"Little Praestes," she greets me, her voice like wind through leaves. "You come seeking answers."
"I come seeking help." The words tumble out. "In three days, they're going to try to destroy Stellan. To strip his essence, to eliminate him as a threat. And I don't know how to stop them."
Mother Nature's expression is unreadable. "Do you need to stop them? Or do you need to transform the conflict into something else entirely?"
I blink. "I don't understand."
"The hunters come because they fear the phoenix. They fear what he represents. Change, transformation, rebirth, and the end of their controlled order. But fear is just one emotion. It can be transmuted into awe, into wonder, into acceptance."
She gestures, and the air fills with visions that make my breath catch. I see myself and my five mates standing together, our essences fully manifested and harmonized. Stellan as a massive phoenix, white-gold fire blazing. Jade in full demon form, horns and wings and tail. Harlow straddling life and death. Rumi channeling divine balance. Ambrose reshaping fate with his contracts. And me at the center, binding them all together with my pink aura.
"This is what you are meant to show them," Mother Nature says. "Not control. Not suppression. But unity. Harmony. The truth that I never intended for essence to be boxed into seven neat categories."
My throat tightens. "But how do we show them that? How do we make them see?"
Mother Nature reaches into her own essence and pulls out six small crystals, each glowing with a different inner light. Pink, orange-white, purple, blue-white, gold, green. One for each of us.
"Your mates know what Stellan is. They know what you are. But they do not yet fully understand what they themselves are. These will help them see."
She hands me the crystals, and the power contained in each one hums against my palm. "Give these to them. Let them look within. Let them discover their true names, their true natures."
"What will happen?" I ask, clutching the crystals carefully.
"They are clarity. Nothing more, nothing less. Each crystal will show its bearer a vision of their complete self. Past, present, and potential future. What they do with that knowledge is their choice."
She touches my cheek gently, and her ancient approval flows through me. "You have done well, little Praestes. You have chosen love over law, connection over control, acceptance over judgment. This is what a true Praestes should be."
"But I'm scared," I admit. "I'm scared of failing them. Of losing them. Of not being strong enough when they need me."
"Fear is natural. Even I experience fear sometimes." Her voice is gentle. "But you are not alone in this, Skye. You have five mates whose essences balance and complement yours. You have students who are beginning to question, to hope, to believe. And you have me, watching, guiding, protecting in the ways that I can."
She begins to fade. "The test in three days will not go as the hunters expect. But you must trust your instincts, trust your bonds, and above all, trust that you are exactly who you are meant to be."
Before she disappears entirely, I call out, "Wait! What are they? Jade, Harlow, Rumi, Ambrose. What are their true names?"
Mother Nature's smile is enigmatic. "A demon coming into his full power. A Champion of Death who chose life. A demigod of balance, not chaos. And a Crossroads Keeper who can reshape fate itself." Her voice echoes as she fades. "But names are just words, Skye. What matters is what they choose to do with who they are."
Then she's gone.
I make my way back to my room slowly, the crystals warm in my pocket. When I open the door, I find all five of my mates have gathered there while I was gone. Stellan is curled in my bed withJade wrapped around him. Harlow sits in the window. Rumi sprawls on the floor. Ambrose is in my chair.
"Couldn't sleep?" I ask softly.
"Not when you were out there alone," Jade murmurs. "Felt weird. Wrong."
I pull out the crystals, and they catch the moonlight. "Mother Nature gave me these. One for each of us. She says they'll show us our true natures."
I distribute them carefully. Pink for me, orange-white for Stellan, purple for Jade, blue-white for Harlow, gold for Rumi, green for Ambrose.
For a long moment, we all just sit there, six mates holding glowing stones, connected by bonds that glow faintly on my skin.
Then, as one, we close our eyes and let the visions come.
10
JADE
Thepurplecrystalburnsin my hand as the vision takes hold, pulling me into memories and truths I've been avoiding for years. I see myself as I was, a scared incubus, starving myself rather than feeding properly, convinced that my hunger made me a monster.
