The vision vanished just as abruptly as it had come, and I was jolted to a new destination—another place on Earth, with cobbled streets and small, pretty shop windows that were twinkling. I could smell the aroma of chocolate, and hear a bell sounding in the distance. The screams sounded again, and I could hear the echo of hundreds of people running a few streets away, the shop windows shaking from the stampede.
Before I could even witness the horror of the people, I was transported again—this time to a more metropolitan destination that I recognized as London. I was by the River Thames, looking out toward Big Ben. The shadow slowly moved toward me, darkening the buildings like a huge thundercloud. A single cry went up, and I looked over to the left, watching a child crying over a fallen ice-cream. The ground started to shake beneath my feet. The child’s mother looked up, her gaze confused, then quickly turning to fear as the earth jolted.
I turned my head back toward the shadow, but it was too late. I was already being shown another vision, another city—this one I didn’t recognize immediately, but it was just as crowded as the one before. Now the vision was starting to flicker and blur, and I thought my time in Tejus’s head was up.
I could feel our bond weakening, but before it did I saw another place, certainly not on Earth. This one was impossibly beautiful, with a large white-stone fortress in front of me, and leaping ice-fire fountains marking the way to the door of the castle. I heard a roar—loud and inhuman, one that shook my bones, making my entire body tremble. I shut my eyes against it, not wanting to see anymore. The next moment, I was back in the room, pushing Tejus away from me.
“That was horrible,” I rasped, leaping up from the bed.
“I know,” he replied quietly.
I realized why he hadn’t wanted to share it with me. It wasn’t what I’d seen exactly that was so terrifying, though that was bad enough, but more what I’d felt. I’d been so helpless to do anything except acknowledge the crushing force of the entity—knowing, with every fiber of my being, that it was coming, but that I would be able to do nothing. That we had already lost.
“It’s showing us, isn’t it? It’s showing us how powerful it is. That… that we’re already too late?” I stammered my question to Tejus, my heart beating erratically. I paced up and down the room, my arms clutched tight around my frame.
“Hazel, stop.” Tejus threw back the covers. “Get back into bed. You need to calm down; this isn’t helping anyone.”
His words felt harsh, but he was right—I was starting to get hysterical and panic. I took a deep breath, trying to regulate my heartbeat. I walked slowly back to the bed, and climbed in. Tejus drew me next to him.
“We’ll go down and speak to Derek in a minute,” he assured me.
His arms wrapped around me, and I lay with my head against his chest. He felt so solid and comforting, further aiding my return to reality.
“I recognized some of those places,” I whispered. “London, Paris—that was the one with the lawns and the big tower in the distance—and I think one of them was on a planet in the In-Between. Something about it reminded me of the fae…but I’m not sure what, exactly.”
“Will the others know?” he asked.
“Yeah, I think so. Most of GASP have traveled the world over. I just hope I can describe them well enough—the visions are so disjointed.”
Tejus was silent, his fingers methodically running down the length of my hair.
“If they are visions, and they come from the entity, why is it showing them to us?” he mused, sighing.
“I guess to taunt us? They had that kind of feel to them, like the powerlessness—I got the impression we were being shown something we couldn’t stop.”
“Did you feel anything else—like an energy…that didn’t belong to you or me?” he asked tentatively.
“Do you mean the same as when we built the barrier? I don’t know—it was strange, but I put that down to being a nightmare, of sorts.”
He fell silent again, and I wondered what he was thinking.
“You’re right,” he agreed eventually, “it was probably that. Let’s go and speak to your grandfather. We need to warn the rest of them.”
I slid off the bed, with some reluctance. I got the impression that Tejus was holding something back from me—a thought or idea. I didn’t push him though. He was right. GASP needed to know what was coming.
Benedict
When we reached the end of the poppy field, there was more forest waiting for us. I groaned inwardly. I’d had enough of battling my way through trees and brambles and narrowly avoiding falling into bogs. I could see why none of the sentries ventured up here. If the creatures weren’t going to get you, then the plants probably would.