“I will need to study… and record your vision to compare against my notes on my own dreams as I look for the next apex for you.”
She wanted to go now. She wanted him to have the answers immediately, and Vi shifted from foot to foot in an effort to let out some of the restless energy. Vi let out a deep sigh, trying to let go of the strange tremors rippling through her.
“Are you afraid?” Taavin cut through her racing thoughts.
“What? No.” Vi folded her hands before her to keep them still.
“You should be. Only a fool wouldn’t be.”
“I—”
“Go and rest now, Vi. I have work to do.” He vanished.
Vi stared at where Taavin had just stood. “Are you happy to have the last word?” Vi mumbled at the thin air, before turning and leaving.
Dark gods, plagues, fate… Vi was wrapped up in her thoughts as she slowly made her way back through the fortress. For the first time in her life, Vi felt small.
There was a red flash in the darkness, nearly identical to what she had seen the night she’d snuck out. Vi looked up, pulled back to reality, and squinted into the dark. Her exhaustion had vanished entirely, heart racing.
Her feet stopped halfway across the walkway she’d been traversing. She was frozen still by the silhouette of a figure blocking the path forward.
Vi narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out if the person was male or female. Male… probably, she decided, based on the broadness in his shoulders. The wind rustled the trees above her, the light catching on his eyes again, and Vi’s breath caught in her throat with a strangled choke.
Distinctly red eyes set on ghostly pale skin were narrowed directly at her.
He had a similar jaw line to Taavin’s, a narrow bridge to his nose, and Vi knew if she peeled back the man’s hood she’d see pointed ears. She’d seen creatures of this type before, recently, even. But never standing in the present.
Her whole body went icy.
“Wh-who are you?” Vi whispered, struggling to keep her voice level. She hated the weak quiver that caught the beginning of the first word.
The man unsheathed a narrow dagger. It had the same markings on the side as the one the leader of the acolytes had held in her vision—the elfin'ra. It further contributed to the surreal nature of everything happening around her. Those creatures were on another land, far away. They weren’there.
Vi took a step back, glancing over her shoulder. Her room was still three stories up. This was the most direct route… but there was an alternate if she took a shortcut through a storage hall.
“What do you want with me?” Vi whispered, debating when she needed to make her break for it.
“The champion’s blood for Lord Raspian.” The words slithered from his mouth, curling through the air with pure malice, curdling in her ears.
The man lunged for her. Vi had barely a second to react. Her hand lifted, palm outstretched between them.
“Juth!” she cried. The symbol exploded from her palm, imperfect and half-formed in her haste. It shattered under the weight of its own power mid-air, casting sparks down on either side of the walkway like the embers of a firework. But Vi didn’t have time to appreciate them.
She was already running.
Vi dashed back into the tree behind her. The elfin’ra’s footsteps were close behind. Vi made a hard left, turning for a cramped passage that led to a narrow stair. At least here there was no way he could flank her.
There was a grunt behind her right as she jumped for the stairs. Vi turned just in time to see the flash of the dagger in the dim moonlight. It narrowly missed the back of her heel. If he’d sliced the tendon, it would’ve been the end of her.
“Juth!” Vi attempted a second time.
But as she raised her hand, the elfin’ra was already speaking, preempting her motions. “Juth mariy,” he snarled.
Vi’s magic fizzled beneath her palm. In her shock, she stumbled at the top of the stair, half rolling down the narrow hall. The horrifying creature stalked closer, his red eyes piercing the darkness as easily as it pierced her soul.
“Youare the champion?” The question was a cross between shock and condescending amusement. “I am to believe you are Yargen’s chosen?”
Vi glanced to her right, where a towering shelf stood freely alongside where the man was approaching, dagger still in hand. At least, she hoped it stood freely.
