Ice and Fire

Chapter 13

I saw someone in a hood at a distance with a knife at hand.  followed them, thinking I was sneaky, but then they turned and pulled the hood off. It was a beautiful elegant woman. Her auburn hair fell past her shoulders, but was still pulled out of her face. Her green eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight. Her pink lips curved to a small smile. "Follow me." she said in an angelic voice. I followed her closely, noticing that she had a light blue aura.

"Is this another dream?" I asked quietly.

"You never had dreams, Celeste. Just visions of what was, what is, and what can be. "

"My friends.. "

"They're alive. But you're running out of time little one. " her head stayed held high and the first around us grew familiar.

"May I ask, where we are?"

"You don't recognize it? It's where you are right now. " she walked past a few trees and I finally see what she was talking about. The stones. "Your friend is still awake trying to figure out the stones. He won't figure them out. "

"Are they important? What do the stones do?"

"The three stones represent three things. Grace, cunning, and loyalty. The stones will only work if someone has all three traits. "

"Phoenix doesn't?"

The woman looked down at me and shook her head. "He has seen too much war and death. His heart has turned colder since he was a boy. "

"But, Phoenix is my age isn't he?"

The mysterious woman then walked towards the stones without answering my question. She bent over by one stone and picked up a rose and gently brushes her fingertips across the petals. "What about you, Celeste?"

I stared at her puzzled. "What about me?"

She stayed focused on the rose as if it just fascinated her. "Are you cunning? Do you have grace? Are you loyal?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. How would I know? I don't judge myself.. Only others would know these things. "

The woman smiled softly and pulled the rose close to her chest. "You're very humble, Celeste. "

I suddenly felt warm and comforted. Like a mother's comfort. She then held the rose to her lips and softly blew onto the rose. The rose turned white and started to glow. The woman then released it into the arm and the rose flew. "In time you will realize what you are. "

"What? What do you mean? I don't understand?" suddenly the world around me started to go fuzzy. "Am I waking up? No please I need to know more!" The world goes white and I felt myself wake up.