My vision started to blur, and I hastily wiped at my eyes. Refocusing on where I was standing, I realized I was on the edge of a cliff, perilously close to the edge. Crouching down, ignoring the biting cold of the wind that whipped around me, I crawled forward, trying to see what lay over the side.
Directly beneath me was another cliff edge, and beyond that, nothing but darkness. I turned my attention back to the second ledge, where there was a bright light coming from beneath a large slab of stone. From my vantage point, I couldn’t understand what the construction was, but the light was enough that I could see a small path leading down to the second level. Shuffling backward from the edge, I turned toward the left, where I could see the start of the path. As I moved off the rock, I felt soft grass beneath my feet, wet with dew. I moved slowly along the path, suddenly in no hurry to get where I was going, still entranced by the sky and its glinting stars, enjoying the cool of the night.
As I approached the light, I realized that the slab of stone I’d seen from above was supported by columns, and in the middle of the structure was a large glass sphere where the light was emanating from. The grass of the pathway ended, and I was back walking on rock, making my way toward the sphere. I started to hurry as I saw a figure floating inside it.
The Oracle.
Her white hair streamed out behind her while her frail body appeared to float about in mid-air, until I realized that the sphere was full of water. She turned to face me, those impossibly pale blue eyes meeting mine.
“Vita.” She whispered my name, and like the time she’d reached out to me in the bathroom mirror, I heard her voice inside my head, disorientating me completely so I almost stumbled and fell flat across the ground. Regaining my balance, I rushed forward, reaching out to touch the glass of her prison.
“Can you hear me?” I asked urgently, looking around to see if I could use something to break the glass. Before she could reply, footsteps came from behind me. Both the Oracle and I turned in the direction of the sound, and my friends, led by the Druid, rushed down the footpath that I’d used only seconds earlier.
Before they could reach us, a horrifying scream split through the air. I yelled out, putting my arms up to stop the Druid and everyone else approaching, but they couldn’t see me. Out of the darkness, the Destroyers rose up from the abyss over the side of the cliff, their horses screeching and snorting as the Destroyers raised their spears.
“Stop!” I cried out, running toward the others.
The Druid turned to face the creatures, shoving Serena behind him as he did so. Field flew up into the air, wielding two swords, their blades aimed directly at the Destroyers. One of them threw his spear. It missed the Druid by inches, but then Serena screamed. I turned to her, running as quickly as I could to reach her. The Druid moved forward to attack, and I saw Jovi, held up by Serena, a spear protruding from his chest.
I woke up in the ice-cold tub, screaming.
Aida
[Victoria and Bastien’s daughter]
I clamped my eyes shut, hoping for oblivion to come as quickly as possible. I couldn’t stand the cold of the water a second longer; it felt like my whole body had been frozen rigid, while my blood boiled in fury and frustration, wanting out. Wanting never to have agreed to this dumb, dangerous idea.
Please…please, make it stop!
It felt like an eternity until my prayers were answered, though in reality it had probably only been a couple of seconds before a slow heat burned its way through me, my body’s tremors and shakes subsiding.
I opened my eyes, discovering that the basement had been replaced by dense and colorful jungle. I inhaled deeply—the humid, hot air was better than the musty staleness of the house—and looked around me.
I wasn’t alone.
The vision had placed me in the center of a clearing, and everywhere I looked I could see men, standing around in small groups, all with the silvery skin of the incubus. In all honesty, it was a bit like wandering backstage at a catwalk show at a men’s fashion week. There were men who must have been older than seventy (by human standards) present, but they were so inhumanly beautiful, their age appeared to add to their beauty, not detract from it. I started to move around, quickly realizing that I was invisible to them, and tried to listen in to some of their conversations. I was also curious as to why there weren’t any women around…was this some kind of army regiment? They were all wearing the same military-style clothing that Bijarki wore, so perhaps my guess was correct.
I sidled up to the nearest group, daring to take a seat by one of the oldest-looking incubi there. His hair was wild and unkempt, with ropes of different colored beads hanging from his neck. The top he wore was stained with mud and sweat, his boots so worn the soles looked like they would fall to pieces with the next step he took.