use. We’re just putting ourselves at risk out here.”
“No!” I cried. “We’re staying.”
The fire danced maliciously across the tree tops, snaking over the swamplands. If I focused hard enough, I could feel the pain of thousands of different animals, all of them dying a cruel and monstrous death as a result of the fire. I could barely catch my breath. I yanked myself from Ezra’s grip and fell to my knees.
I again thought of the boiling Gulf.
Professor Binion had told me that the only reason I hadn’t been able to control the boiling water was because I’d been too emotional.
Now, as my thoughts stirred strangely, becoming inarticulate due to my heartache over the animals, I had a similar, lackluster grip on my emotions.
If I had any chance at getting through this horror, at controlling it, then I knew I had to completely divorce myself from my emotions. I had to find strength within myself.
It was a form of meditation. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. I felt as though I was decluttering my mind, organizing the thought structures, finding peace in the clarity. As I organized, I could feel the manic and passionate emotions fly off of me and into the ether above.
“What’s she doing?” Ezra murmured to the other two boys.
“I don’t know,” Raphael returned.
“She looks like she’s very, very far away from here,” Quintin whispered.
I had to do what I’d done earlier that morning. I had to find peace in the past and draw it forward. I recalled when I’d previously walked through this area—in big, monstrous rain boots, analyzing the gorgeous trees and the colorful birds. I remembered the songs the birds had sang and how the sky had been so blue between the tree tops. I remembered catching sight of an alligator in the distance, and how my heart had skipped at the beauty of nature—and how beauty and danger mixed to such a stunning degree.
I then envisioned it healing. I cast myself into another future, a beautiful one, with prosperous trees and blue skies. I imagined the birds singing again; I imagined the alligators sludging through the swamp. I imagined the swampland in all its splendor.
I imagined that the likes of me was a long-ago memory—so long ago that it wasn’t even a memory at all. Just a whiff of something bad.
In any case, my emotions were no longer a part of whatever all this was.
Suddenly, Professor Binion gasped. I kept my eyes closed, totally concentrating on the vision of what I needed the future to be, as the other professors started to whisper, “My god. The fire. It stopped.”
Quintin muttered to the boys, “She’s doing it. I can sense it.”
“She has total control,” Raphael affirmed.
“And look. Look! The trees. They’re already repairing themselves,” Ezra whispered, totally mesmerized.
At this, my eyes popped open and my heart lifted into my throat. I knew that I wouldn’t fall from this emotional high, not now that the trees and the swamp had begun to repair themselves. I rose from my stance on my knees and began to walk toward the trees, watching as the inner core of them began to build themselves out. Even the bark began to stitch itself into place.
It was incredible.
Before I knew what had happened, I felt myself begin to grin. The happiness of the repairing forest was so infectious that some of the professors actually began to laugh. Finally, the boys let me walk even further toward the forest, until I splayed my hand across a newly-repaired tree trunk and inhaled slowly, feeling the “living” nature of this tree there beneath my fingers.
I felt a part of it all. I felt as though I stood on top of my powers, as though I had complete and total control.
Suddenly, Professor Binion appeared beside me and beamed down upon me. He whispered, “You’ve done it. You’ve found a way to become who you were always meant to be.”
I turned around to face the professors and the boys. Suddenly, they all burst into applause. Quintin, Raphael, and Ezra studied me, their eyes enormous, their expressions like: have we ever seen this girl before in our lives? I knew they loved me more than ever. Their pride permeated through their bodies and cut out into the world. I could feel it in the very air I breathed.
Chapter Fourteen
Just after seven in the morning, I managed to slip out from between the boys, dress, and then sweep down the steps. I wore a light yellow dress, which fluttered across my knees, and when I glanced into the foyer mirror, I saw that I looked fresh and radiant—as though my control over my powers had also given me a new beauty.
Outside, I witnessed the most glorious morning I’d seen in ages. The sky was eggshell blue; the air was warm, yet not overly thick with humidity, as it could be during the late-spring months. I turned toward the forest, wanting nothing more than to witness more of the forest and swamplands returning to their former glory. They’d had to drag me away from it the night before, as I hadn’t wanted to leave until every single blade of grass had returned from the soil.
Of course, Professor Binion had informed me that even the most powerful of magic couldn’t transform a forest in fewer than thirty minutes.
When I reached the end of the swamplands, I was surprised and shocked to see that nearly everything was back in its place. When I stepped into the entrance, near the line of tre
es, I closed my eyes and inhaled the smell of growth, of new life, of life that would continue on over the next months and years, constantly building on itself and finding new strength.
I placed my hand across one of the trunks of trees again and felt the circle on my torso burn slightly again, a reminder of who I was and what I was there for. Throughout all of this, I knew that I was the creature meant to bring balance to the universe. I was meant to bring healing and wholeness. After my own mother before me, I was the Mother to rule over all of this.
It was a difficult thing to grapple with, if I looked at it too hard. But in truth, maybe, I’d known this about myself all along. I felt the realization fall through me; I felt it in every pore of my body. I placed my other hand across my torso, just at the mark, and whispered, “I will not rest until I bring total health to the earth.”
Again, however, this beauty and joy gave way to confusion. After all, I knew that everything within me yearned for purity and goodness. Why, then, did the factions continue to want to kill me?
It made no sense at all.
“All I want is goodness in this world. All I want is peace,” I whispered.
But I didn’t have time to dwell on this inner sadness, this fear that nothing would be all right again. Instead, suddenly, a shadow passed over the top of me, and I turned my chin skyward to catch sight of a massive dragon flying overhead. Immediately, my heart felt light.
God, Quintin was strong, powerful—beautiful in all his intricacies. His scales glowed with the sun, and his green eyes flashed. He opened his mouth to show his enormous teeth. I knew, instinctively, that I was meant to be afraid of something like that. But Quintin had pledged his life to protect me.
I lifted my hand and gave a wave. He turned his massive head, then tilted it.
“Come down, Quintin!” I called. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait a moment more. I needed to hold him in my arms. I wanted to celebrate the fact that the forest had come to life around us.
He bucked his head, then spewed a tiny bit of fire, before sweeping down toward the edge of the woods. I raced through the trees to find him there, my gorgeous beast. Through a big smile, I whispered, “So you’re looking after me, are you?”
Again, he bucked his head and let out a light howl, before transforming back into his human form. He was naked and muscular and bright-eyed. He’d once told me that transforming into a dragon gave him peace of mind and understanding of his inner soul, in ways that nothing else could. He was a dragon, through and through.
God, I loved that about him.
I reached him and traced my fingers down his chest. His cock hung between his naked legs, and his skin glowed in the early-morning sun.
“To answer your question,” he whispered, his lips supple, “I am watching over you. I knew that you wouldn’t be able to stay away from the swampland.”
I lifted up on my toes and kissed him gently. I asked him softly if he was too cold to walk with me. He said of course not, no. It was a warm day in spring, a Louisiana season that was allowed to flourish, since I’d grown in my powers. I slipped my fingers through his, grateful that I no longer had to wear the gloves, and together, we walked back toward the swamplands to finish watching as the leaves flourished out from their twigs and the bark piled up on top of itself.
“Do you see that alligator?” he pointed, his hand stretched over my lower back.
I followed his line of sight to find a mighty, scaled beast, sludging up from a big pond of muck. I gripped his elbow, suddenly afraid. But suddenly, the alligator seemed almost playful. It felt as though his eyes directed themselves across the space between us. It almost felt as though the alligator knew that I’d been the one to save his life.
Just before I could muster the strength to say something, through the air, to this alligator, it disappeared beneath the sludge again. I laughed, shocked that I’d felt even any kind of connection with him. When I turned my eyes back toward Quintin, I found him smiling serenely.
“What do you think?” I said suddenly, spreading my arms wide on either side of me and doing a little spin.
“I think you’re incredible,” Quintin returned.
I chuckled and then tilted against the nearest tree. This allowed him to step toward me and drop his lips onto mine again. My heart thudded with lust. I wanted him to take me right there. I wanted him to make me forget the worries I’d had before he’d appeared.
But mid-way through the kiss, he leaned back, his brow furrowed.
“What were you thinking about before I got here?” he asked.
My jaw very nearly dropped. How could he sense something like that? His eyebrows wagged a little bit, as he said, “You think you’re the only one who can read people, don’t you? Don’t underestimate the power of empathy. Especially when it comes to Ezra, Raphael, and I studying you. We always sense something’s off when it is.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced myself to speak.
“I just still have so many questions,” I murmured. “There’s so much at stake here. It feels like, to me, that everything I’ve done and everything I plan to do is for the betterment of the supernatural world. I can’t understand why these creatures want me dead. I can’t understand what my being alive will do to them, besides make their universe stronger.”
“Do you think you have all the information?” Quintin asked.
My eyelashes fluttered. “I’m not sure. Obviously, I’m getting everything from Professor Binion. As much as I’d like to believe that he’s given me everything, I’m sure he only gives me as much as he thinks I can handle in any given moment.” I kicked at a rock, watching as it skidded across the little swampy trail and then disappeared into the mud below. “To be honesty with you, Quintin, it’s driving me crazy. How am I supposed to prepare for what’s coming, if Professor Binion still treats me like a middle-grade supernatural?
“Of course, this all comes outside the fact that I’m meant to be an Oracle,” I continued. “It’s supposed to be up to me to see the future and the past and everything in between. I wish I could tap into it. I wish I could visualize exactly what I need to learn and just....”
I spread my hands out in front of me and sighed.
Again, Quintin gripped them. He studied my face until I lifted my eyes toward him.
“You’re under a lot of pressure. What can I do for you, right now, to make you forget about it?” he asked.
In spite of myself, in spite of the situation, what he said made my smile twitch upwards. I flung myself into his arms, giggling, and then said, “You know what I want, don’t you?” into his chest. When I leaned back, I said, “Here, in the middle of all these alligators and snakes and spiders and God-knows-what, I want only one thing. To ride on the back of a dragon.”
Quintin raised his eyebrows even higher.
“What? Are you scared?” I asked, goading him.
“What do you mean? I’m not scared of anything,” Quintin said. “You just have to promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You have to hold on tight. Tighter than you ever have in your life. Is that a deal?”
“Of course. I don’t have a death wish. I just want to feel free,” I told him.
Quintin and I returned out to the clearing near the line of trees. In the flash of an eye, Quintin transformed back into his dragon form. To illustrate his power, he roared and flashed a tiny bit of fire across the sky. I then gripped his scales and spikes and managed to clamber up his arm and onto his back, where I found two spikes to hold onto. Before he took off, I told him, “Okay! I’m holding on as tightly as I can!” just because I knew he wouldn’t take off until I told him so.
It was like an earthquake. Suddenly, he erupted from the ground and surged into the sky. His wings flapped wildly on either side, so much so that I nearly toppled onto the ground—but managed to cling on for dear life just in time. I let out a wild yelp, just as we burst higher and higher. Within seconds, we were closer to the few clouds i
n the blue than ever before. My heart literally jumped into my throat. I’d never seen anything like this before.
For the first time ever, I was jealous that Quintin could do something like this whenever he wanted.
I was jealous of his curse. For he’d told me, several times, again and again, that being a dragon was a difficult thing, as they were a dying breed. Nobody wanted anything to do with them.
But why not?
And it wasn’t like they were anywhere near as hated as I was.
The oracle.
The one they wanted dead.
We flew wildly over the top of the school grounds. It was remarkable to see it so empty from so high above. The buildings looked so ancient, like castles, and there were little hideaways between them, little trails where, I was sure, students had snuck off to make out and whisper secrets and the like. Actually, I remembered off-handedly that I’d done that, seemingly in another life, with Raphael one time.
God. School and classes now seemed like they’d happened years ago.
Quintin swooped closer to the grounds. I could feel the wind through my hair, and my smile was bright, enormous.
Suddenly, Quintin whipped around, closer to the fence that led from the exterior grounds to the inner ones. There, the gate had opened. With the opening, came a beautiful car, a car I would have recognized anywhere, no matter what day or season.
There, snaking up the road that led from the outer forests, was Celeste’s mother’s car.
I smacked the side of Quintin’s dragon-shoulder and cried, “We have to get down there! As quickly as you can! Quintin, that’s my best friend! Go! Quintin! She’s back!”
Chapter Fifteen
I hadn’t fully realized how much I’d missed that girl.
Slowly, Quintin swept down toward the center of the grounds, in between the student dorms and directly in front of the massive main building. As Quintin knelt down fully, my eyes skated up across the main building to find where the walls and ceiling had caved in. I shuddered, wondering what had happened to Margorie’s family in the wake of the accident.
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