“You youngsters put far too much pressure on the showy displays.” She scoffs. “Control and strength are about more than being able to do things on a large scale. Sometimes it takes more control to summon a tiny shield than it does a larger one.Smallertakes precision and patience. The elements are hard enough to control, but shadow and light are a different beast. Too often, Mages are forced to learn skills quickly, which sadly causes a lot of people to skip over learning control. You know what too much magical expenditure leads to?”
I nod. “Burnout.”
“And burnout leads to death.”
My chest tightens.
“That’s why I advise you to take some time torest. It’s equally as important as training. Study the runic symbols in case you need them when you go Outside—and remember what I’ve said about visualizing them in your mind. As for Siad Nahar, only a few are ever able to see it. There’s something mysterious about the place. Some say it calls to certain individuals.”
I sigh. “What if I’m not one of those certain individuals?”
“Then you’ll figure it out. You’re an intelligent young woman.”
“Thank you, Oksana,” I say with a smile. “For everything.”
Rising, I follow the pathway toward our house. Everyone is busy at this time of the day, and a few people cross my path. After the training session, I just need a moment to breathe before meeting with Chiyo—everything feels more overwhelming than it should.
For hours yesterday, I pored over the book from Dayfyd. It’s filled with songs and stories about the moon and dream deities, and it speaks of the symbolism of dreams. Death doesn’t always mean death, and life doesn’t always mean life. It’s all open for interpretation. The problem is that, as Dayfyd said, it’s geared toward Oracles, not toward Basduunai who dreamwalk and face very concrete, veryrealcircumstances in dreams. Mine aren’t generally symbolic … except perhaps that one dream in which I met Winnie.
I still have no answers for that.
But today, Chiyo arranged for us to meet with Ava at midday while Tiernan trains with various elemental Wielders. As much as I hate to miss him strengthening his Mimic powers, it’s important to show Ava that I can be proactive and that I don’t need anyone coddling me.
In the afternoon, as scheduled, I don’t even get to knock on the O’Haras’ door before it swings open. Ava leans against the doorframe, looking me up and down. Beside me, Chiyo seems to tense, but color rises subtly in her cheeks. I force my focus back to Ava.
“Sorry to bother you,” I automatically say.
Ava’s eyes roll. “Iagreedto meet with you. Don’t apologize for unnecessary shit.” She turns and heads inside. Beside me,Chiyo’s face contorts. With a sigh, she holds her arm out, gesturing for me to enter before her.
Ava moves through the sitting room, past the kitchen, and toward a small study. A large map is plastered against the wall, topographical elements drawn in muted reds and greens, location names labeled with copper engraving, and various route lines in black ink. It’s a rather impressive map of not just Erleya, but our neighboring countries: Caldeon, Ardall, and Uldarvik. Where Carys is.
“Alright, what did you want to meet with me about?” Ava asks as she leans against the massive desk and crosses one ankle over the other.
“I’d like to go in search of Siad Nahar,” I sign.
“You’dliketo?” Her brows cinch together.
“I need to,” I say with far less confidence than I’d like. “I know it sounds unwise given that there are people out there who want to kill me, but we need answers to the prophecy. It could help us figure out how to handle the Zenith as well, since they’re also trying to follow it.”
Ava stands upright and walks around the desk. She rummages somewhere behind it and clears a space in the center to roll out a large, yellowed parchment. The edges try to curl in, but Chiyo plucks two daggers from somewhere on her person and lays them flat on either side of the map to anchor it to the desk. It closely resembles the map on the wall, but it’s more detailed and focuses solely on Erleya.
“We are here,” Ava signs before pointing to a swampy area across the northern coast of Erleya.
“Carys said that Siad Nahar is all the way to the northeast,” I tell her.
Ava moves her finger to the east where bogland abruptly ends, replaced by forest. There’s a winding river nestled between forests and mountains near the coast. A winding river that lookslike a serpent. “This region is unlabeled,” Ava motions. “Do you think …?”
There’s a strange certainty that comes over me as I stare at the winding river. I gently trace it with the tip of my finger. There seems to be nothing around it but forests and mountains. “I think so,” I reply. I look at Ava again whose lips are twisted in thought.
Chiyo’s eyes go wide. “Does that mean we can go straight through the Verge and right into Siad Nahar?” she signs.
Frowning, Ava shakes her head firmly. “The bogland at the edge of the Verge is … let’s say, poisonous. There is no land—only water, and it’s essentially acid and cannot be touched by magic. Myth has it that it was a protective measure erected by the gods. If you believe that kind of thing. But I suppose if it’s right at the edge of Siad Nahar, perhaps there’s something to it.”
A chill trickles down the back of my neck. I squint at the map, trying to follow the path from the Verge. “We’ll have to go through the mountains, it looks like?” My eyes flick up to Ava.
“Correct,” she says. “Through Diadun, and that may be the only village we cross. The rest is wildlands, it seems.”
Another chill cuts through me.
