The guards remain on our heels until we reach his room. Once the door closes, he peels off his traveling cloak and pulls out an old leather book from behind his back.
“A book! Wait!” I choke.“Is that for The Great Library of Ishmor? Please tell me it’s not.” Stealing from the library is a high crime.
“No one saw me.”
Which means he used his time-weaving magic.
“Everett,” I step closer to look at the book’s title. The letters on the front used to be gilded, but the foil has been worn off, creating an outline as speckled as the night sky. He hugs the title to his chest, but not before I read it.“What’s the curse of Caldara?”
“Nothing,” he waves me off.
“What do you mean, nothing?” I lower my voice.“You stole a book from the great library, so it is not nothing.”
“My words are true. The Kingdom of Caldara is nothing now. It’s a grave. No one returns to clean gravestones, Selene. No one will miss this book,” he replies as he turns and walks to his bookshelf.
“You’re hiding it here, out in the open?” I deadpan as he slides it onto a shelf.
“If I hide it anywhere else, Sable would seek it out. Some treasures are best hidden under your nose.”
“Why would Sable want that book?”
“I told you, Sable seeks everything.” He walks to his bench and pulls off his riding boots. Sand begins to shake loose. Wait, why is the sand a deep orange hue? That is not from our shores, or Ishmor.
Unless he didn’t portal directly from Ishmor to here. Where did you go?
His fingers become red as he tugs his laces with force. Without bothering to change, he just slips on his formal boots. Walking to the sink, he splashes his face.“Everything is happening as I saw it.” He looks into the mirror, studying his haunted stare.
You don’t look relieved. Shouldn’t you be happy if this is the ending you seek?
“Then stop it,” I whisper. I sense a great dread chasing us all.
“I told you, if I stop, we all die. Every single person, Selene. Look what’s already passed. Dragons have died; their riders. Humans will be next, then mages, vampires, and fae. Someone ripped away the balance, and we must restore it.”
“Dragons? I inhale sharply.“Dragons died because their riders forgot the beasts were wild. They are uncontrollable. Men hunted them down to stop them from burning down their cities.”
“Why, Selene?” he shouts so passionately that the tips of his pointed ears redden.
He keeps his back to me as he stares me down through the mirror.
“Why did dragon riders lose the ability to control them? Because someone ripped away the runes. That is what I am trying to fix. Dragon riders used to control dragons. Humans used to be able to defend against magical attacks. There was a level of fear that kept people calm because we all knew everyone had a defense.”
He grabs a towel and dries his hands.“Now we don’t. Humans have to barter their inventions to get respect. Mages must sell their enchanted objects to stave off the fae, and don’tget me started on the false sense of power faes and vampires fight over.
“We fight for metal crowns and ink on paper that hands over the rights of land. We fight for objects when we should fight for the safety of flesh.”
I step back, keeping a distance. I’ve never seen him so… desperate.“You don’t have to be the one to fix this. Let others,” I plead.
“Others?” he questions with disappointment.“Selene, if I see a crime and do nothing to stop it, then I am no better than the aggressor. My actions might be no more than a drop in the water, but I would rather die knowing I tried to help instead of sitting on the sidelines, praying I stay alive so I can sell a book of tales about what I witnessed. I am no coward.”
“I never said you were,” I breathe.
He cast his eyes down into the drain of the sink.“There is a darkness coming, Selene; I have seen it.”
A tremor ripples over his skin, then jumps onto me.
“Beasts are being born as we speak,” he continues.“Monsters so terrifying that even a dragon would hesitate. They will claim us all if we do not unite, and the only way we can do so is with runes. I have seen a future where we conquer them, Selene. We still bicker and fight, but like a family, we’re united. We train together and form armies to hunt down these creatures. But I have also seen a future where the monsters rule, a future I will never speak of.”
“Stop!” I stomp forward.“You are going in circles. Everett, you mention things long dead. You sound mad! Now you talk of dragons and riders, armies and monsters?”I desperately grasp his face.“Please stop whatever this is. Let’s seek an elder. Tell them about your foresight. There must be a way to stop it. To soothe your mind.”
