by Kristen Pham
“Here,” Valerie said with a little breath of relief.
Valerie knocked once before pushing through the fluttering curtain at the entrance, and her team followed her inside.
At the sight of her, Mer dropped the pan he was cooking with, and it clattered on the makeshift stove. His face turned pale, and his eyes were huge as he took her in.
“Mer, it’s Valerie. Do you remember me?” she asked him.
Mer regained some of his color. “I thought you were someone else. I did not think to see you again, especially in such company.”
Mer glared at Putrefus, but after a minute he squinted. “You are not Putrefus.”
“Your mind is strong,” Mira said, resuming his true shape. He stretched, cracking his neck once.
The old man’s eyes sparkled as he took in the little group. “You’re here to take back the city.”
“That’s right, old man,” Claremont said. “And we’re commandeering your hut for that purpose.”
Mer raised his eyebrows, and Valerie subtly stepped on Claremont’s foot, hard enough to make her yelp.
“We ask your permission to hide here while Mira scouts the city in the shape of Putrefus,” Valerie explained.
“You’re welcome to stay, but the Oracles will not be deceived by his shapeshifting for long. Anyone who takes a good look will not be fooled. Oracles spend years training to steel their minds against magical attacks.”
“Much like my own people,” Cerise said with a nod of approval.
“We want to see where Putrefus and his key supporters are located. We’re going to kidnap them and lock them in a hut,” Thai chimed in, removing a charm from his pocket.
The stone, once activated, could turn any room into a prison. Only the bearer of the stone could leave at will.
The curtain on Mer’s doorway moved, and Valerie gripped Pathos’s hilt, only releasing it when she saw Sibyl walk into the hut, her telltale wings hidden under a novice’s white robes.
“We’re not ready for you and the other Oracles yet,” Claremont said.
“My friends remain beneath the waves in the pool. But I will fight with you,” she said. “I know this city and its inhabitants, and that will make all the difference if we’re going to resolve this without bloodshed. This is my home, and it is right that I am part of taking it back.”
Valerie didn’t argue. She’d learned to take soldiers where she could find them, though her heart hurt every time one of her friends was put at risk.
Mira resumed the shape of Putrefus, and he and Sibyl ducked out of Mer’s hut.
“I can’t wait around in here,” Claremont said, pacing the hut restlessly.
“You’re the least likely of us to be recognized,” Valerie said. “If you want to don your robe and scout the perimeter of the hut for any threats, go ahead.”
“Thanks for the reminder that I’m a nobody,” Claremont snapped as she left.
“I will watch over the volatile one,” Cerise said, following Claremont out.
Mer had resumed his cooking, but his movements were jerky.
“Do you know what I want to ask you?” Valerie asked him.
Thai gave her a questioning look, but he didn’t interrupt.
“Last time I was here, you told me that my father was alive. I found him. His name was Oberon, and my mother was Adelita.”
“If you are angry that I did not tell you his name, know that your journey to find him shaped you into the leader you are. And I only suspected your heritage,” he said.
“It’s not about that. My father told me that you interrupted a prophecy being delivered to my mother, stepping into the sacred circles in the middle of a prophecy about the Pillars of Light.”
Mer sat down, and his body sagged. “It is an offense that will never be forgiven. They would have cast me from the city if I had anywhere to go.”
“Why would you do that? I don’t believe that you want the Globe to follow a path of darkness, but I can’t think of any other reason why you wouldn’t have wanted my mother to get her whole prophecy. And she’s dead now. If she’d heard the whole thing, maybe she’d be alive.”
Valerie was shaking. She didn’t know how important Mer’s answers were to her until the words had left her lips. Thai moved to stand by her, his hand warm on her lower back.
Mer’s posture straightened, and when he met Valerie’s eyes, he stood.
“I did it to save her, to save us all,” Mer said. “I saw that I would go from being one of the most powerful and respected Oracles on the Globe to a hated outcast if I entered those circles, for it is sacrilege to stop a prophecy, no matter the reason. But I saw a world enslaved if I didn’t, and your mother dead. If she lives now, it is because of me.”
Valerie had no words then. The edges of her vision went black.
“Valerie’s mother is alive?” Thai asked, his arm the only thing keeping her upright.
“There are no certainties when it comes to prophecy. But it is what I believed when I interfered,” Mer said.
The hope was more painful than the certainty that her mother was dead, so Valerie banished it from her mind. Maybe someday, if this war ever ended, she would think about it. But now, she had to put aside even her dearest hopes for the war she was forced to end.
“Tell us what you saw in your vision,” Valerie said.
“This woman who was receiving her prophecy—Adelita—would have two children. If she had known they were Pillars of Light, she would have hidden them on the Globe rather than take them to Earth. They would have been found and killed, and two worlds would have been plunged into darkness.”
“Then you saved us all,” Valerie whispered. “And you have a home with me, Mer, if you want it.”
Chapter 21
After an hour of pacing Mer’s tiny hut, Valerie finally saw Mira and Sibyl returning with Claremont and Cerise on their heels.
“How many do we have to capture to end Putrefus’s rule?” Valerie asked Sibyl.
“Most follow him out of fear. But his core followers are his best friends of many years. There are eleven,” Sibyl said.
“We have located nine,” Mira added. “They reside in the new hut they call the castle.”
Sibyl’s face was red with indignation. “That structure was intended as a hospital, so that critically ill Conjurors could come for the healing waters of our pool. But Putrefus has turned it into his headquarters.”
“I don’t know how they get off calling it a castle,” Claremont said. “Looks like a big pile of mud to me.”
“What about the other two of Putrefus’s friends?” Thai asked.
“We didn’t find them, but I know where they live,” Sibyl said.
“Let’s grab them first,” Valerie said.
After conferring with Sibyl, the group headed out. Sibyl directed them to the huts of the two allies of Putrefus who didn’t live in his castle. At each stop, Valerie and Cerise snuck in and quickly knocked the target unconscious.
Thai, Mira, and Claremont hauled them back to Mer’s hut, where Thai had activated the charm to turn it into a little prison. It would last a few hours, which should be enough time to take Sibyl and her friends back into the city. Mer was gleeful about his role of jailer of Putrefus’s gang.
It was only two hours later that they gathered at a back entrance of the Oracle hospital.
“I’m guessing Putrefus and his friends are on the top floor,” Sibyl said. “It has a view of the whole city.”
Quietly, the group stepped on platforms that whizzed up a ramp that had stops at each floor.
“Mira and Thai, wait a floor below. If we don’t come for you, flee back to Arden for reinforcements,” Valerie commanded.
Claremont was all but rubbing her hands in anticipation of a fight as she, Cerise, Sibyl, and Valerie took the platform to the top floor.
They stepped onto the landing, and the hall was quiet. A murmur of voices was the only sound, and they followed it.
Valerie stopped at a
doorway and saw Putrefus with three of his friends, laughing as they clashed with black weapons obviously given to them by Reaper. But other than that, no signs of Fractus reinforcements were visible.
“This won’t even be enough of a fight to be fun,” Claremont said before launching herself into the room, her light-imbued mace in her hand.
Putrefus’s face was a mask of horror when he saw Valerie, Sibyl, Cerise, and Claremont charge in.
“G-get back! These weapons will suck your magic!” Putrefus said, but he and his friends had backed into a corner.
One of Putrefus’s friends, who had close-cropped hair and a snout that reminded Valerie of a pig, threw his dagger at Cerise with more skill than she would have guessed he had.
Valerie’s magic surged, and she knocked the knife to the ground before it lodged in Cerise’s heart. Then Claremont struck him with a hard punch to his temple, and snout-nose crumpled to the ground.
Claremont laughed then turned and swung her mace, knocking the black weapon of another of Putrefus’s cohorts to the ground. Valerie had drawn Pathos, and she struck Putrefus’s sword with her own, shattering it.
Cerise delivered a stunning blow to the last of Putrefus’s followers, knocking him unconscious with more force than necessary, before Valerie yanked her back.
“I think they surrender,” she said.
Cerise’s snarl fell away.
“This fool almost killed me,” she said, nudging snout-nose’s unconscious form with her toe. “I was careless, and Emin would have been an orphan if you had not saved me.”
“You’re okay,” Valerie said softly. “We wouldn’t want Emin losing his boss today.”
“Thank you, vivicus,” Cerise said.
Claremont went to the door, looking out eagerly, as if she was hoping for more attackers to mow down. But no one came, and Putrefus was trembling.
“Don’t kill me,” he begged. “I’ll give you whatever you want.”
“The Fist doesn’t kill anyone unless we have to,” Valerie said.
“Unfortunately,” Claremont muttered.
“You will come with us and stand trial for your crimes,” Sibyl said.
“You always thought you were so much better than me, because you were Pythia’s daughter. Not even her real daughter!” Putrefus said. “Now I suppose you’ll rule the Roaming City.”
“Keep it up, and I’ll take you with me unconscious,” Valerie said, and Putrefus shut his mouth.
“This city was not created to be controlled by a single Oracle,” Sibyl said. “Pythia guided us, but we all made the rules together. That’s what I want to bring back.”
Thai and Mira had discovered the rest of Putrefus’s gang while Valerie, Cerise, Sibyl, and Claremont captured Putrefus. The entire operation had gone more peacefully than any in Valerie’s memory, and she was grateful.
Everyone in the streets stared as Putrefus and his friends were hauled to Mer’s house, where they’d stay until they were tried, one at a time.
An enormous crowd had gathered by the time they were shut inside, and Sibyl cast off her novice robes. She fluttered a little above the heads of the Oracles, and an excited murmur rippled through the crowd.
Valerie had sent Thai to let the rest of Sibyl’s Oracles know it was safe to return, and she saw them meeting friends and family they hadn’t seen in over a year, gripping them in hugs.
“Friends, I hope you welcome back not only me and all of the Oracles who left, but also a return of a democratic Roaming City,” Sibyl began.
Her words were met with cheers. It was a pleasant relief to only have to stand and watch as Sibyl outlined her plans for reorganizing the city to be more in line with the values that Pythia, the original Oracle and Founder of the city, had instilled, and explained her hope for an alliance with Valerie and the Fist.
“But no one will force a decision on you, ever. We decide as a group,” Sibyl said.
Valerie walked around after Sibyl had finished talking, meeting many of the Oracles and stating her case again and again for why the fight against the Fractus was important. At last, as everyone drifted away, Sibyl turned to Valerie.
“I will take you to the Hall of Prophecies now, if you wish it.”
Valerie nodded. Sibyl led her back to the hut where Valerie had received her first prophecy four years ago.
“Down there,” Sibyl said, gesturing to a staircase that led underground. “Concentrate on the prophecy you seek, and it will come to you.”
Valerie nodded, and started down the stairs alone. She’d only taken a few steps when Thai slid his hand into hers.
“You’re not going alone,” he said.
Valerie lost count of the number of stairs as they descended down, down, down. Being so deep beneath the ground was oppressive, like being buried alive, and she was even more grateful for Thai’s presence. He kept the ghosts of her childhood in foster care at bay. How would she survive without him once she found the strength to send him away?
When they reached the bottom at last, everything was dark, except for the pinprick of light at the top of the staircase.
“What’s next?” Thai whispered.
First one light, then another and another, appeared in crevices in the walls. There were hundreds, then thousands, then millions of tiny gold lights in the room, casting a warm, golden glow.
Valerie shut her eyes and concentrated, thinking of Chern and the prophecy he received in the Roaming City. When she opened them again, a single light whizzed from a spot on the wall, darting around the room like it was alive. It shot down and smacked Valerie directly in her forehead, and her vision went dark.
Her sight cleared, and she was looking at a redheaded Oracle sitting on a stool in the center of the room that was above Valerie now.
“I’m lost. I know what I want, but I can’t get it! Tell me what to do.” Chern’s voice sounded younger than it did now, and it cracked with despair. Valerie guessed that she was looking through Chern’s eyes, seeing the Oracle from his perspective.
The Oracle swayed in his stool, and when he spoke, his voice was melodic.
From Daughter of Earth and Father of Globe
Twins shall be born.
If you command their power, you will rule,
But in failure, down from your throne you will be torn.
Valerie gasped, and her mind returned to the present. Thai was kneeling next to her.
“It wasn’t the prophecy I needed,” Valerie said.
Before she could say anything else, another beacon of light zipped through the room and hit her in the forehead, and she fell backward.
There was a flash of a dusty street, and Putrefus’s face, red and a little sweaty.
“Tell me, quickly, are you drawn to prophesize for me? Know that if your words help, you will be rewarded,” Chern said, speaking quickly.
“Rewarded how?” Putrefus asked, narrowing his eyes.
“I will need regents to help me rule the Globe. Even I cannot be everywhere at once. The Roaming City will be yours to command.”
“Yes,” Putrefus said, his eyes glazing. “I have words for you.”
Two worlds, both alike in uncertainty
In a shifting tide of unrest
From ancient rules sweep new possibility
Of chains on men and the shroud of death.
Seize the power of the psychic twin
To gift your army the power of shadow.
Stain the vivicus with the blood of another
And her power will be yours to force man to bow.
But if the vivicus remains untainted by death,
And brother and sister against you unite,
An amoebiate’s power will amplify their gifts
You will fall to the Pillars of Light.
Valerie’s vision returned, and she saw Thai’s anxious face searching her own until the tiny lights of the prophecies winked out.
“Tell me what you saw,” he said.
“There’s hope. But only if He
nry and I can find our way back to each other.”
Chapter 22
Sibyl sent Valerie and her team back to Arden equipped with plenty of supplies, so the trek back wasn’t arduous. Valerie and Cerise walked with Claremont and Mira to the edge of Arden, where they would part ways.
“A word, Valerie,” Mira said, pulling her a little away from the others. “The Knights in the Fractus who wish to fight for the Fist are growing restless. When will you give your order for them to turn against Reaper?”
“I think about asking those Knights to join us every day,” Valerie said. “We are desperate for soldiers. But my instincts are telling me that Reaper is planning something, and with his discovery of Carne in Plymouth, he’s already at an advantage. Knowing I have Knights acting as spies, ready to turn if he attacks, is the only weapon in my arsenal that he doesn’t know about.”
Mira nodded slowly. “I will tell the Knights to be patient, and to listen for whispers of Reaper’s plans. They will be willing to wait a little longer, since it is you who asks it.”
Then Claremont and Mira returned the way they’d come, through Arden’s roller coaster system. Thai went with them because it was the quickest way back to his guild.
Valerie and Cerise returned to the cities in the trees so that Valerie could meet with leaders and visit Elden.
The walk back was quiet for a long time.
“Did you find what you were looking for in the Roaming City?” Valerie finally asked.
She turned to examine Cerise’s face, only noticing now how pale and withdrawn she was.
“I found an answer, but it was not the one I sought,” Cerise said.
“What do you mean?” Valerie asked, stopping in her tracks.
Cerise stopped walking and turned to face her.
“The People of the Woods have their own prophets, and one has foreseen my end,” Cerise said.
Valerie couldn’t process what Cerise was saying.
“A prophecy says you’re going to die? Those things never mean what you think they do,” Valerie said, gripping Cerise’s shoulder.
“Our prophets are not like the Oracles. They do not speak in riddles, and they are never wrong. But to be sure, I went to the Roaming City to see if an Oracle could show me another path, but the Oracle who had words for me offered no hope.”