Here's the next chapter! I hope my loyal readers like it and, like I have been saying, please identify yourselves to me by commenting so I can dedicate my chapters to you. :) Sorry if this chapter seem short. Picture of Helen on the side. :)
Chapter 26
This time, Troy dreamt that he was in a clearing. It was small, with shadows flickering through the tress. The moon gleamed silver, providing a little light to see.
Glancing around, Troy realized that he didn’t recognize anything about the clearing. It obviously wasn’t a normal dream, but then, why was he there?
“Troy.”
He jumped a mile. Spinning around, his eye fell upon a ten-year old girl with long dark hair and blue eyes. She wore a black dress, the same clothes that she died in. Her figure was black and white, making the colours barely visible.
“Helen,” Troy whispered, guilt surging like a fire through his stomach.
“Hello, Troy,” she said.
Her form flickered briefly. She was a ghost and her image was exactly what Dahlia had seen two days ago at Varmer’s castle.
“You’re a ghost, aren’t you?” Troy asked.
Helen nodded. “I am dead now. But people can still talk to me, like the way you or Kayla can.”
“But why did you sacrifice yourself for Dahlia? I don’t understand,” Troy protested, frustrated beyond belief.
Helen pursed her lips. “It was the right thing to do, at the time.”
“The right thing to do!” Troy exclaimed, suddenly angry. “But Helen-”
“Stop,” Helen said. “I didn’t come here to listen to all your complaints, Troy. I came for a purpose greater than that.”
“What purpose?” Troy asked.
Helen tilted her head to one side, as if she were listening to somebody else besides Troy. Then she spoke, a faint smile on her face.
“Even though I am dead and hold no more place in this world, I can still be a messenger,” she said.
“What-” Troy began.
Helen silenced him with a look. “Be quiet, brother, and listen to me. Do you trust me?”
“Of course,” Troy replied.
Helen placed something in Troy’s left hand. It was a small glass vial holding a glittering midnight-blue liquid that shone like it had diamonds embedded on its surface.
“Then drink that. It will take you where you need to go,” Helen said.
“Take me where I need to go?” Troy echoed.
Helen nodded, looking very mysterious. “Yes. That potion will lead you, Troy, when you shadow-travel. It will guide you as you use the shadows as a door.”
“Where will it take me?” Troy asked.
Helen smiled. “That, I cannot tell you. You will only find out when or if you drink the vial.”
“How much would I have to drink?” Troy asked.
“The whole thing,” Helen replied. “But be careful with it. I don’t know if Jar-, um... he can make another.”
“Who’s Jar?” Troy asked.
Helen shook her head. “I cannot tell you. Just drink the potion.”
Troy hesitated. “How long will the potion last.”
“Once you drink it, use it to shadow-travel,” Helen replied. “It will last around 24 hours but it will get weaker the more time you waste.”
“When will the potion itself expire?” Troy asked.
“Also around 24 hours,” Helen replied. “So you’d better make up your mind quickly.”
She started to fade from side and Troy panicked. He couldn’t lose his sister again, although he knew, when he woke up, she would be gone.
“Wait!” he protested. “What about sacrificing yourself for Dahlia? How would you understand if the ‘time was right’?”
Helen paused. “If you can read other people’s minds like I can, you would understand what I had to do.”
“You’re a telepathic?” Troy asked.
Helen nodded.
“When did you find that out?” Troy asked.
“During the battle at the immortals’ palace,” Helen replied. “It was an accident.”
Troy frowned. Realization began to dawn on him. Pressing two fingers to his temple, he stared at his sister with horror and amazement.
“Whose mind did you read?” he demanded.
Helen blinked, looking like a rabbit caught in a set of headlights. She looked stunned and afraid. Shrinking back from his gaze, she wrapped her arms around herself.
“Um...” she began.
“You read Luna’s mind, didn’t you,” Troy said; it wasn’t a question.
“Um,” Helen began again.
Troy nodded slowly. “Of course! When she stumbled, we all thought that she had lost too much energy but that wasn’t true. She had had a vision, one of her premonitions.”
“Troy,” Helen tried again but he continued.
“And that vision showed the future, with Dahlia and others fighting Varmer. But it didn’t involve you, did it?” he demanded.
Helen remained silent.
“So that’s why you sacrificed yourself for Dahlia,” he said, angrily. “It’s all Luna’s fault!”
“No, it isn’t, Troy,” Helen said, gently. “I made my decision. I don’t regret it.”
“But her premonition made you take the sword!” Troy snapped.
Helen sighed. “Would you rather I was dead or Dahlia?” she asked.
“That isn’t a fair question!” Troy shouted.
“Answer it honestly.”
Troy glared at Helen. Suddenly, she flinched.
“I have to go,” she whispered. “I have used up too much of his energy, trying to talk to you. Drink the vial. Trust me.”
“Helen, who is-” Troy began.
“Goodbye, Troy,” Helen whispered. “I love you. Remember what I said.”
Her form shimmered and vanished, ending Troy’s dream.
YOU ARE READING
The Shadow Morpher-Book 2
FantasyTroy Flarehill has just escaped from Varmer's palace but that is the least of his worries. His sister, Helen, is dead and his best friend, Dahlia, is dying too. His only hope to save her, is to find Sapphire, a healer in Paris. To do that, he needs...
