No warning will help. Prevention is the key. The Goddess’s sigh was a warm breeze stirring the branches full of green and purple leaves. I have shown you a possible future. It is up to you, Counselor , to see that it does not become the present.
“But how?” Rast demanded, exasperated. “How am I supposed to prevent this…this universe-wide genocide from occurring?”
Stay at your post. I will not always be able to commune with you but you must sit on the Seat of Wisdom and look often into the Eye of Foreknowledge. These are the tools I have given you and the Counselor s before you—I know you will use them well.
“What am I looking for? How will I know when I find it?”
You will know.
“Why can’t you just tell me?”
Because the future is fluid and ever changing. It is affected by the million different choices made every second of every day. And because some hearts are shadowed, even from me.
A new picture appeared in the fountain. A man—Rast supposed it was a man, anyway—tall and broad shouldered as any Kindred with thick black hair and a neatly trimmed black goatee and mustache framing sensual red lips. When he smiled, white, even teeth were revealed. Teeth that looked every so slightly too sharp. His eyes were a solid silver with no pupil at all.
“What is he? Is he one of the Hoard?” Rast couldn’t take his eyes from the man in the fountain. Behind that handsome face there was a blackness—a roiling, hungry evil like a mass of snakes which could never be satisfied, which would never stop eating.
He is Draven, the Goddess murmured. The leader of the Hoard. His power for destruction is unmatched in the universe. Your father wounded him badly—drove him underground. But a thousand years have regenerated him completely—now the Hoard grow ever stronger and their appetite for destruction grows with them.
“Great,” Rast said flatly, still staring. He had the feeling if this guy looked at you in just the right way, you might fall down dead from an aneurysm or wake up the next day with a tumor the size of a baseball lodged in the base of your spine. Babies would cry until their noses bled and old men would have heart attacks wherever he went. Yet, he would also be able to walk around in broad daylight, looking perfectly normal and carrying that cloud of evil wherever he went.
He is one of the soulless ones—what you would call a demon, the Goddess said. The most powerful one the universe has ever seen. And he is hungry, Counselor —ever hungry.
“Yeah, I get that,” Rast murmured, still staring. Suddenly the demon-man turned his head and those his pupiless eyes bored into Rast’s own, making him gasp. “Turn it off! Turn it off—he can see me.”
He can sense you. The vision in the fountain faded and the water began flowing once more. He knows there is a new Counselor on First World—the first in a thousand years. And he knows you are your father’s son—it makes him wary and cautious—slow to act. This is the only advantage you have. The Goddess’s voice was becoming faint.
“So I’m just supposed to keep an eye on him?” Rast asked. “I mean, I’m not allowed to go fight him, am I? I’m not allowed to leave the surface of the planet.”
To leave First World is to lose your wings forever. The voice was fainter still. You will find others who are suited for this battle as well. Find them and gather them to you. They will help you learn what Draven is planning—his strategy and secrets. Even now he is searching for the key—the key to unlock the universe for his designs. He must not find it!
“But…but how will I know them?” Rast asked. “The ones who are supposed to help?”
You have ever been a finder of the lost. The Goddess’s voice was little more than a whisper now. It has been your calling from the first. Use it now along with the knowledge and wisdom I will send. For now, I must go.
“But Goddess—”
Be vigilant, Counselor . Guard First World well. For if it falls, the universe will follow.
And then she was gone.
Chapter Thirty-six
Nadiah woke and yawned, stretching her arms above her head to get the tingly feeling out of her fingertips. She looked around for Rast and saw him pacing a few yards away, his new wings tightly furled against his back. In that position they were almost completely invisible as the feathers molded to his body and took on the coloring of his skin. She reflected that unless someone knew his secret, they would never guess he had the power of flight.
“Hello.” She rose and went to him, smiling. “I guess we must have fallen asleep. I can’t believe we spent the whole night up here.”
“Yeah, we really wore ourselves out, I guess.” He turned to face her but his smile was troubled.
“Rast…” Nadiah put a hand on his arm and noticed that his wings quivered with her light touch. “Are you all right?” she asked anxiously. “You seem unhappy.”
“I’m just a little worried, that’s all.” He cleared his throat and smiled at her. “I had…well, I guess you would call it a vision last night. I, uh, met the Goddess.”
“You did?” Nadiah exclaimed. “What did she say?”
“Pretty much that I’m meant to be here and so are you.” He smiled at her briefly. “But also that there’s big trouble coming. Not just for First World but for the whole goddamn universe if we can’t stop it.”
“How can we stop it?” Nadiah asked.
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I only know we’re supposed to be vigilant and find people to help us.” He pulled her close suddenly and looked into her eyes. “And that we’re supposed to be together.”
Nadiah looked at him hopefully, her heart beating hard. “The Goddess said that?”
Rast nodded. “You’re supposed to be my Lyzel, all right. She said the reason she gave you the Sight was to help me guide First World.” He frowned. “And it looks like it’s going to need a lot of guidance in the very near future.”
“That’s all right.” Nadiah hugged him hard. “We’ll do it together.” Then she pulled back and looked at him, biting her lip. “But…what about the high priestess?”
Rast smiled grimly. “Oh, I think I can handle her. In fact, I don’t think we should wait a minute longer to do just that. Are you ready to go?”
She nodded. “I guess so. I’m famished and Sylvan and Sophie are probably worried sick about us.”
“Then let’s go ease their minds.” Rast swung her up into his arms and spread his wings. Their great, feathered lengths glinted in the green sunlight, dazzling Nadiah’s eyes. “Come on,” he said, smiling at her. “Let’s fly.”
* * * * *
“Look, there they are!” Sophie pointed to the winged shape cresting the horizon, relieved to see it wasn’t just another one of those huge black birds of prey that swooped over the desert from time to time.
She and Sylvan were standing in the guest area, which she thought of as the oasis of light, and scanning the skies anxiously. They’d both seen Rast’s wings come out and watched as he scooped Nadiah out of the sky and spirited her away to the Healing Garden. But afterwards as they waited and waited for the couple to come back, Sophie had begun to worry and wonder. A thousand thoughts had crossed her mind. What was going on in the Healing Garden? Had Rast been able to save Nadiah? What if he hadn’t been able to save her and he was too grief stricken to leave the lush garden?
Sophie hadn’t wanted to share these ideas with Sylvan—the strain of worrying about his younger cousin was evident in his face. But it was impossible to keep some of her fear from leaking across the bond they shared as a married couple. And she couldn’t help feeling his fear through the same link. All in all, the two of them had spent an extremely restless night, barely nibbling on the Willy Wonka bread even though it tasted wonderful, as always.
So it was with great relief that Sophie watched Rast circle above them and land lightly in the oasis with an obviously healthy Nadiah held securely in his arms. She felt Sylvan’s relief as well and flashed him a smile which he returned whole heartedly.
The minute the couple
touched down, Sophia ran to them. “Oh Nadiah, thank God! I was so worried!”
“We both were,” Sylvan said, coming forward.
“We’re sorry for making you worry.” Nadiah looked sheepish as Rast set her down. “All the uh, excitement sort of wore us out and I guess we fell asleep after I was healed.”
“Excitement, hmm?” Sylvan studied her closely for a moment and then smiled. “Of course, I see. And may I be the first to congratulate you on the new color of your eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a transformation more spectacular.”
Nadiah blushed all the way to the roots of her fair hair. “Oh, Sylvan…”
“I know we’re not married—er—joined yet,” Rast said. “But I promise you, Sylvan, we will be before the day is over.”
“You’d better hurry then—it’s almost lunch time now.” Sophie laughed and took Nadiah’s arm, pulling her toward the food table. “Come on, you must be starving. I know ‘excitement’ always gives me a big appetite.”
Nadiah blushed again and smiled. “I am pretty hungry,” she admitted.
“Then let’s eat!”
“There is no time for food now.” They all looked up to see Lissa standing there in her plain white priestess robe. “Forgive me,” she continued. “But you are summoned to the temple.”
“Is that right?” Rast came forward, frowning. “And by whose authority are we summoned?”
Lissa bit her lip. “By the High Priestess of the Empty Throne. I’m so sorry, Counselor ,” she added in a rush, bowing reverently. “I told her it was blasphemy—that you could not be ordered about now that your wings have manifested. But she insisted that I summon you.”
“It’s all right, Priestess.” Rast nodded at her formally. “We will all go to the temple. But it won’t be the Temple of the Empty Throne for long—I am going to take my rightful place.”
Sophie stared at him in surprise and saw Sylvan doing the same thing. Yesterday, Rast had seemed extremely reluctant to assume the mantle of leadership that his vows demanded he take. Today there was something different about him. Something almost…royal.
“He has been visited by the Goddess,” Sylvan murmured, taking her hand. “I know that look. Deep had it after he survived his encounter with death.”
“Do you really think so?” Sophie breathed as they followed Lissa. The dark network of tunnels under the mountain was beginning to seem familiar.
Sylvan nodded. “I do.”
It didn’t take long to reach the temple. As before, the high priestess stood on the topmost step, looking down on them, a haughty expression on her face.
“So, Adam Rast, you have returned,” she said as they approached the foot of the stairs. “I am glad you had the good sense to answer my summons.”
“I didn’t come in answer to your summons, Priestess.” Rast’s deep voice rang in the vast, hollow space that housed the temple. “I have come to take the throne my father left me.”
Swinging Nadiah into his arms, he spread his vast, iridescent wings and took off with a mighty down stroke that blew Sophie’s hair into her face. When she managed to get a clear view, she saw Rast and Nadiah soaring upward toward the vaulted ceiling. He brought them down gently and with precision directly in front of the high priestess. So close, in fact, that she was forced to take a step backwards.
“Come on, we don’t want to miss this.” Sophie grabbed Sylvan’s hand and they hurried up the many steps. As they reached the top, Sophie saw that Rast and the priestess were having a kind of stand off—she was bodily blocking the way to the huge white marble throne.
“A fine display,” she said, scowling. “But the wings prove nothing.”
“Is that right?” Rast cocked an eyebrow at her sardonically. “Because just yesterday you were saying they proved everything.”
“It is well that you have returned, Adam Rast,” the priestess said, standing her ground. “But the fact is, you are a time traveler—a relic of our distant past. You have no knowledge of the First World of today. Or any world but the remote, primitive planet you were raised on.”
“I think I can manage,” Rast said dryly. “I’ll just have to do a little on the job training.” He started to step around her, but again the high priestess blocked his path.
She looked down her nose at him and announced, “I have had a vision from the Goddess just last night—I fear that the Empty Throne must remain empty.”
“Oh?” Rast growled, clearly losing patience. “Because that’s not what she told me when I met her in the Healing Gardens. She said the entire universe is in peril and told me I have a job to do.” He grabbed Nadiah’s hand and pulled her forward. “Along with my Lyzel, that is.”
The high priestess went positively pale and her blank emerald eyes narrowed. “You cannot displace me with one such as that. She has no training in the ways of—”
“She has the Sight,” Rast interrupted her. “Given to her by the Goddess to help me rule and guide First World. Nadiah will be my Lyzel and you’ll either be third in line or you’ll be last. Your choice, Priestess.”
“I…I…” For a moment it seemed like the priestess had lost her voice but then she rallied. “You cannot claim your place without a test—without proving you are worthy.”
“Okay, fine.” Before she could stop him, Rast strode around her and climbed the dais that led to the Empty Throne.
Sophie’s heart was in her mouth and she could see the worry on Nadiah’s face as well. Yesterday when he’d barely touched the marble throne he had almost died. But Rast seemed to have a new confidence. He walked with the air of a man who knew exactly what he was doing and feared no consequences for his actions.
He reached the throne and, without hesitating an instant, turned and sat on it. There was a low gasp from all assembled, Sophie included, but nothing happened. Rast simply sat there, looking completely at home with his vast wings extended on either side of the throne. For the first time, Sophie noticed deep notches in the white marble between the back and arms of the chair. For his wings, she thought, understanding. So they don’t get cramped when he sits.
At last Rast spoke, breaking the silence. “Well?” he asked, staring down at the priestess. “Good enough for you?”
It had to be good enough—Sophie was sure even the belligerent priestess couldn’t dispute that Rast was in his rightful place now. But she hadn’t counted on the woman’s stubbornness.
The high priestess crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. “So the Empty Throne did not kill you. It still doesn’t prove your female should be Lyzel.”
“Oh no?” Rast frowned and nodded at Nadiah. “Come up here, sweetheart. Don’t worry—it won’t hurt you,” he reassured her when Nadiah looked uneasy. “I won’t let it.”
Nadiah lifted her chin and there was a glint in her new blue-green eyes. “I know,” she said and ran lightly up the steps of the dais to stand beside Rast. She put one hand firmly on the white marble arm of the throne and Sophie was relieved to see that absolutely nothing happened to her.
“Good.” Rast nodded at her approvingly. Then he turned to the high priestess. “All right, your turn, your Holiness. Come on up and stand on the other side of the throne.” He patted the other broad arm of the throne. “This one’s all yours.”
The high priestess didn’t budge. “I will do no such thing. A Lyzel is not required to touch the Empty Throne to prove her place.”
Nadiah spoke up unexpectedly. “But she is required to work with the Counselor and not against him,” she said. “And this is the Empty Throne no longer, Priestess. For now that the rightful Counselor sits upon it, it shall be known once more as the Seat of Wisdom.”
The high priestess glared at her. “You dare to address me in such a manner! You, who have no formal training in the ways of the Goddess!”
“I know enough to stand by Rast and help him guide First World,” Nadiah shot back.
Very well…” The priestess drew herself up, her blank emerald eyes glittering. �
��If you know so much you will recollect that the final test of the Counselor is a healing. He must heal one who is in need here in the temple, before he can claim his place.”
“I already healed Nadiah last night,” Rast pointed out, frowning.
“That was done out of sight and not before the throne,” the priestess countered quickly. “In all probability it was the waters of the Goddess’s fountain that healed her.”
Rast glared at her. “That fountain was bone dry when we reached it. Without the healing abilities of my wings, Nadiah would be dead right now and I’d have you to thank for it.”
“Prove it then,” the priestess challenged. “Prove that you have the healing abilities that only the true Counselor may claim.”
Rast frowned. “I would but there’s no one to heal.” He pointed at her. “And before you get any bright ideas about giving someone else a terminal illness, let me warn you that if I catch you making anyone sick ever again I will personally throw you out on your ass and you will never be welcome back again.”
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