The Sun Was Beginning To Set when the village on the map came into view. I glanced at the darkening sky―I had a week and a half left until my mother became Tern’s new toy. Great. I knew we’d made some good time because of the speed of our other forms, but I was still anxious.
I was pushing to enter the village, get some food, but the others wanted to avoid it.
“Who knows how good the communication is between that town back there and this village? They might kill us if we enter.” Ridge said.
“Dude that was miles back. I doubt they even know each other.” I reasoned.
In the end, my friends won. We skirted around the community, my stomach rumbling at the scent of pie on the windowsill of some house. My glowing blue eyes focused on the low open window. I squinted the eagle eye. A skirt came into view; it had flowery patterns that kind of…shimmered. I guessed at some point my ears had shifted, because I could hear the skirt’s owner humming a pretty tune. There was movement, and then the woman’s face came into view. Tan skin, dark hair, and dark eyes. She was beautiful. I froze as her opaque jewels met mine. The others realized that I’d stopped moving pretty quickly and came back.
“What is it?” Wren asked, touching me with a frozen finger.
I jumped and turned to them. “I think…I think that the Oracle is here.” I said.
Wren shook her head, “No, she’s in the desert. She’s always been in the desert.”
She sounded so certain, so I wondered why she didn’t just tell us to follow her. She kept looking at me with raised eyebrows and I realized something.
In a way, Charlie had been right. I was their Captain. Their leader. The boss man. I thought. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I cleared my throat, straightening my posture. “Alright, we’ll keep going. But I’m telling you, I think she’s here.”
Wren relaxed and led the way, taking the map. The sound of rushing water hit my ears―no, not my ears. It hit my body. I could feel the water travel through my veins, into my heart and up to my brain. I gasped quietly. “Guys?” I stammered. “Do deserts have…oceans?”
Up ahead, water was slamming against a beachfront. Pandora let out a gasp and Kate and Ridge ran forward. I stumbled after them. The energy from the Moon and the ocean was filling me up. But there was something wrong. As I stepped onto the soft sand, I realized that there were chunks of sand floating in the ocean.
Is it an ocean? I wondered.
As I neared the water, I realized that I could see more sand on the other side. But it was moving away, and fast. Kate and Ridge had begun to splash the water on their faces. The ground began to rumble and chunks of sand began to rise through the air.
“Guys…guys!” I outstretched my hands, using the seawater.
It turned into two hands that grabbed the pair and threw them back softly onto the grassy land. Then the section of land that we had been standing on began to detach from the rest. I’d been quick enough to get them to safety, but I’d been too slow to help myself. The sandy land floated into the sky. I looked down at the others, who were staring up in fear. Ridge began to summon wood, I could see it sprouting from the ground.
“Wait!” I yelled.
Kate began to yell at Ridge as I floated higher and higher. She pointed angrily at something behind me.
I turned and froze in shock. A hole had formed in the air―a tear, really. It sucked sand from my little piece of land―it didn’t even have manners. Ask before you take a person’s only means of survival. It was common sense.
I looked closer into it and saw nothing. This was a portal to oblivion. I wanted to leap off, conjure up some tasty wings and glide down to safety, but I knew that if this thing was sucking in everything, I’d be pulled in too.
“Give it something good!” Aaric yelled, suddenly appearing next to me. His silver eyes were panicked, something that I hadn’t seen him show before. I instantly knew what I had to do. I reached into my pocket and yanked out the glowing dark chain of Jael’s Badge. They flickered now, showing that their owner was truly gone. I closed my eyes for a second, hating myself for what I was about to do. “Sorry, man. I’m so sorry.” I muttered before chucking them into the mouth of the portal.
Everything went calm for a second. The mouth stopped sucking everything in and began to close.
Then the world exploded.
My section of land was obliterated and I came tumbling down like a flailing comet. I hit the water with a jarring smack! and submerged completely. I opened my eyes, looking around. What I had taken to be an ocean was actually a river. But as the land on the other side continued to depart, it was turning into a sea. I had no doubt that it eventually would be a vast ocean. I gazed down, my multi-species eyes widening as fishes formed right before my eyes.
“Whoa.” I muttered. My voice was muffled. A shark flashed into existence, a hammerhead. I squealed and kicked back as it swam forward. I slammed into the land that my friends were one and it just kept on swimming by. I was getting an idea of what was happening, but I wasn’t completely sure. I swam alongside the shark, grinning at the way its long body curved as it swam too. Then it turned to me and bared its teeth.
I pushed its head down quickly and pushed off from it. Summoning water, I closed my eyes. The saltwater sort of tightened in front of me. A geyser formed, the stream of white hot water travelling all the way up into the sky. I took a deep breath, extremely aware that the shark was making a U-turn to get some of my flesh, and stuck my hand into the rushing water.
I’d fallen pretty deep into the water, and I expected my departure to take a minute or two.
It took like a second.
Right when my hand touched the water, I was yanked upwards. As I moved, I felt hands touch my body. Stay…stay and play Voices whispered into my mind.
Naiads, I realized. Trees had dryads―which hated me if my dream was anything to go by―and water had nymphs. Very hands-on nymphs apparently. Their voices were making me groggy, but some part of me stayed alert. The Guardian part, most likely.
I broke through the frothing surface, getting launched into the air with way too much force. I panicked as the ground came rushing up to meet me. I fumbled with my Badge, knowing that I couldn’t concentrate enough to use my GuardSkill. Finally I unsheathed the dagger. I held it out, its blade glowing in the moonlight.
“Lunar!” I cried, picturing a large shield.
It changed form, turning into a circular shield with a crescent etched onto the face. I held the flexible strap on the back and sighed in relief as my trajectory ended with a tall hill. Time seemed to slow as I fell towards the top.
I gulped as time sped up again. I smashed into the crest of the hill, the grass and dirt collapsing upon impact. “Thank whatever omniscient power is here in the Realm, for Hollow-Hills.” I panted. I picked myself up, muttering, “Lunar” as I climbed out. The shield shifted into a ring again, which I put on my finger. I rolled down the hill and into the waiting arms of my friends.
“Archer that was pretty impressively―” Ridge was cut off by Pandora.
“Wow! That portal almost―”
“Are you okay? How the hell did you get out of―?” Kate interrupted.
“Now what?”
Wren’s question broke through the onslaught of words. I raised my hands, silencing everyone. “She’s not over there―she can’t be,” I said, referring to the Oracle. “So I must be right. The Oracle is in that village back there―and she’s fairly hot.”
They ignored that last part―I ignored that last part. We doubled back, reaching the village in no time. The pie was still on the windowsill, so I silenced my friends. Climbing the fence that surrounded the house and its yard, I crept towards the pie. Normally I wouldn’t resort to stealing like this, it was a moral thing, but I was so gosh darn hungry…
Wiggling my fingers, I reached for the pie. Somewhere else in the village, someone was practicing a horn. It almost broke my concentration. I had to do this so whoever was in the house wouldn’t hear the scrape of the tin on the wooden windowsill. Apple pie… Just as I touched the edge, I realized something weird.
I didn’t like pie.
Now before you start protesting, I did like pie, but not as much as I was acting. The reason for that was a whole ’nother story. It was like this particular pie was pulling me. I pulled back instantly, falling back into the grass as the horn grew louder and louder. Only after the fifth wanhhh did I recognize it for what it was―an alarm. I scrambled to my feet, thinking that the alarm was meant for me. I signaled for the others to follow me in―hanging around in the outskirts of the village would make a person look amazingly suspicious.
I led us out of the person’s backyard and into the village square, where other people already were. I shifted a little more, fur growing in my pants legs, to get my jacket to melt away. It did, and I blended right in. A look at my jeans and they’d think that I was a Jumper who forgot to change. Behind a podium in front of the forming crowd, the woman from the house stood.
“The peeping Tom will not be a problem anymore. The village officers have apprehended him,” she said in a loud voice. Next to her, a bulky man held up a kid that couldn’t have been more than ten. A peeping Tom? More like Tiny Tim. He looks horrible. Snot ran down his face, but there were no tears. He began to cough, a fit that wracked his body. The kid was obviously sick, yet no one seemed to care. I craned my neck, looking for a kind face. All I saw was some woman crying into a man’s shoulder.
“Hey! How about you get him some medicine?” I called, muffling my voice with the sleeve of my shirt. I shivered as I yearned for my jacket. It got really cold out here.
“Medicine? Medicine?” The woman sneered. “Who said that?”
Suddenly I was pushed through the crowd. She stepped around the podium so that when I landed, I landed at her feet. She jerked her foot, which slammed into my chin and made me fall back. “Damn!” I cupped my chin, looking up at her with annoyance.
“Come with me, peasant,” she hissed.
Ha, you couldn’t say that you entered a magical world without being called “peasant” at least once. I heard movement behind me, followed by the sound of Pandora pulling an arrow out of her quiver. She must have shifted into a human to get her stuff back. “Yeah,” she said. “he’s not going anywhere with you, bitch.”
Ridge emerged from the crowd and helped me up. I nodded in thanks and turned to the crowd. They made way for Wren and Kate, making sure that they didn’t touch the magical people. Everyone in this village was human. I squinted though, just to make sure. Holy…
I was wrong. At least a third of them glowed with a strange aura. It blazed around their person, like a flame. Under that light, I saw people with the heads of animals, others who had fangs. I even saw a guy with rocky skin and ram horns. A snake lady near the front looked me in the eye, hooking her scaly hand with a human man. There was warning in those eyes. I looked at the human guy and instantly knew that he had no idea that his wife wasn’t…normal.
I gulped and turned to the scene behind me. Two men―I called them Thorny and Tower because one was thin and had a pointy head, and the other was huge and wide―came up behind the woman. Thorn sneered at me, “Tell your friends to calm down.”
Only then did I realize that Kate had grown fur and fangs, Wren held a lance made of ice, and Ridge was glowing with life energy. They were all poised, ready to spring into the air and attack. Pandora was the only one who was calm, keeping her arrow pointed at the woman. I put a hand on Ridge’s shoulder, signaling that he should calm down. Then I remembered how I looked. Shifting back to normal, but keeping my eyes blue, I walked up to the three and held my hands up in the universal, “I surrender, don’t blow my head off” position.
“Hey, we’re just looking for somebody,” I started, biting my lower lip nervously as Thorn glared at me. “She might be able to predict the future? Goes by the name, The Oracle?”
The woman recoiled as if I’d just threatened to punch her. She bumped into Tower’s chest, who, doing his job, was an unmovable force. He kept her from falling while she got herself together. I put my hands down and continued.
“Uh,” I said, ignoring that little outburst. “I have this hunch that she isn’t in the desert anymore. I thought maybe you were her…but I have a feeling she doesn’t embarrass little kids in front of crowds. Anyway, do you know where she is?”
She cleared her throat. “You’d be right, traveler. The Oracle moved from the desert when the land started turning into water. She’s with her companions, a little ways down the new coast. I’ll lead you to her if you want.”
I grinned, nodding. Tiny Tim had fled from Tower’s grip. The woman who had been crying before was gone with her husband―they must have been happy. If I was right, Tiny Tim had run to his parents. The crowd began to disperse, apparently the realization that there wasn’t going to be any blood made them lose interest. I was just glad that I didn’t have to pull out my Badge.
The woman pulled up the hem of her skirt and began to lead us out of the village. As we passed a house at the edge, I felt a projectile whistle through the air. “Watch out―” I cried, shooting out my hand. Water flew up from the grass, encasing the dark-eyed woman. A tomato splattered uselessly against the surface, and when I was sure that there were no more, I let the water fall.
“You let that child go free!” A voice screamed from the house. “He violated my privacy!”
The woman shook her head, not even bothering to reply. Tower and Thorn drew closer to her. I really doubted that Tiny Tim did anything, I mean at the age of ten, I was still scared of the dark. There was no way I’d go out in the middle of the night just to watch my pal’s mom change through the window. It was pointless. Not to mention disgusting. But I kept the thought to myself, fingering my ring as we walked.
Ahead, Ridge asked the woman who she was.
Note-to-Self; always ask for names instead of making them up yourself.
“My name? Ah, I’ve been called many things in my service to the Oracle. Nowadays, I am called Esmeralda. Esmer for short. I’m the Oracle’s scribe, but soon I’ll be the Oracle herself. Then I’ll have to take on an apprentice of my own. When I’ll be able to…”
Without even trying, I began to drown Esmer out. I couldn’t help it, years as a student, forced to listen to the boring tirades of teachers, had given me the ability to actually choose what I want to hear. It had nothing to do with my being a Guardian―at least I didn’t think so.
When we reached the coast, I stretched out my senses. The amount of water had increased, turning the small sea from before into a large stretch of water. I didn’t know how, but if I closed my eyes, I could sense the water rushing. It was splitting the land in half. There was no way to get across the water, not without a boat. I caught up to the others. Apart from Pandora, everyone was asking Thorn, Tower, and Esmer questions about the Oracle. I would too if, you know, I actually gave a crap. She could be a mannequin for all I cared―as long as she gave me a way to get my Reality and “trade” with Tern.
It was still nighttime when we reached a large house. There were no hills surrounding it, and the water lapped up against the sandy coastline softly. It wasn’t the churning chaos from before. I took off my ring, saying the activation word quietly. It turned into a dagger, which I silently put into my scabbard. The moonlight was bright, showing a fence that surrounded the cabin. Inside the fence, cows roamed. They grazed quietly, the occasional moooo creeping me out. In the far corner, I could see a pit of mud. Pale pink masses moved to the rhythm of breathing. The cabin windows were dark, showing no signs of life.
I signaled for them all to stay quiet, and to stay back. Surprisingly, Esmer agreed. I was moving forward when I heard Tower following me.
“I said stay back!” I hissed.
“I heard you,” he rumbled. “I just didn’t care.”
Rolling my eyes, I didn’t say anything else. We climbed the fence―well, I climbed the fence. He just walked around until he found a gate, noob. A cow saw me and widened its eyes. “Shh!” I made a beeline for the house as the cow made the loudest mooooo! yet. Tower barely had enough time to jump into the shadows of the house before the door opened.
“Barry! Shut the hell up!” A male voice growled. I’d made it to the porch when the door opened. I was barely out of sight. He shut the door and I emerged from my hiding place. I backed up, taking in the awesome sight of the huge house. More like the big-ass manor, I thought in awe.
Columns stood on the porch, leading up the upper half of the brick house. The woodwork was amazing, smooth and deep brown. Looking at it, I would have had to guess that it was the summer home for the king of the world―not NK. Just in general. I whistled in appreciation. Not just because it was huge, but realizing that whoever built this, had done it by hand. There was no such thing as a Cat machine in the Realm. Nope, this manor had been built with ladders and a crew. I wondered what qualified as technology in the Realm. Did hammers count? Wheels? Or was the line crossed when things used circuit boards and engines? Tower came out of the shadows and I told him to wait.
“I mean it this time. Stay, dog. Stay.”
He made a growling noise which made me jump a little, but otherwise, he stayed put. The door had been left a little open, so I gently opened it. Inside, everything was dark. I was feeling around for a light switch when I remembered where I was. The Realm, right. No switches, and no light bulbs. So I Shifted my eyes into a lion’s. These were green, unlike my other eyes. That was a sentence I’d never thought I’d say before.
My surroundings lit up. Well, not exactly. It was as if I’d put on night vision goggles for Mischief Night―the eve of Halloween. But instead of green, everything was black and white. Hey, at least I could see.
I still moved slowly though, stretching my hands out like an idiot. Ridge? I tested the connection between me and the Guardian.
Yo. He replied. I wondered whether the slang on Earth was the same here. Where are you?
I’m inside the house. Someone is here, but they were a guy. I’m looking to see if there’s anyone else. I’ll check in later. I felt like 007 telling his quartermaster that’d he’d contact him soon. It was kind of cool. There were some stairs leading up, and a door that led to the basement. I hesitated before choosing the basement. I didn’t want to disturb anyone’s sleep. I walked down the steps, wrinkling my nose at the smell of dust and―yep, I recognized that stench. It was the smell that I got when I was playing a video game for two weeks straight in the summer. Whoever was down here hadn’t showered for longer than that. Yeah, I’m guessing two or three months, tops.
The stairs led deep underground, and at some point, lit torches hung on the wall. My eyes reflected the firelight. Finally I reached the base of the stairs. I thought about contacting Ridge, climbing back up the stairs and getting Tower to search around with me.
But when I rounded the stone wall, all thoughts ceased.
It was pure…nothing.
Just white…nothing.
…nothing.
When I had philosophical thoughts (Why are we here? Does God exist? Is there life after death? What happens when everything dies? Where is God? What is nothing, if not something without anything, etc.), part of me wanted to cry out in frustration. Those were questions that no one would ever have the answer to. But that last question: What is nothing? It always pissed me off. I’d picture that nothing would be just black. A black space that wasn’t a space at the same time. But now I knew that nothing was white.
And it was cold.
I rubbed the sleeves of my jacket as I tried to warm my body. The abyss was like a vacuum. It pulled my hair towards it, and the string around my neck threatened to snap. I was standing on a ledge right now, and behind me the wall was sort of fading away. It reminded me of that portal to oblivion―except for the fact that this thing was huge. I tried to make my way to the stairs, but I slipped and slammed into the ground, hard.
Then I felt the Lunarmancer take a hold of my body. It wasn’t gradual, and this time there was no pain. The loss of control was instant. I rose confidently, staring down the white abyss. It was flickering back into a basement, but the force pulling me was still prominent. “Forces weaker than you, Rahthr, have been closer to ending my life. You won’t even get close.” The words were random to me, but nonetheless, I growled them with something close to malice.
And then I was in a living room. Gone was the pull, gone was the white nothing. It was all calm. I fell back into a light brown couch, panting as I thought about what had just happened. It felt like I’d just Jumped. I heard steps from the hallway and sat stock-still. Glowing pink eyes peered out from the darkness at about the height of my waist. There was this piercing pain behind my eyes and I instantly knew that the owner of these eyes was a Guardian. I didn’t know how, but I just knew.
They passed over me. I tried to look at the person with my lion eyes, but something was shrouding them. Suddenly there was light in a fireplace behind me. Everything was illuminated, and I shifted my eyes in the split second that the firelight showed who Pink Eyes was.
A little kid, about seven stared at me with wide rosy orbs. He opened his mouth to speak, but didn’t.
“Quentin?” A female voice came from the top of the stairs. I stayed where I was as a beautiful woman came into view.
She had tan skin and dark hair. Soft pink lips under a slightly upturned nose. Her face was dusted with fading freckles, and her eyes… They were light blue crystals, boring into me. I instantly knew that she was the Oracle. It wasn’t a feeling, like with Esmer, but a fact, like with the kid―Quentin. She wore a flowing white dress that hugged every curve of her body and her dark hair hung down, cascading over her shoulder like a river. I was stunned to be honest. The Realm had so many beautiful women and average looking guys―it kind of put males at a disadvantage.
The Oracle paused at the doorway leading into the living room, mouth half open. It looked like she was the only one that I’d met who had no idea who I was. It was kind of refreshing.
Until I dumbly said, “Whoa, I thought you’d be an old hag.”
She blinked, and Quentin smiled. The Oracle made a movement in the air, and suddenly she held a solid stick. She cocked her head and I was pulled up from the couch and towards her. I couldn’t control myself. I was two feet away from her now. She sneered and reeled back.
“Ah, shit―please―”
Crack! My fourth bruise this week, right on my cheek. I growled and fell to my knees, holding my cheek. People were crazy here!
Ridge, you guys can come in here. I found the Oracle.
☽
When the others came, I asked Ridge to heal my injuries. He did and I sighed as the pain faded. When Wren caught sight of the Oracle, I saw something pass between them that I couldn’t let go. A sort of reproachful gleam in their eyes.
“Hey,” I said. “What was that?”
The Oracle arced and eyebrow at me before turning to the ice elemental. “Daughter? Care to explain why this boy believes that he can speak like this in my presence?”
“Daughter? Wait, so when we were in Cano, you weren’t lying to the guy? You actually are the daughter of the Oracle?”
Wren nodded slowly, glaring at the Oracle. I imagined that if Esmer were still here, she’d be a little jealous. She wasn’t the closest one to the Oracle anymore. It was only my group here. We were sitting in the living room, me looking outside of the window as Ridge explained our little problem. The Moon was still out, and when I looked at the others, I saw that their eyes were drooping. Kate had already passed out on the couch that I’d been on. I’d transferred to the rocking chair when Wren entered.
The Oracle shook her head as Ridge finished. “Guardian, stop calling me, Oracle. I am Seraphina. That is all. And I suppose that I can help…if you give me the Sun Guardian’s nemesis and sister’s blood.”
I stood up. Obviously I was the Kade’s nemesis. “Yeah, uh, that isn’t gonna happen. I don’t like needles, and I also don’t like the idea of giving my blood to anyone, so…”
Pandora was more alert than ever, aiming her bow and an arrow at Seraphina. “Why don’t you take that request, roll it up real small, and stick it right up your―”
“Hey, let’s not get too angry. Is there anything else that we can give you?” I interrupted. I put my hand over Pandora’s, pushing the bow down as the Oracle mulled it over.
Note-to-Self; have a talk with Pandora about pointing arrows at annoying people.
Finally, she answered. “I’ll need to think about it. Quentin, lead them over to Toob’s side of the manor. Then I want you in bed.”
The little boy nodded and led us up the stairs. I stayed back and carried Kate. As I was leaving, Seraphina touched my bicep, sending chills all over my body. She gazed into my eyes. “Destiny is no myth. It is fact, it is the thing that holds the worlds together.” The only thing that kept me from giving a witty retort was the fact that Seraphina could help save my mother. She must have sensed this because she sighed and rolled her eyes. Then she kissed me, not on the lips, on the cheek. My breath caught as I felt how warm she was. It was like touching the sand on a hot day. She pulled back and turned to a spot behind me. I turned as well and saw Wren. Dipping my head, I walked past Wren, climbed up the stairs and entered a hallway. Only at the top of the steps did I realize something.
I’d never told Seraphina that destiny was a myth.
Kate stirred in my arms and I grinned as she murmured, “Nutella…” Personally, I hated the stuff, but she couldn’t get enough of it. The others were out of sight, so I reached out to Ridge. He sent back an image of the objects that they’d passed―the guy had an awesome memory. I found them in no time. They were in a room with four beds. I frowned and set Kate down on the one nearest to the door. “Hey, guys? I’m not sure about you, but I’m definitely not sharing a bed with anyone here.”
Pandora grinned. “Aww, but I’d love to share one with you, we could have so much fun.…”
I glared at her and she just laughed. Quentin shook his head and signaled for me and Ridge to follow. I said goodbye to Pandora before leaving the room. Ridge and I shared a look as Quentin led us into a room down the dark hall. This room had a bunk bed. Before entering the room, I looked down the hallway. It ended with double doors. I wondered what was in there.
Shrugging off the curiosity, I entered the room, tossing my bag onto the top bed. “I call top!”
Ridge stifled a groan, grumbling something incoherent as I climbed the ladder that led to my bed. “You will rue the day, Lumen. Trust me.”
I chuckled, taking off my gear. Quentin gazed up at me and then walked away. He closed the door behind us, bathing us in darkness. Soon, Ridge began to snore. But I just lay there. I thought about my Lunarmancy situation. It was really becoming a problem.
The scary thing was, I’d have to give up a part of myself to fix it. And I really didn’t want to do that.