Shades of Prophecy

by Tessonja Odette

  Then came a sudden blinding, white light, followed by the darkness of night.

  Familiar sounds of a nighttime forest filled my ears as the moon shone overhead. I opened my eyes and saw a similar scene around me—different from what Valorre had shown me, and distant too, but still similar.

  Valorre quivered with excitement beneath me. I remember. I found it.

  My face stretched into a smile. Good job.

  I turned my attention to Ailan, who rode ahead with a determined expression, then Mareleau, whose eyes fluttered sleepily as she swayed in her saddle. “I have a change of plans,” I said.

  “What is it, dear one?” Ailan said.

  “Valorre found the tear in the veil. I’m taking us straight there.”

  * * *

  The first blush of morning began to illuminate the tips of the trees as the fourth dragon landed. I let out a sigh of relief and leaned my back against the trunk of a tree. With wary eyes, I watched as the dragon—a deep green, from what I could see in the dappled light of the clearing—slithered between the trees and out of sight. Moments later, wafts of smoke began to rise in the near distance, indicating where it had made its bed. Three other pillars of smoke rose around us.

  My heart ached for the four patches of burnt earth, wondering how El’Ara could accommodate an entire world filled with dragons and still have such lush forests to show for it. There is still much I don’t know about El’Ara.

  I shifted my gaze away from the smoke, resting instead on Mareleau, who slept soundly by our small campfire. She’d insisted on staying up with me and Ailan while we waited for the dragons to find us, but we argued with her until she agreed to get some rest with Liam.

  “You should do the same,” Ailan said, following my gaze as she settled down beside me. “The dragons have flown long tonight. They will be sound asleep for a few hours, which means we still have a time to wait before we attempt to enter the tear.”

  I sighed and let my muscles relax, my back pressing into the tree trunk behind me. Even without Ailan’s prompting, I knew I needed to rest. While worldwalking with others had become much easier than it had been the first time, after two trips—one to take Mareleau, Liam, and Hara, and another to take Ailan and her horse—I was feeling thoroughly drained.

  She’s right, Valorre said, resting on the other side of the tree. Sleep.

  I tried to form the words, I know, as I curled up at the base of the tree, but I was asleep before I knew it.

  * * *

  Mareleau

  I awoke with a start, as I had every time I’d awoken since giving birth to Liam. My first thought was of him. Where is he? How is he? Is he breathing? Crying? Hungry? Warm enough?

  He was exactly where he’d been last—in the crook of my arm beside my chest, swaddled in the blankets the Forest People had given me. I myself hadn’t moved an inch and felt like I’d barely slept a wink. It continued to amaze me how I could sleep so lightly, almost as if part of me remained awake to watch over my son. Did all new mothers feel that way? Or was it just me?

  I took in his face, his eyes blinking open as he began to stir. I kissed his cheeks, and my lips confirmed he was still warm from the fire blazing gently before us. On the other side of the fire, Cora was asleep next to Valorre. It took me a moment longer to spot Ailan.

  She stood between two trees, hand outstretched and eyes closed. I got to my feet, pulling my heavy cloak around me and Liam. Ailan remained still as I approached her.

  “It’s here,” she said.

  I furrowed my brow. “What is? The tear?”

  “Yes. I can feel it now.”

  Relief flooded through me. “Will we be able to enter?”

  “I haven’t tried yet,” Ailan said. “But I think so. I can feel the opening. I can feel where my weaving begins.” She opened her eyes and looked at me. “This is the weakness I’d found long ago, when I realized my mother’s veil could be torn. This is where I filled conditions of my own, weaving that it could only be torn when Darius could be defeated. In essence, this is where I wove you and Liam into all of this.”

  I looked at the empty space between the trees, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

  Ailan continued staring at me, her brows beginning to knit together. “It’s odd, though. I feel a strand or two of my weaving is missing.”

  “What does that mean?”

  She cocked her head to the side, her gaze sliding down to Liam. “I don’t know, but for some reason, I think it belongs to him now.”

  I wanted her to say more, but footsteps approached behind us.

  “Is that it?” Cora asked, her voice thick with sleep.

  We turned to face her, and Ailan nodded. “This is the tear.” Her eyes went unfocused for a moment as sounds quietly rumbled in the near distance. “The dragons wake. Gather your things. It’s time.”

  Once the campfire had been extinguished and our belongings had been repacked, we gathered again in front of the invisible veil. I tried to access the Arts to sense what Ailan had found but couldn’t feel anything different in the space before us. I turned to Cora and whispered, “Can you see—or feel—the veil?”

  She shook her head. “No, but Valorre can. Through him I can tell it’s here.”

  I returned my attention to the seemingly innocent space. “So this is the border between Lela and Risa? I never expected it to be so…mundane.” Risa was the only other land connected to Lela, and that connection was only at the border along the northern edge of Kero. The eastern and western edges, along with the borders surrounding what was now called Vera, touched the sea. “I’ve only ever seen the sea as a border. I always thought the border here would be something else. Perhaps with a wall or guards.”

  “There is a guarded wall where the main roads run through,” Cora said, “but not here.”

  How oddly disappointing. It made me wonder how kings and queens kept track of which land was which, before I reminded myself that I was, in fact, a queen and should know such a thing. Never mind such trivial matters. I’m about to enter another realm. A realm my son is heir to. Suddenly, kings, queens, and the division of land seemed meaningless.

  Ailan made her way between me and Cora, eyes closed and hand outstretched like earlier. “Are you ready?”

  Cora and I exchanged a glance before nodding.

  “Follow me closely,” Ailan said. She began walking forward, and Cora waved for me to follow as she and Valorre filed behind me.

  I wrapped my arms around Liam as I took one trembling step after the other. Too terrified to look elsewhere, I kept my eyes trained on Ailan’s back, my ears focused on the sound of Cora’s footsteps and the beating of our horses’ hooves behind me.

  One step. Another. Then a sudden flash of light.

  By the next step, the light was gone, replaced with a dull gray, like a fog. As we continued forward, I took in our surroundings. The fog-like mist had cleared to reveal colorless earth beneath our feet. Although it was bare here, the scenery seemed to grow denser—though still gray—further ahead.

  Ailan let out a strangled cry and sank to her knees, hand pressed to her heart. “This is so much worse than I imagined. I can feel it. I can…feel it dying.”

  Cora knelt at her side, putting a hand on her shoulder. “It gets better,” she said gently. “It is worse closest to the veil.”

  Ailan nodded and shakily rose to her feet. Rumbling steps surged behind us, followed by the beating of wings as the four dragons rose into the sky. While three of the dragons soared away and out of sight, Ferrah remained above us, making wide circles through the gray skies ahead.

  We continued on in the silent, dead woods—if you could call them woods—until Ailan froze. Cora and I stopped, following her gaze. Straight ahead stood three tall figures, shrouded beneath the gloom of a towering, gnarled row of trees. As they came near, I began to make out their features. They appeared to be males wearing long, flowing robes in bold colors and intricate patterns. One had black hair, another had bron
ze, and the one in the middle hand long, silver hair.

  The silver-haired figure stepped forward, his face even more striking and beautiful than Ailan’s.

  In fact, Ailan seemed to have grown taller and more beautiful since we’d entered the tear. Her skin was now more of a shimmering, dark caramel, where it had once looked merely golden-brown. Her hair was black as onyx, with hints of blue swimming in its waves. I wondered how much more beautiful she would be if it weren’t for the gray dampening the colors around us.

  Ailan lifted her chin, shoulders relaxing as the silver-haired man stood before her. Her full lips pulled into a slight smile. “Hello, Fanon. It’s been awhile.”

  19

  MORKARA

  Cora

  Fanon froze, chest heaving as his eyes drank in Ailan as if she were the only thing standing in the dead woods. His face seemed to flicker between inhuman beauty and monstrous rage. Finally, he composed himself, his expression stony. He began to speak in the Elvan language, and it took me a moment to remember how to interpret his words. His disgusted tone, however, made it easy for me to catch on. “That’s all you have to say to me? And you say it in that…that human language?”

  Ailan shook her head as if to clear it. “I’m sorry,” she said slowly in Elvan. “I haven’t spoken anything else in many, many years.”

  Fanon glared, giving no reply.

  She took a slow step toward him, then another, until they were nearly touching. She lifted a tentative hand, fingers meeting his cheek, then sliding along his angled jaw as she stared into his pale, blue eyes. “I never thought I’d see you again,” she said, her voice strangled.

  To my surprise, Fanon’s face crumpled in a way I never could have imagined. Sorrow pulled at his lips as he hung his head, crystalline tears trailing down his ivory cheeks. “I’ve…waited. You have no idea how long.”

  Ailan wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing their foreheads to meet. “I have a feeling it’s been even longer for me.”

  I blushed, looking away from the couple and instead focusing on the two figures behind them. There Garot and Etrix stood, exchanging an awkward glance.

  Mareleau trembled beside me. “Who are they? And what are they saying?”

  “I’ve met them,” I whispered. “I—”

  “You!” Fanon shouted, eyes narrowed above his tear-stained cheeks as he moved away from Ailan and stormed over to me with long strides.

  “Leave her alone, Fanon,” Ailan called after him, her tone firm.

  Fanon froze and shot her a wide-eyed look. “This human is an invader. What is she doing with you?”

  Ailan came to my side and faced Fanon, meeting his eyes with a fierce expression. “Cora is my ambassador, not to mention the one responsible for finding me. As Morkara of El’Ara, I forbid any harm to come to her.”

  Fanon’s jaw shifted side to side as his eyes darted from Ailan to me. “Very well, Morkara,” he said stiffly. It was hard to imagine the unexpected intimacy I’d witnessed just moments before. Now there seemed to be nothing but tense formality between them. “What are your orders?”

  “Take us to the…” Ailan frowned, her confident demeanor faltering. “Where is the seat of the Morkara now that the palace of Le’Lana is gone?”

  Fanon’s face flickered with a hint of sympathy. “We have built a new palace north of here.”

  Ailan nodded. “Take us there, please.”

  Fanon took in our retinue, nose wrinkling as he assessed our horses. Then his eyes fell on Mareleau and Liam. “All of you?”

  “Yes. Me, my ambassador, my blood, and my heir,” Ailan said.

  Fanon sucked in a sharp breath. “Your…heir?”

  “Yes.”

  “I see waiting for me has been hard on you indeed,” Fanon said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

  Ailan put a gentle hand on his shoulder, the tenderness returning to her face as if it had never left. “We will talk tonight, Fanon. There is so much I need to tell you.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

  He continued to sneer at Mareleau, but his hand fell softly on Ailan’s. “Very well, Morkara. Garot, weave us the fastest way back to the palace.”

  Garot and Etrix came forward, meeting my eyes for the first time since our arrival. Etrix gave me a subtle nod, expression neutral as ever, although I could almost swear I saw a hint of shock in his eyes. Garot’s lips twitched into a half-smile when no one else was looking, then faced the direction they had come.

  A tunnel of swirling gray opened before us, causing Mareleau to jump and grab my arm. “What’s happening?” she asked.

  “This is Garot’s talent as a weaver,” I said. “He’s the bronze-haired one. I don’t know much about his talent, but I know it helps him move from place to place quickly.”

  “Like you?”

  I shook my head. “No. They don’t see this as anything close to what a worldwalker can do.”

  The three Elvan men walked into the tunnel, followed by Ailan. I heard Ferrah screeching somewhere in the distance, to which Ailan whispered a hush in response.

  Mareleau and I followed Ailan, and the two horses and Valorre followed us. Ailan slowed her pace until we caught up with her.

  “I’m sorry about Fanon,” she said. “I’ll work on him and the tribunal as soon as I can. Once they know my story…” Her words were swallowed up in a sigh. “I feel like all I’ve done for days is explain, and yet I still have so much more to do. We have so much more to do.”

  “I know what you mean,” I said. “It seems like I’ve said little else aside from repeating the same explanation to one person or another.” I turned to Mareleau. “It seems like ages ago that we were in the study at Ridine, discussing everything for the first time.”

  Mareleau had nothing to say in reply as she watched the swirling colors turn from gray to brown, then green.

  “We’ve moved away from the veil,” I said, as shades of blue and purple began to mix with the green. My gaze fell on the three Elvan figures walking quickly ahead of us. I turned to Ailan. “How is it they found us? The first time I came to El’Ara, the three of them found me as well, although it wasn’t until I dismounted Valorre. I thought it was just a coincidence then.”

  “Triggers have been woven into the land throughout El’Ara,” Ailan said. “They have been here long before even my mother’s time. The strands from the weavings are attached to a select few protectors in each kingdom. These protectors can then sense when and where someone enters who is not of our kind. They are responsible for investigating any invasions that occur in their territory. If they are not able to take care of the threat themselves, they are to report it to the Morkara. That is how my mother met my brother’s father.”

  “You said he was a worldwalker like Darius.” And me, I didn’t add.

  “He was,” Ailan said. “It was by accident he came to El’Ara, or so my mother always said. She relished telling stories of her first love, Prince Tristaine of Syrus. He was barely more than a boy when he was caught wandering around the kingdom of Sa’Derel in awe and won my mother’s heart when she’d been sent to banish him.

  “My mother was young too, newly appointed as Morkara, and fell madly in love with the strange young man. She kept their love affair secret, weaving a special place where they could meet and not set off the triggers to warn the others.”

  I looked ahead, realizing Garot had slowed his pace and was watching us. Etrix strolled on without interest, while Fanon had walked so far ahead, he could hardly be seen.

  “That’s the part of the story no one likes to tell anymore,” Garot said with a sentimental sigh.

  Ailan let out a small laugh. “I see you aren’t as offended by the human language as dear Fanon is.”

  Garot shrugged. “I love any language that tells a story.”

  “You would make a great bard in the human world,” Ailan said.

  “I probably shouldn’t, but I’ll take that as a compliment.” Garot smiled wide. “I’m glad you are back, Mo
rkara.”

  Ailan returned the smile, although it didn’t reach her eyes. “You may not be glad for long. I fear the stories I bring with me herald dark times ahead.”

  Garot’s glowing smile didn’t falter. “Then we should make haste so I can hear them.”

  * * *

  Teryn

  A knock sounded on the door of my study. I lifted my eyes from my desk as a messenger entered. My heart raced as it did each time a messenger approached, hoping beyond hope that this would be the day I’d finally hear from Cora. “What news do you have?”

  Before the man could speak, Queen Mother Helena swept into the room as if she’d been hard on the messenger’s heels. “Do you have word from my daughter?”

  “Message from King Larylis, Your Majesties,” the messenger said, eliciting a gasp from Helena. He handed me a folded and sealed letter, bearing the new rose and eagle sigil of Vera.

  Helena rushed to stand over my shoulder as I scanned the short note from Larylis. “They made it,” I said with a sigh of relief. “And they found the book.”

  Before I could hand the letter to Helena, the messenger passed me another. “Two messages were delivered from King Larylis, Your Majesty.”

  I furrowed my brow as I opened the second, unsure if I should expect good news or bad. Why send two letters at once?

  “This was sent the morning after the first letter, Your Majesty,” the messenger explained. “The second messenger was able to catch up with the first so they could be delivered together.”

  My heart sank as I scanned the words.

  Seeing my fallen expression, Helena grabbed the second letter from my hand, then let out a short cry. “They left Dermaine?”

  Remembering the presence of the messenger, I attempted to compose myself. “Any other news?”

  “No new reports of dragons, Your Majesty. In fact, there have been no sightings for at least a day.”

  I cocked my head. “Not a single sighting in all of Lela?”