Reflection: Harbinger of the Phoenix (Records of the Ohanzee Book 2)

by Rachel R. Smith

  Beside her, Raysel was muttering exclamations under his breath. “This does seem to be an authentic antique,” Nerissa said.

  “Have you read what this prophecy actually says?” he asked, sounding incredulous.

  “Not yet,” she replied. “First, I was trying to determine whether it was newly written or not.”

  “It’s definitely genuine,” he said. He rubbed his arm as if he had goosebumps. “There’s no way anyone else could know some of the things that are written here.”

  Intrigued, Nerissa turned her attention to the prophecy itself.

  In the time of King Gared, the seer Argia had a vision. Her vision was recorded and hidden within the covers of six books, where it will remain concealed until the time when it is meant to be read. When that time arrives, the cover of this book will become soaked with water and these writings will be revealed.

  The first part of the vision is as follows: One day Renatus will be divided into two nations, each equal, but opposite. In the days of this new world, the Destroyer of Peace will assume power. His ambition is to guide the future of the entire land. That fate belongs not to him, but instead to the One that will finish the work that King Gared started.

  The Destroyer is a creator by nature, and he fosters prosperity with his skill and vision. His ambition grows to consume him and blinds him to the betrayal perpetrated by those he trusts most. The Destroyer will slay the Peaceful Ruler and claim her throne. In doing so, he will set the events in motion that will ultimately result in both kingdoms becoming nothing more than a memory.

  The Destroyer will fulfill his wish to rule Renatus, and even the memory of the Peaceful Ruler will be erased. But there is still One who can alter the course of the future. That person, the One who is no more, the One who has become another, the One who was seen before, the Reflection, will appear from the shadows.

  The crystal embedded in the spine of this book will glow when touched by the One.

  The rest of the text went on to explain that the diagrams below the note were for a machine. When assembled, the machine would be able to decode books that had been stored inside the accompanying crystals. Those diagrams had also been divided into six parts with one being included with each section of the prophecy.

  Nerissa’s eyebrows rose as she read about the Peaceful Ruler being slain and the Destroyer claiming her throne. That certainly could apply to their current situation, but those events were common knowledge. The line about even the memory of the Peaceful Ruler being erased could refer to Casimer’s destruction of the memorial stones. But that was still something anyone would know.

  Upon reading the description of the Reflection, a cold, prickling sensation began to crawl up Nerissa’s arms and across the back of her neck. “That’s me,” she whispered, momentarily unable to draw enough breath to continue.

  Raysel nodded. “Yes. It describes you and your situation so accurately that it’s eerie.”

  “I only told five people about that dream,” Nerissa said. “There’s no way anyone else could have known where that reference came from.”

  “If that isn’t convincing enough, it says here that the crystal will identify the One by glowing when they touch it.” Raysel moved his finger farther down the page to show Nerissa the specific line. “That means this prophecy was meant for you.”

  A cloud passed in front of the moon, briefly sending the room into darkness. If their interpretation of the prophecy was correct, the last line was a warning that Casimer’s actions had set into motion events that would ultimately bring about the end of civilization. Nerissa already felt a personal sense of urgency to take back control of Chiyo. Now, it seemed that Casimer’s actions were putting the future of all of Renatus in danger.

  Beside them, Shae was wringing her hands nervously. “Our intention in coming here was to search for the other five books, in the hope that they would provide additional insight about the One described in the prophecy. We didn’t find any books with crystals in their spines, but, we found you instead. And somehow, you seem to know quite a lot about us, but Desta and I don’t know anything about you.”

  “The play will be ending soon, so our time is running short. We can discuss who we are and how we came to be here tonight in detail elsewhere,” Raysel answered. “Will you come with us? It seems that working together is in our mutual interest.”

  The white-haired young man phrased his question as an invitation, but Shae suspected that he would not have accepted no as an answer. Still, though she knew neither who these men were, nor their reason for following them to the Library tonight, the brown-haired one was definitely the person the prophecy identified. Shae had no choice but to trust that this was how events were meant to transpire and it would not lead her and her daughter to harm.

  Chapter 4

  A Common Goal

  Shae and Desta trailed behind the two men as they made their way through the main part of the library and crept along an exterior wall until they reached an unmarked door. The white-haired man drew a key from his pocket, and a moment later, they stepped through to find a horse-drawn coach waiting for them.

  “Go ahead and get in,” he instructed. “Since we’re dressed as servants, we will be riding in the back.”

  The short man who helped them into the carriage looked vaguely familiar though Shae couldn’t quite place him. She climbed inside and perched on the edge of the cushioned seat beside Desta. Though there was plenty of space for them to spread out, they huddled together, shoulder to shoulder.

  “Did you notice he was one of the two men we saw in the lobby earlier?” Desta asked.

  “So that’s why I thought I had seen him before,” Shae replied. “Could these people have been following us even then?”

  In the middle of Shae’s sentence, the door swung open, and the two women from the lobby stepped inside. They dropped onto the opposite seat with identical flounces. Their skirts poufed out around them, spanning the width of the carriage and filling every inch of the space between the two benches. The layers of frills and lace rose up so high that the two women appeared to be nothing more than puffs of fabric with heads.

  “Why do dresses have to be so dreadfully hot?” the blonde one whined.

  The question seemed rhetorical, so Shae’s only response was a sympathetic smile.

  The brunette snapped her fan closed. “I’m just glad that we don’t have to wear these all the time,” she said.

  The blonde fluttered her fan even faster and returned Shae’s smile. “The answer to your earlier question is yes. We were following you.”

  “How did you know about our plans ahead of time?” Shae asked.

  “The answer to that will have to wait until we reach our destination,” the two women responded at the same time.

  “Can you at least tell us where we’re going now?” Shae asked.

  The brunette flicked her fan open again. “We are taking you to an inn not far from here, where we and our associates have rooms.”

  And so, a short time later, Shae and Desta found themselves sitting on a sofa across from the two women. Their room was actually a spacious suite on the top floor of one of the larger inns in Niamh. The door to the adjoining room swung open, and the four men joined them.

  “You can go change now,” the white-haired man said to the two women as soon as he stepped through the doorway.

  “How can we change without one of our servants to help us undress?” the blonde replied. She batted her lashes innocently.

  The white-haired man sighed. “Aren’t you taking the act a bit far?”

  The brunette walked over and stood behind the blonde woman’s chair. “We didn’t know how long you expected us to stay in character,” she said. “It doesn’t hurt to get extra practice anyway.” She ran her fingers through the other woman’s hair as she talked. To Shae’s surprise, when she lifted her hand away, the woman’s hair came off with it. It was a wig!

  “Oh my!” the blonde exclaimed. “I seem to have lost my…h
air!” She giggled. As she did so, her voice dropped from a feminine high-pitch to a husky, masculine tone.

  “Enough, already,” the white-haired man said. He was clearly growing impatient. “Go change.”

  “Alright, alright,” the pair replied in matching deep voices.

  Desta stared at their backs as they left the room. “They aren’t really women?” she asked, bewildered.

  “No,” the white-haired man said. “Those two are Cole and Eloc. They are our disguise experts—and they are quite good at their job, as you can see. My name is Raysel. I am in charge of this mission.”

  He pointed to the slender, brown-haired man beside him. “You already met Caeneus in the library.” Caeneus nodded politely and took a seat in the chair next to Desta.

  “You look different from before,” Desta observed.

  Caeneus pointed to his chin and nose. “Here and here, right? I used to live in Niamh, so when I am in the city, I wear prosthetics to avoid being recognized in public.”

  Raysel gestured to the tall, broad-shouldered man and then to the shortest member of their group. “This is Jarold and Leal.” Jarold also nodded before crossing the room to stand near the hallway door. Leal lifted a hand in acknowledgement and pulled a stool over to sit by the window.

  Now that she knew their names, Shae felt it was only proper to introduce herself. “I am Shae, and this is my daughter Desta,” she said. “But it seems that you already know that.”

  “Indeed, we do,” Raysel replied. He sat down across from Shae in the chair Eloc had been sitting in earlier. “Thank you for coming here with us. I hope that we can count on your continued cooperation.”

  Shae folded her hands in her lap. She was starting to relax, but the swords each of the men carried still made her feel wary. “I would like to help you, but I don’t know anything about your group or your intentions.”

  “We are equally uncertain about your intentions,” Caeneus said. “The prophecy you showed us has implications that could affect all of Renatus. The warning it gives should not be ignored. With that information, we may be able to prevent the disaster it predicts—especially if I am the One it describes. Let’s be as open with each other as possible, get past our uncertainties, and work together.” Something in the tone of Caeneus’ voice made the last sentence seem more like a command than a suggestion.

  Raysel stared at the floor in front of him and tapped one heel against the leg of his chair. “As always, Caeneus, you make an excellent point,” he finally said. He turned toward Shae and Desta again. “We are members of a group that opposes Casimer, and we are working to find a way to restore Chiyo’s independence. It should be obvious how important it is that our identities remain secret. If our work is compromised, there would be dire consequences for both ourselves and our cause.”

  “We have at least one common goal then,” Shae said. “I have actively tried to circumvent Casimer’s plans three times.” She went on to tell them about her dream, the message she sent to the capital, and Queen Echidna’s surprise visit. “Even though we couldn’t do much, everything my daughter and I did was with the desire to help the Royal Family of Chiyo. As the first person to discover the prophecy, I felt it was my responsibility to help find the One that was meant to stop Casimer.”

  Raysel tapped the side of his nose thoughtfully as he considered what direction to take the conversation next. “I am sure you’re wondering how we knew in advance that you would be at the University Library.”

  “Yes, I asked about that in the carriage on the way here,” Shae said.

  “One of our agents listened in on you and Desta as you planned your visit. They told us that you were searching for a book that contained a prophecy about Casimer. Since we were aware of Echidna’s previous visit to your home, we were unsure whether you were loyal to the throne of Chiyo or to the throne of Marise.”

  “From that perspective, I can understand your uncertainty about us,” Shae agreed. When Raysel said that she and Desta had been overheard, Shae immediately thought of Gladys. That woman knew everything that went on in the village. Shae had always thought it was simply because Gladys was a busybody, but could it be that she was actually a spy for Raysel’s group? The possibility made Shae view Gladys’ behavior in an entirely different light.

  “Thank you,” Raysel said. “Can we now agree to work together without reservations?”

  “Definitely,” Shae said. At the same time, Desta vigorously nodded her head in agreement.

  “May we see the book again?” Raysel asked.

  “Of course,” Shea said. She retrieved the book from her purse and passed it over to Raysel.

  Cole and Eloc reentered the room, now dressed in men’s clothing. The ends of Eloc’s long ponytail still held some of the curls from his previous disguise. Cole may have been wearing a wig, but Eloc’s brunette locks had clearly been his own. They peered over Raysel’s shoulder as he placed the book on the coffee table that sat between the chairs and the sofa.

  “So this is the much-talked-about book,” Eloc said.

  Cole whistled softly. “It’s really old.”

  Raysel gave them both a disapproving look, and they stepped back. Desta covered her mouth with her hand in a failed attempt to hide a giggle. Eloc met her eyes with a wink and a toothy grin.

  Raysel cleared his throat. “You said earlier that you were looking for books with crystals in their spines,” he said to Shae.

  “Yes, but we didn’t find any,” she replied.

  “There aren’t any books in the Special Collection like that,” Caeneus interjected. “I know that for certain.”

  “According to the instructions with the prophecy, each book has a crystal with it. I assumed it would be embedded in the spine like ours, but perhaps that isn’t the case. Could there be any books in the collection with crystals hidden within the pages?” Shae asked.

  Caeneus twitched his lips side to side as he considered the possibility. “That’s highly unlikely. I suppose it’s not impossible, but it seems more likely that the books are simply elsewhere. How did you come to own this book?”

  “It was a family heirloom,” Desta replied timidly. “I spilled water on the cover, and that’s how we found the prophecy. It happened just as described at the top of the page.”

  “Then the other books probably have been kept as family heirlooms as well. Perhaps when we find the next one we may be able to identify some other commonality that will help us locate the rest,” Caeneus suggested.

  “Don’t jump too far ahead,” Raysel interrupted. “Before we do anything, we need to report all of this information back to our leaders. May we keep this book?”

  Shae hesitated. She wanted to help Caeneus fulfill his role in the prophecy, but the book was one of the few remaining heirlooms she had from her parents. “Wouldn’t a copy of the prophecy be sufficient?” she asked.

  “Our leaders will want to see the original to confirm the authenticity for themselves,” Raysel said.

  “I can understand that, but the book has great sentimental value to me…” Shae’s voice trailed off, and Raysel could tell she was distraught at the thought of parting with the book.

  “Once our leaders have seen it, we can make a copy of this portion of the prophecy and return the book to you. Would you find that more agreeable?” he asked.

  “Yes, that would be alright,” Shae agreed.

  “In the meantime, we will have someone watch over the two of you in case your meeting with us has been discovered by Casimer or his agents. They will guard you from a distance, so you should just go about your normal daily activities as if nothing were out of the ordinary.”

  “Thank you,” Shae said. “That will help put my mind at ease.”

  Raysel nodded and stood, offering his hand to Shae. They shook in agreement. “Leal and Jarold will drive you back to your inn. We will get in touch with you after we have consulted with the leaders of our group.”

  Shae thanked him again as Jarold and Leal l
ed her and Desta into the hallway.

  As soon as the door clicked shut, Eloc looked at Cole and burst out laughing. “I’ve been waiting to tell you this the whole time. You’ve still got blush on your cheeks!”

  Cole scrubbed at his face with his shirt sleeve. “Oh yeah? Well, you forgot to take off one of your false eyelashes.”

  Eloc rolled his eyes up, as if trying to see his lashes, then his own cheeks turned crimson. “You could have told me before!” he exclaimed as he dashed into the adjoining room.

  “Just like you could have told me about the blush before now,” Cole said, chuckling to himself as he followed after his brother.

  When the door closed behind the pair, Raysel turned to Nerissa. “Sometimes I wonder about those two,” he said.

  “Only sometimes? I’ve been wondering about them since the night of the ‘full moon,’ ” Nerissa joked.

  Raysel shook his head. “I almost managed to forget about that.” He picked up Shae’s book and turned it over in his hands as he examined the cover. “This has been quite an informative night.”

  “Even more so than you realize,” Nerissa replied. “I think I know where we can find one of the other five books.”

  Chapter 5

  Force of Nature

  By midafternoon the next day, Nerissa and the Ohanzee had almost reached Darnal. The actual distance between Niamh and Darnal could easily be traveled in a few hours. This journey, however, had taken much longer because they moved with an overabundance of caution, frequently doubling back on the path to ensure that they weren’t being followed or leaving a visible trail. It was a typical early autumn day, and the woods at the base of the Western Mountains teemed with an endless variety of sounds. Every snap and crackle they had stopped to investigate turned out to be nothing more than an animal or the rustling of fire-tinted leaves.