“I’ll take her to bed,” she whispered.
“Do you want help?”
She hesitated, something I couldn’t read flickering in her gaze as if she was wrestling with some internal debate. I got the sense she wanted to say something, though what, I had no idea.
Whatever it had been, she must have decided it wasn’t worth mentioning after all because her mouth clamped shut. She just gave a shy smile and a short nod.
I got off the couch, stretched, and followed Emma up to Grace’s room.
Chapter 19 - Emma
Several tiny water spouts swirled around the surface of the oasis, a dozen tiny vortexes of water spiraling and rising from the water. A dull ache had started in my temple as I stared intently at them, moving my hands like a puppeteer as I tried to move the spouts toward the middle of the oasis.
They moved slowly, inching toward where I wanted them to go. But one by one, each spout collapsed, leaving only three that reached the center. I willed them to merge together, but instead of combining to create a single, larger vortex, they simply mushed together until only one remained, no bigger than any of the others had been.
My head pounded, and eventually I gave up. My hands fell to my side, and the water flopped back down, stilling.
“That was useless,” I grumbled, running my fingers through my hair as I collapsed into a seated position. The heat overhead beat down on me, and sweat prickled on my forehead and the back of my neck.
“I wouldn’t say that,” a voice said from overhead.
A bottle of water appeared in front of me. I plucked it out of the hand, holding it, and glanced appreciatively at the Oracle, who was smiling warmly at me.
“You’re doing well,” the Oracle said as I guzzled half the bottle in one go.
“Not well enough,” I said through gritted teeth. I sighed as I spread out, letting my bare feet dangle in the water of the oasis.
“A week ago, you couldn’t even make a single vortex,” she commented.
A tiny vortex wasn’t going to do anything against the wraith, though, and we both knew it. I had been trying to create a large waterspout, one that could swirl around and consume the wraith, blocking it off. But every time I tried to create one that was over a foot tall, it failed. I’d hoped maybe merging the spouts together would be a sort of workaround.
“Sure, but we don’t even know how much time we have. Eventually, the sand wraith is going to attack again,” I said. “Sooner, rather than later. And it’s gotten stronger every time we’ve gone up against it. Next time is going to be no exception. If I’m not ready…” I trailed off, my throat going dry as the thoughts of what might happen if I wasn’t ready overwhelmed me. Death, destruction, grief.
“You’ll be ready,” she said, stating it in the same factual way we might talk about the weather.
“Did you see something?” I asked hopefully.
Chuckling, the Oracle shook her head. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that, though I certainly wish it did. No, I just happen to have faith in you.”
Grimacing, I muttered, “I think that your faith in me might be more than a little misplaced. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m worried I’m going to fail everyone.”
It took more effort than I would have expected to admit it. After the elders had made their doubt and dislike for me more than obvious, that desperate determination to prove myself had only intensified. And it wasn’t just that. After everything I had read, after the prophecy, after everything that had happened, it felt impossible not to feel as though the fate of the entire pack rested on my shoulders. It was a weight I had never expected to carry. I was happy to, because this was my home now, my pack. But that didn’t make the pressure of being the only plan wehad to defeat the wraith diminish in the slightest. If I made one wrong move, how many people would die?
A gentle, wrinkled hand went to my shoulder. I craned my neck to look at the Oracle, hunched over me, her kind eyes giving me some comfort.
“When the time comes, you’ll know what to do,” she said. “You’ll be ready. I have no doubt.”
For some reason, those words were more comforting than I would have expected. With a wince as my muscles groaned in protest, I got back to my feet and started again.
***
I grimaced as the aches and pains rippled through me. I never would have expected using magic would make all the muscles in my body ache in protest as if I’d just run a marathon, but there you had it.
I walked along the mesa, letting my thoughts wander, trying not to ruminate on all the difficulties and other problems plaguing me, and just thinking about whatever came to mind. Just taking a few minutes to pretend things weren’t as dire as they were.
The Oracle had released me from training about an hour earlier. I had started walking aimlessly, just wanting some peace and tranquility, somewhere I could stop worrying about all the burdens currently resting on my shoulders. I didn’t realize where I was going until I came to the crevice in the rock. It was as though the spring had called to me without my realizing, a gentle, subconscious tug that had dragged me here without my noticing.
Moving slowly through the tunnels, I let my fingers run along the cool stone, tracing the cracks and nooks nestled in the wall. The last time I had been in here, I had been desperate to save Elias, frantic with panic. I hadn’t been able to properly appreciate the tunnels for what they were: anomalies.
