by Natalie Erin
“Tell you later.” The young fairy seemed bothered, his mouth a thin slant.
“I didn’t know this was some sort of family reunion. Why’d you bring me into it?” she hissed.
“Luciana has been here for a few hours. I thought Ionan would’ve seen her and Rex by now.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Just go with it.”
Kia hadn’t bothered with the argument between Ionan and Rex. She’d been too distracted by Reagan’s outfit. “My dear, why don’t you come inside so I can give you something to wear?” Kia asked. “I can tell you’re cold.”
“She can wear my clothes,” Kennu said, trying to be helpful.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Kia said. She stared at Allie, who was hopping madly up and down on Kennu’s shoulder. “I’ll give her something of mine. She’s about my size.”
As they went into the house, Allie soared off Kennu’s shoulder. “Just a minute!”
“Allie...” Ionan called out in exasperation, but the Changer didn’t listen. Allie followed Reagan to Kia’s bedroom, where the human girl was changing into a soft green gown.
As soon as Kiatana was out of earshot, Allie hovered into Reagan’s face. “Listen here, human girl. You do anything to mess up Kennu, I’ll mess you up, got it?”
“Oh believe me cupcake, he’s got that covered,” Reagan said, rolling her eyes as she fastened the dress. “What a bunch of losers you all are. You’ve all got problems. I can’t believe I’m here listening about some pointless crap that happened years ago instead of tanning on the beach like I should be.”
“You don’t get it do you? Any of it. People are dying. A war could start. You don’t understand anything.” Allie batted her wings furiously.
Reagan tossed her hair over her shoulder and said, “I still don’t see what the big deal is. He gets seizures, so what? No big deal.”
“His seizures cannot go on forever. Sooner or later, his heart won’t be able to take it anymore.” Allie’s voice, now vacant from anger, shook with a pain that Reagan could not decipher. “He doesn’t have very long. Most Changers die before their Accompanies do, but I don’t even get that. My one wish is to die before my Kennu does, to go before my Accompany is forced to leave me, but that wish will never be fulfilled. If I could take his place, I would. Any day could be his last. He knows it, and he doesn’t care. That’s why everyone is so protective of him. His parents like to pretend he will grow up to be a leader, but I am the only one who knows his heart, and it is dying. I can feel it failing every day.” Allie dropped her head.
“There are plenty of people with disorders like that who live long lives in my world.” Reagan crossed her arms. “Why not take him to get some medicine?”
“Kennu isn’t a human, he’s a fairy. No one knows what can cure him. He won’t let us take him somewhere to see if we can find a cure, either. He wants to remain at home.”
“Won’t let you?” she asked. “He’s a weakling! You could easily tie him on your back and take him wherever you wanted to go!”
Allie’s beak was so close to Reagan’s nose as she spoke, she nearly clipped the skin. “I’m not going to force him to do something against his will! That is the difference between our race and yours, human!”
“Whatever.” Reagan turned away. Allie fluttered out the open window, and Kia came to retrieve the girl.
“You look nice in that,” Kia said. “I’m glad Kennu has found someone his age to talk to. He’s been very lonely growing up here on his own.”
“Thanks,” Reagan muttered, not sure of what to think. This new, magical world was strange to her, and nothing made sense. More than anything, she wished she could go back home.
As the small party went on, the tension outside dulled. People were beginning to chat, save for Rex and Ionan, who kept their distance from each other. Allie changed into a griffin and stayed beside Kennu, refusing to give up her place at his side while Reagan was nearby.
“We’re finally here!” Casiff emerged from the bushes, riding double with Vixen on Dragonstar.
The Great One hopped off her unicorn and proclaimed loudly, “Vixen would like to introduce her daughter Lyrica and her new Changer.”
“Changer!” several people cried at once. Out stepped Mirabelle, with Lyrica sitting on her back. Rex saw the young Changer and jumped back, his claws digging into the grass.
Ionan changed back into a dragon, letting out a gentle rumble. Mirabelle looked at him, and at this moment, father and daughter locked eyes.
Everyone became quiet. Lyrica slid off of Mirabelle’s back, and the young dragon stood her ground, blinking at her father. Ionan stepped forward and rumbled, “It’s a surprise to see you here, Mira...”
“Why didn’t you tell me?!” Mirabelle stampeded forward, halting at Ionan’s feet. “All those times you visited, and you forgot to leave out the fact that...”
“That I’m your father?” Ionan said gently.
Allie let out a cry. “So that’s where you went every weekend! I just thought you went to see Vera’s grave! Now I find out you both had a baby?”
“Everyone, let him explain,” Keota said, holding out his hands.
Kennu turned to his father in shock. “You knew? You knew, and you didn’t tell us?”
“We all knew,” Kia said softly. “Keota thought it wasn’t safe to bring Mirabelle back to the forest with us, so he ordered Ionan to leave her in the desert.”
“What else have you kept from us?” Kennu said, balling his hands up and walking towards his parents. Reagan began to back into the woods to head towards home, and nobody noticed her leave.
Rex dug his claws into the earth. “I knew it. Now I can see what this has become. She looks almost exactly, sounds exactly like her. How many times did you look into your daughter’s eyes and see Vera?”
Ionan dropped his head. Allie padded towards the dragon, her head low. “I...I thought I was your only daughter.”
Keota stepped in front of his Changer. “You thought wrong.”
Allie began backing away, shaking her head. “No...I can’t believe...you lied about Vera...you lied about everything...”
“Allie, please,” Ionan said, advancing towards her. “I did what I had to, to keep both of you safe.”
“That doesn’t make it right! We deserved to know!” Mirabelle shouted.
Something was happening to Allie. Her head swiveled back and forth, as if she was trying to bring herself out of a bad dream. Her wings flapped uselessly, scattering dirt as her talons held onto the earth for dear life.
“Allie...” Kennu was bent over, holding both sides of his head. His fingernails dug into his scalp, face scrunched up as he fought some invisible opponent inside his mind. “It’s coming....”
“Fight it, Kennu, fight...” Allie’s last words came in a gasp, and the birdsong that emitted from the trees halted. The skies darkened, and a whirlwind began raging around the forest, causing trees to topple over and shingles to rip off the roof of the small hut. Kennu and Allie, clinging to each other, opened their eyes sharply...they were glowing with a foreboding, mythical light.
“Not again!” Kia cried, and she jumped forward to grab Kennu. Keota grabbed her, holding her back as Kennu and Allie began to speak in an ethereal, mystic voice not their own...
“The loss has been paid and the battle was won,
The new legacy has truly begun.
Good has triumphed and settled the score,
But it is only the first that has started this war.
They have been chosen,
brought together as one,
But by the Despondent’s end,
There shall be none.
The leader and cripple,
The silent and the faithful,
The accused.
The dranern and the fire,
The darkness and the follower,
Brother and sister.
With two songs,
And eight beams.
Out o
f which will come two rulers,
The clouddrifter,
And one sun,
Who has the light of the stars upon her back.
The witch will take control,
Of all Lands far and wide,
To own the creatures within them,
And harm from the inside.
Then the Lands that will not bow,
The witch will cast them black,
The Land will surely die,
And the queen will be attacked.
Three beams, one sun,
And the clouddrifter,
Shall travel among the stars,
And seek the court of hundreds,
Found in a Land afar.
Her mother’s daughter all the way through,
Wings green and scaled blue.
Shall lead you out of darkness,
With her life she will bless.
Can there be a healing?
Can there be a cure?
A family’s pain will haunt them,
Until no more can be endured.
Dark hair and dark eyes,
The traitor in disguise,
The cruel man’s son will call,
And then betray you all.
Then hope, it shall be lost,
Until the items three,
Brought together by a secret,
That came across the sea.
Least shall be the greatest,
To become the Great One’s heir,
One of her own family,
Wings shining and are rare.
An Empress will rise,
Feathers and talons true,
Her crown shall rule all bonded pairs,
And an age will start anew.
Then a final struggle,
Between the Haven and the Lands,
Will bring upon the Empress,
Freedom flies on her command.
Yes, the final finish,
Shall bring Despondent’s end.
What shall the victory bring,
Except the loss of friends?
The alliance will be brought together,
In perfect harmony,
Friends brought to stop the evil,
And set the Changers free.”
When the whirlwind ended, the sky returned and birdsong began. Allie fled into the woods, fear tearing her away from the safety of her home. His eyes no longer glowing, Kennu cried, “Allie!” and ran after her. Seeing her cousin panic, Lyrica went to follow. Mirabelle took one last look at her father before she fled into the woods after her Accompany.
Vixen bowed her head. “My my,” she whispered. “Such a mess has been made of things.”
Chapter Nine
Interpreting the Future
Allie knew the rest of them couldn’t keep up with her. She ran all the way to the plains, where she bumped into the creature she wished to see most.
“Allie! What’s wrong?” Caini asked, watching the griffin gasp for air. Allie collapsed on the ground and Caini sat beside her, twirling her white tail around Allie’s forefeet.
“Caini, it’s awful,” Allie said, voice wavering. She sounded like she was about to cry. “Everything’s falling to pieces.”
“It can’t all be that bad,” Caini said, licking the griffin’s ears.
“It is! I created another prophecy!” the griffin screeched, near hysteria.
“You did? What did it say?” Caini asked in shock.
“I can't remember. I can’t remember anything when I go under like that,” Allie said. “But that’s not all. Ionan’s been hiding things from us.”
Allie told her everything quickly and Caini’s eyes darkened in sorrow. Caini put her paw on Allie’s foot and said, “They were just trying to keep you safe.”
“A lot of bad things are happening recently as a result of keeping us safe.” She sniffed bitterly.
At this Shadowin, Snapfoot, Jade and Midnightstar came bounding into the bushes. “We heard trampling and figured it was you. What happened?” Shadowin asked.
Caini retold the whole story. By this time, Kennu and Lyrica had caught up. The little girl was struggling to keep her taller cousin aloft, who seemed winded. “Allie, don’t run off like that,” he snapped, coughing twice as his lungs gasped for breath. “You know I can’t follow.”
“I’m sorry, Kennu,” Allie said meekly, lowering her head. “I was only scared. I don’t like it when I prophesy.”
“I know, but I went through it too. It’s not just you.”
Kennu sat by her side. Lyrica fiddled with a stone in the grass and said, “I wish Mirabelle and I had found you sooner. We could’ve gotten here quicker, but Mom and Dad wanted to surprise everyone.”
“Of course they did. It’s like Vixen to give everyone surprises at the worst times, when nobody wants them,” Allie said grumpily.
Kennu picked up a branch and threw it. “How could this have all slipped by us so easily, that we didn’t figure out Ionan and Vera had a kid?” he asked. “Are we that unobservant?”
“Not all of us,” Midnightstar said guiltily, tucking her tail behind her.
“Mids?” Caini asked. Her sister stared back at her.
“Don’t tell me you knew as well!” Snapfoot shouted. When she only looked at him, he let his tail down. “But how?”
“It was a long time ago,” Midnightstar said. “I was spending the night at your house, Kennu and Allie, and I couldn’t sleep, so I went outside to look at the stars. I ended up eavesdropping on Keota and Ionan by accident. They were arguing, because Ionan wanted to visit his daughter but Keota didn’t want him to go.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell us?” Jade asked in a hurt tone.
“It was very private,” Midnightstar said defensively, in a hostile way that was very unlike her.
“How much more private can it get than between us?” Kennu asked her, outraged. “We were the originals, Mids! It was the seven of us together, stuck in that cave! How could you not tell us?”
“I don’t know!” she growled. “I just didn’t!”
“If it helps, I don’t think you should blame her for what she didn’t say. I’m sorry I’m hurting you so bad just by being here. I shouldn’t have come at all.”
Everyone jumped at the sound of Mirabelle’s voice. The young dragon had found them, and there were small tears dotting her eyes. Lyrica patted the dragon on the head, as a way to comfort her.
“You really do look very much like her,” Allie said. The griffin stood up and said, “Come on. I know where we can go.”
They followed the griffin through the bushes until she came to the entrance of a briar patch, with a hole that was large enough for all of them to crawl through. The wolves wagged their tails as they maneuvered through the thorns, and Shadowin said, “I can’t believe this old place is still here. We haven’t been here since we were kids.”
“Kennu and I don’t come very often,” Allie said. “Only when we wish to get away.”
The rain began falling as they huddled inside the briar patch. Kennu pulled a spare piece of parchment and a thin stick of lead out of his pocket, which he always carried with him. He drew intensely, and, when he had finished, he held the drawing up for all of them to see.
“Oh,” Mirabelle gasped. “Is that my mother?”
Kennu swallowed. “Yep. That’s her.”
“She’s beautiful,” Mirabelle said. “I always tried to picture what she looked like, in my mind, but now I know. Thank you for showing me.”
“I’ll hold onto it for you, Mirabelle,” Lyrica said. Kennu handed her the paper and she folded it up, putting it inside her dress pocket.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Allie mourned. “If I made another prophecy, that means something big is coming. I’m not ready for this. Not again.”
Shadowin’s deep voice rumbled as he spoke. “Whatever happens, we’re all in this together.”
“Yes,” Snapfoot agreed, putting one paw over the other. “There’s no way out of th
is one.”
It wasn’t too long before somebody came looking for them. The eyes of the white cat glittered in the darkness as he entered the thorny sanctuary. “You all. I’m glad I found you. It was time you were told the truth,” Ionan said.
“What truth?” Jade asked, her green eyes flashing.
Ionan laid down in the sandy cave. The cat sighed, before beginning to recite the prophecy in his powerful voice.
As they recoiled in shock at the prophecy’s end, he looked out the exit of the briar patch. “Thus ends the second prophecy of Allie and Kennu. Shortly after we saved you from Wyntier as children, Allie also told Kiatana and I of dreams she was having. Dreams of twin Changers bonded to one Accompany, with whoever’s side they join winning the war.”
“Yes...I...it is very faint, but I think I recall,” Allie said.
“We did all that?” Kennu asked, looking at his griffin and putting an arm around her.
“You do not remember it, but yes. I recall every word.” Ionan sighed in exhaustion. “Your parents have asked me not to speak of it, but it is truly clear...each one of you is a part of the new prophecy.”
Midnightstar nodded, as if she understood something very clearly and suddenly. The others, however, only gazed at each other with blank expressions.
“But it’s so confusing!” Allie protested. “It doesn’t make any sense! And the part about the traitor…no…not Soran and Zorna!”
Ionan gave her a sad gaze. “I’m afraid so. The prophecy speaks of an Empress, and a terrible war fought between the Lands and Nesting’s Haven. The Second Despondent.”
“So there is going to be another war,” Caini said. “I knew it was going to happen.”
Snapfoot spoke. “About … ‘there shall be none’ and… ‘loss of friends…’ does that mean we’re all going to die?”
Everyone shivered. Ionan flicked his tail “I’m not sure. This prophecy is one that I cannot decipher…my sight has been clouded on this. Kia and Keota wish to keep it quiet, to act as if it will not come true.”
