A Dangerous Destiny: The Pure One Book I

Chapter Sixty-Six

In her dream, she was alone in a wooded area. It was not Gregorn forest. She knew that somehow. The trees had a strange look about them. Like nothing she had ever seen before. Suddenly, the sky darkened. Above her appeared two large green eyes. They were frightening and so she ran, but as she did, the forest grew thicker around her and she was surrounded by such a dense growth of trees she could not move forward. Heart pounding, Karina took her mother's dagger from her belt and stabbed it into the trunk of one of the trees blocking her way. With no force, the large tree remarkably split down the middle to give her passage into a grassy clearing. The eyes had not followed and, for a moment, her dream self breathed a sigh of relief.

There was a lake in the clearing and the moon reflected off its surface. Karina sat beside the water's edge and dipped her hands in, feeling the cold shock of the liquid on her skin as she splashed it onto her face. She peered into the water, seeing her own reflection staring back, unnaturally pale. It was then that she noticed an orange tinge in the liquid mirror.

Turing around, Karina saw a great bonfire had appeared behind her, its flames and heat pressed against her skin. She shielded her eyes against the smoke to get a better look. In the flames, she could make out figures. Four people tied to stakes. They were screaming, but the sound could not reach her ears. Through the blaze she could only make out their agonized expressions as they writhed against their bonds in an attempt to avoid the rising flames, crying out wordlessly for help. 

As she walked closer, Karina was horrified to see the figures wore the faces of Manna, Fiona, and Caleb Blackwell. Smoke obscured the fourth figure's face altogether. They were all burning and she knew she must save them!

Desperately, Karina attempted to carry handfuls of water from the lake to extinguish the blaze, but the liquid slipped through her fingers. The flames continued to grow and she abandoned her futile attempts, running towards the people engulfed in the inferno, determined to somehow pull them from the fire. But the blaze was too strong to cross. A sudden blast of heat knocked her to the ground. Her head spun form the force. Her skin burned where the fire had touched it. The Flames grew even higher.

"Manna!" she cried out. "Caleb!"

The unidentified figure turned its head. She could see now who burned along with her teachers, her family. The face of the final figure was her own. Karina awoke screaming, body covered in a cold sweat.

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By day three, Karina was filled with a mix of boredom and anxiety that was growing unbearable. Looking to keep occupied she found a carving knife in the cabin and spent the morning sitting in the sun, whittling branches down to nothing. Karina had never minded spending time on her own, but now she felt entirely uneasy. The vision of flames from her dreams would not leave her mind.

 Manna had always taught her that dreams could be windows to the future. But these horrible visions didn't make sense. The Nita was dead after all. How could a vision of her have anything to do with the future? Still there was no question as to the dream's message. Danger.

Karina continued to play over the last month in her head. The fall of Frenwick, Manna's irascibility... Why had no one come to collect her? What had possibly caused Caleb and Manna to send her away? Her teacher's screaming faces flashed before her eyes. Were they in trouble? But even if they were, Karina could not imagine what she might do to help. Caleb had ordered her to remain in the woods. Did she dare disobey his command and make her way back to Gregorn?

As the day grew later and the sun disappeared behind a heavy blanket of rain clouds clouds leaving a chill in its wake, Karina retreated back inside the cabin, deciding to put the matter off for one more night. She set a fire in the hearth and lit candles to combat the growing darkness. As bored as she was Karina knew she had no wish to sleep and face her dreams once again. In any case, it was early still. But picking up one of Manna's books, she found her mind unable to focus on the words in front of her. Karina decided to clean her weapons instead, allowing her thoughts to drift as her hands engaged in the mindless task.