“Will you help us now?” I asked, hoping that she wouldn’t just vanish thanks to Aisha’s blunt tongue.
She smiled faintly at me.
“There is no more help to be given, but I see that you won’t understand that. I will come to see your tribe, human. There is gray there…I can’t see clearly. Some things have not been decided.”
What does that mean?
“About the entity? Will we win the battle?” I asked eagerly.
“You can ‘win’, as you say. If nothing changes from the current course of action. But I see that you are resourceful. You took the flowers my parents created for me—the ones that I used to create the stones. That was clever.”
“So you don’t know?” I clarified. What was the point of an Oracle if they couldn’t predict anything?
“The future is flexible; it changes as the wind does. There is nothing sure in this life except perhaps the passing of time, and even that is malleable…” She sighed with contentment, as if that fact pleased her greatly for some reason.
“But you’ll come back with us?” I asked, wanting to get back to a conversation that made even the slightest bit of sense.
“Yes, but like I say, it is too late.”
I looked at the rest of the team. They shrugged, no one really knowing what to say. Aisha rolled her eyes.
“Horatio and I will travel back with her,” she snapped.
I took one last look at the Oracle before stepping into the arms of Sky. She looked nervous, and I wondered if her reaction was due to the possibility of coming face-to-face with the entity, or GASP.
I supposed we would soon find out.
Hazel
Ash, Ruby and I were waiting by the barriers when Sherus arrived. He looked pale and exhausted, perspiration forming at the hairline of his copper waves, his clear amber eyes troubled.
“Derek sent me,” he stated. “They’re waiting for you back at the cove. The entity and the ghoul queen have departed through the portal—we are afraid that Tejus’s vision is beginning. We need to leave for Earth and the In-Between.”
“Is Tejus okay?” I asked.
“No casualties, though Lethe was injured. But I believe he’ll survive.”
“We’re ready to move,” Ash said.
We were. Ever since Lucas had passed along the message, Ash had been ensuring that GASP, the guards and the ministers were as well armed as they could be. We had sent Azaiah, Blue and Rock to the Impartial Ministers’ monastery to collect more of the water. Sixteen guards now had barrels strapped to their backs, full of the deadly liquid.
The children and the villagers would be marching down to the cove with us. It was too dangerous to leave them in the palace—if they had a chance to escape through the portal, they should be allowed to take it. Otherwise, if we failed, they would be left in Nevertide at the mercy of the entity. We had given some of the older kids weapons, and they had vowed to protect the younger ones. The villagers were all fully armed too, more ready and willing to fight to the death than we’d given them credit for. The rage they’d expressed toward Tejus when the first earthquakes had struck was now entirely focused on the entity and his armies. They wanted their freedom, and they were willing to pay the price.
We started to march, the dragons and the Hawks flying ahead along with the ministers who were using vultures, and the rest of us either running or riding on bull-horses. I wondered how we were all going to travel through the portal, and hoped that we had enough witches and jinn to pull it off. If Tejus’s vision was correct, then we’d be traveling to multiple places within Europe—along with a journey to the In-Between.
“Are you ready?” Ruby asked me as we rode out of the barriers.
“Hell, yeah,” I replied. “I want us to end this today. I want to go home…” The word caught in my throat, physically choking me. It had been so long. I would have thought that having all my loved ones around me would totally eradicate any feelings of homesickness, but it wasn’t the case. I missed the familiar smells, my own bed—the peaceful waters, the redwoods, the lake, everything.
“Homesick?” Ruby asked gently.
“Yeah,” I replied. “You?”
She looked over at Ash, riding on the other side of her. She turned back to me, her eyes soft and thoughtful.
“Not as much as I thought I’d be.”
I nodded. I got it. I gave my bull-horse a gentle kick. If Ash and Ruby were going to stay in Nevertide and make it their home, then I was going to make damned sure that there wasn’t a shadow, a ghoul or an entity in sight.
When we reached the top of the cove, I caught sight of Tejus up ahead, and my heart leapt. Even from this distance I could see that he looked exhausted—he looked like a panther after a hunt, waiting to go off somewhere and lick his wounds. Ignoring the rest of the army behind me, I veered away from the procession and rode up to him. The bull-horse had barely come to a stop before I jumped off, launching myself in his arms. He grabbed me fiercely, his strength taking the breath from my body. There was so much that I wanted to say to him in that moment, some sentiment that would let him know that I loved him with everything I had, but I just couldn’t find the words. I pushed my feelings toward him, lights and colors that painted them better than I could speak them. He rested his forehead against mine, letting his own thoughts and emotions flow back into me, everything swirling together in technicolor.