The door creaked open and Xuri entered, accompanied by the same two students she brought with her to the woods. She offered a tight smile as she entered, the mirth not quite reaching her eyes. “I’m glad to see you have awakened. That was quite a harrowing adventure you had us on.” She paused, gaging my response.
“I’m glad to have made it through.”
Xuri paced the side of my bed, strategically thinking through her next words. “We scanned the rest of your body for other Surveille parasites. Thankfully there was nothing else related to death magic coursing through your blood, or implanted beneath your skin. But someone with death magic put that parasite into your neck.” An involuntary shiver skittered down my spine. “We know who you are. So, what I say next should stay in this room, and not be relayed elsewhere.” Her eyebrow arched in a silent challenge, untrusting. She stopped her pacing and faced me, her students stood back, observing.
“I am the Prime Oracle here. I have helped lead the rebellion since its inception. The General wanted to be rid of you as soon as you recovered. And while I don’t fault him that, I would like to get a glimpse of who you were and what you will be. I assume since you fought against the dreki, you might have compromised your own mission, which leads me to believe Haluma will not receive you with open arms. Do I assume correctly?”
I stared down at my hands which had become clammy with every mounting statement Xuri spoke. My words formed slowly. The reality of my actions remained difficult to process. “Yes. I did not follow through with my orders as planned. I am sure my future in Haluma will be short-lived if I do return.” I envisioned the walls closing in, my magic being drained. My choices were indeed limited; it was no use pretending otherwise.
Xuri nodded. She edged closer to the bed to address me. “Then you don’t have many options. If you would permit me, I would like to use my power to glean a vision for you. It might get you the leverage you need to gain a second chance with the General, seeing as how you put a cherished member of our community at risk. He isn’t used to offering them, but my input may sway him. It could also damn you.” Her gaze searched me. “Are you willing?”
I reached for the glass of water that had been left on my side table. I gripped it, willing it to stabilize me. Fear and lingering dehydration parched my mouth. I gulped the water down, the fluid splitting around the hard lump in my throat. Steeling myself for whatever outcome awaited, I gave my consent.
Chapter Nineteen
THE GENERAL
Sweat mingled with the agitation on my brow.
Sching. I clenched the hilts of my longswords, sweeping them in controlled arcs toward Finn. I needed this outlet, and Finn was my strongest opponent. Neither of us went easy on the other.
He spun, easily avoiding my blades, then lunged toward me. My elbow made satisfying contact with his chest. He grunted with the force.
Xuri asked me to stay away until she viewed Ruin’s life threads. She knew where to find me when she was done. I had been sparring for most of the morning, and my restlessness crept into my combat. Finn delivered a swift punch to my shoulder. I turned to find his weapons lifted and a self-assured, if tired, smile. We both heaved from our exertion.
“Water break.”
Finn nudged me as I bent over to grab my canteen from the ground. I glanced in the direction he gestured toward and straightened at the sight of Xuri coming our way.
I jogged over to meet her, the canteen forgotten. “What did you find out?”
She silently led the way to a nearby bench. My arms crossed taut across my body. The last several days had sat heavy on me, one that sparring relieved, though barely. The suspense of Rue’s recovery left me tightly coiled. Even my jaw wasn’t immune. A light breeze ruffled across the fields as we sat down.
“May I show you?” The transfer of her visions to others was a newer skill. I’d hoped this time I wasn’t left with a pounding skull.
I shifted toward her and nodded, waiting, teeth gritted in anticipation. Xuri placed her palms flush against my temples and shut her eyes.
My mind exploded in an assault of visions. Light flashed. Emotions seared. Images flared in vivid color as if projected in front of me. I sped along a thread—both strong and delicate. Lilac hair, a stone room, the dripping of blood. Angry fists, sparring fields, inner conflict. A friendship deeply forged, sinister reptilian eyes, a desire for home. An unmoored ship, searching. Grief that made me double over.
Then the thread split into several strands. Many futures. One stood out, thicker than the rest, and I followed it. I coursed down a magenta thread. Xuri’s power coaxed it to reveal its secrets. Softening, it released hazy images of a gathered army, destruction, a glowing cure. A tether. Thick desire and depthless love thrummed through me. My breath caught, and I centered myself amidst the overwhelm as the vision sped on. Healing. Death. A catastrophic loss. Consuming darkness. Then, a veil shifting into brilliant starlight. A kaleidoscope of colors consumed my mind, shifting and merging. I gasped for air, groping in the ether. Then abruptly, it ceased.
My eyes jerked open. I gripped the stone bench beneath me, seeking balance. Xuri’s rich, brown eyes remained glazed as she slowly came back to herself.
She cleared her throat, then placed her hand on my shoulder. “I think she might be the key. She knows about things we do not. And those images…” Her hand dropped to her lap as she gazed toward the Auren Mountains. “I think she can find the cure.”
I tensed at her words.
“You know I wouldn’t try to sell false hope. And she can’t go back to Haluma. You could help her see what’s really going on; she might be open to it.”
I frowned toward the ground, tasting the veracity of her words. “Does this align with what your mother foretold?”
“She doesn’t fit the profile, but looks can change. Maybe she’s the one foretold, maybe they’re two different people. But what I saw in her life threads… I really think she’s the one we’ve been waiting for.”
“Is she trustworthy? Or could this be a double-cross type situation? Something to make it look like she defected, but truly didn’t?” I needed more than sketchy reassurances that moving forward with Rue wouldn’t implode everything we had worked for. Visions were open to interpretation, after all.
“I wondered the same thing at first. But after my vision, and seeing her reaction to the news of the Surveille parasite, I believe it to be authentic. Perhaps you should speak with her and judge for yourself. And… I gave her a vision of my memories as well.”
My eyes widened at her disclosure.
