by G. Bailey
“What does the prophecy say?” I ask, trying not to feel worried about this all. Secrets seem to have a nasty reason why they are secrets in this world.
“The Master only told us part of it, and only the Masters know the rest, but this is what we do know...
When the ravens come,
The ancient tales will succumb.
The raven crows, the raven knows.
When the raven dies, sleep will arise,
For sleep and war are destined for only ruin.
The raven will fall, the world will sleep.
For only a beauty can survive the deep sleep.”
He stops talking, and I just repeat the words over and over in my mind. Sleep, ravens and destined for ruin? Something about a war was in there too. I don’t have a clue what it means, but I have a sickly feeling in my gut that it is about me.
“You think the prophecy is about me?” I ask, but I know the answer. Of course he does. That’s why I’m here and why he is so interested in me.
“Did your grandmother ever speak to you about her schooling here?” he asks, rather than answering my question, because we both know the answer.
“No, I haven’t spoken to her about much since I got my powers,” I tell him, still cautious because he looks way too interested in my every response.
“Your raven powers—”
“I have sleep powers. I never inherited those powers from my mother’s line,” I inform him to make sure he isn’t getting this all wrong. I don’t tell him about the dreams or the ravens that follow me around.
“You did, and we both know it. The ravens follow you, just like they do your grandmother. I believe you are the child of the prophecy, and you have both powers available to you. They could even be one,” he states.
“My grandmother apparently has wings with her powers, and I do not, so you are wrong,” I answer.
“Wings are a tricky thing to earn in the tales world. You are not just given them. Did you not learn that yet?” he asks me.
“Nope, I missed a bit of school when some assholes started a war and took it over,” I sarcastically reply.
“You are lucky I like you, Miss Dormiens,” he sourly replies. “If anyone else spoke to me the way you do, it would be a different ending for them. Your blood defends you this time or until I am done with you.” The room feels a lot colder all of a sudden, and the frost on his jacket spreads up his arms.
“I’m lucky you want something from me, Mr. Frostan,” I retort. He tensely laughs and stands up, crossing his arms as he walks around the desk to me.
“In the prophecy, the second line mentions the ancient tales, do you know of them?” he asks.
“The triple goddesses that created...well, everything,” I say, vaguely remembering reading somewhere that they are also called the ancient tales.
“Correct. I know that they used to live in this very academy, and I believe the two that were left spent the last of their days here before locking themselves away from the world,” he explains to me.
“That’s crazy. I’m sure I would have seen two goddesses lying around somewhere,” I reply.
“It’s not crazy. I know I’m right, and I want you to see it,” he remarks, and he pulls out a smooth black stone with a white raven etched into it. “This is a raven stone, and it did belong to your grandmother.”
“Did?” I ask.
“She gave my father it many years ago,” he replies. “They rather loved each other, but as you know, our kind cannot be together. My father went on to marry my mother and have two sons, but he did always look out of the window like he expected your grandmother to come back into his life. She had married and had your mother and never looked back.”
“That’s a sad story, but why are you telling me it?” I ask.
“The raven stone used to boost her powers and let her see into the past. She gave it to my father because she never wanted to see the past again. They used to share visions; it’s what the stone can do. Now I want you to look into the past, into the very beginning of the academy,” he informs me, and I know he has been planning this for a long while.
“I’m not my grandmother, and I don’t have her powers,” I nervously answer.
“Neither of us believes that, Miss Dormiens, and I am not asking,” he strictly answers.
“What happens if I say no?” I ask.
“I will kill every single good tale in this academy and make you watch,” he says. His tone completely changes in a moment, and it’s seriously disturbing because I know he means it. His eyes also glow blue for a moment, looking like one of those creepy White Walkers from Game of Thrones. I don’t say another word because it’s pointless, and I won’t risk anyone else because of my own stubbornness. It’s only a stone, and I doubt it will work anyway. I’m not the child of the prophecy; I’m not what he wants me to be. I’m just Madilynn Dormiens.
I hold my hand out, and he smiles as he steps closer. He keeps his hand on the stone as he drops it into my hand. “Go to the past. To the start of the academy. You need to focus on what you want to see.”
I go to tell him nothing is happening when my hand starts to feel like it’s burning. A scream leaves my lips as a white light flashes before my eyes. I focus on the academy, on the goddesses and the past like Rueben said, until the bright light is gone and I can open my eyes to see I’m in an old room. I don’t recognise it, but I look to my left where Rueben is smiling at me like this is a great victory. I cry out as I fall to my knees, a burning pain slamming into my stomach. Rueben walks in front of me, clearly going to search the room as I try to see through the pain. Something isn’t right.
I look up as two women come into the room. They have floor-length blonde hair, long white cloaks over long dresses made from a blue material. What strikes me the most is how stunning they are...like the very air around them even shimmers, which makes them all that more striking. They both look nearly the same, and only one thing is different about them. The woman on the left has a long scar down her cheek. I soon realise that these are the goddesses, because who else could they be? Sweat pours down my cheeks as it feels like everything is burning, everything hurts so much more than it should. I cry out, but no one hears me as I fall to the floor. I can only look up at them, blinking the sweat out of my eyes as a metal taste fills my mouth.
“Sister, are they ready yet?” the one asks.
“Soon. I am not as quick at crafting metal as I once was. The power I used to fix your mistake cost me dearly,” the one without the scar replies. She stops, looking around the room, and for a brief second, her eyes stop on me before her sister talks.
“And we will fix it once more with this weapon. If we take all their powers back, we will again be as powerful as we once were,” the sister replies.
“They will all die for this plan to work,” the one goddess says, moving to sit on the stone basin in the centre of the room, and I scream as light flashes into my vision. When I open my eyes, I’m back in Rueben’s office, in someone’s arms as my legs give in. He catches me, picking me up as I look up into his hood. Warren holds me close to him as everything fades in and out. He saved me, and he is protecting me, but I don’t understand why. I hear someone else come into the room, moving to stand in front of us, and the flash of white hair lets me know it’s Quin before he speaks.
“I want to see more! How dare you interrupt, Warren! You are not the prince any longer, and you are bound to serve me! Not her!” Rueben shouts at us. He was a prince? And he’s bound to Rueben? Why? I have so many questions I want to ask, but instead, I cough, splattering blood all over my hand which held the stone Rueben now holds. Warren never answers Rueben, he just looks down at me, and I can only stare back.
“Uncle, enough. Look at her. If you force her to go back again, Madi will die,” Quin shouts back. “I can’t let you kill her.”
“No, you are right. It was a good practice run. Do take her back to her room and—” I must have blacked out, because that is the last thin
g I hear Rueben saying before I let the darkness take me to rest as Warren holds me close. He is my protector, my guard, and without realising it, I’m quickly wanting him around all of the time.
Chapter 15
“You can leave now. Both of you,” I hear Tavvy say, sounding very nervous, as I blink my eyes open. Someone is wiping my hand with something cold, and it stings as I look up to see Warren sitting on the edge of my bed, with my hand in his as he applies a cream to my palm. He pulls out a bandage from the wrapper as he sees I’m awake, though I can only just see his eyes under his hood.
“You saved me. Why would you do that?” I ask, because I have a feeling I might have died if I kept us in that vision. I don’t know how to explain it, but I’m not meant to use the power to look that far back. It was killing me.
“I don’t know. I shouldn’t have,” he replies, and I know he means that.
“You’re awake!” Tavvy happily shouts, coming over to me and offering me a hand to help me sit up next to Warren who bandages my burnt hand. “How are you feeling?”
“Sore but alive thanks to Warren,” I say, feeling a little dazed as Quin comes over and takes my other hand, which I pull away on instinct.
“Sorry, I feel a bit weird. Thank you for stopping your uncle,” I tell him.
“I get it, and it’s okay. I’m just happy to see you awake, even though you look very pale,” he replies, moving his eyes to Warren, who is finishing the bandage, before back to me. “Do you want a drink or anything?”
“I can do that. Why don’t you two get out of here?” Tavvy interrupts, sounding very nervous and panicked.
“Why are you trying so desperately to get us to leave?” Quinton asks Tavvy, and it’s only then that I look at the window and see it’s night. The Tale brothers will be here soon, and Quinton can’t know about the other dimension. Before I can ask them to leave, a portal burns into the middle of the room, and Knox steps out. There is nothing but silence for an awkward moment as Knox and Quinton look at each other. That is until Knox grabs Quin by his cloak and drags him into the portal. Shit.
“Y-you can’t tell anyone!” Tavvy says, looking at Warren with wide eyes, but I’m not worried. It’s Quin knowing that I’m more worried about—if Knox doesn’t kill him first.
“Warren already knows,” I tell Tavvy, who looks shocked, as I turn back to Warren. “I have to go and save him.”
“I will guard the door,” Warren says, slowly letting go of my hand before walking out of the door. I stand up, swaying a little bit, and Tavvy wraps an arm around my back to hold me up.
“You sure you’re okay?” she asks, and I nod, walking to the portal. Just before we go through it, she whispers to me. “And we need to have a chat about what is going on between you and sexy guard man.” I know we do, but right now I think we need to worry about saving Quinton. As we appear in the dimension world, Knox is on top of Quinton, beating the utter shit out of him with punch after punch. There is blood all over Quinton’s face and Knox’s hands and also the grass on the ground.
“Stop!” I shout, but neither of them pays any attention. Quinton doesn’t fight back; he doesn’t use his powers to stop Knox.
“Fight back, you bastard! You let Sin die! He was a fucking brother to you!” Knox roars at Quinton. Noah and Tobias get here just as Knox wraps his hands around Quin’s neck, and I have no doubt he wants to kill him. Noah and Tobias pull Knox away, grabbing their arms around him as he struggles to get away. The world spins a little as I walk into the middle of them, and I wipe a hand across my nose.
“Madi, what happened? Are you okay?” Knox asks, snapping out of his glaring with Quin when he sees the blood on my hand from my nose. Great, bleeding again. Noah and Tobias surround me as I sway a little. The world is a little blurry.
“What happened to your hand? Madi talk to us,” I’m not sure who said it as everything is hazy.
“I—” I don’t get to say another word before I’m falling, and this time I don’t notice who catches me as I pass out again.
“There, that should help for a short time,” a female voice says, one I don’t recognise. “There was internal bleeding, and whatever she did should not be done again. Her body is not immortal.”
“Thank you,” I hear Noah say as I open my eyes, just in time to see a purple-haired woman walk out of the cabin from where I’m lying on the sofa. I look up to see I’m on Noah’s lap, and he smiles at me. Noah helps me sit up so I can see everyone is in the room, and all their eyes are on me. Knox and Tobias are leaning against the fireplace. Tavvy and Quin are sitting together on the other side, and Quin has an ice pack on his cheek. I’m sort of glad they didn’t kill him. He doesn’t deserve that, even if I still struggle to look at him and not see Sin dead.
“How are you?” Tavvy asks as Noah tucks me into his arm, and I pull the blanket over me as I feel cold.
“Better. Much better. Who was that?” I ask. “I didn’t get to thank her.”
“One of the Masters’ children we got out. She is a healer, but she takes energy from other people to do it. We all gave some energy to save you,” Knox gently explains to me.
“That’s why everyone looks so tired,” I say, and Noah nods, but not one of them looks like they regret their actions.
“Madi, what did Rueben do?” Knox gently asks me.
“I didn’t know what he wanted with you or that he would hurt you. I’m sorry,” Quinton tells me. I nod at him before pulling my eyes down.
“He thinks I’m the child of some raven prophecy,” I answer their unspoken question.
“I’ve heard it, but it doesn’t make sense. What is the end game? That prophecy talks about sleep and ravens and war,” Tobias says, rubbing his chin.
“I know what he wants, if that helps,” Quinton interrupts.
“Talk then,” Knox snaps at him.
“I didn’t want to give you hope before, but I’m guessing all these secrets aren’t helping any of us stay alive,” Quinton says, scrubbing his face.
“I don’t understand,” I ask, sitting up further.
“My uncle wants to awaken the two goddesses and kill them, taking their power for himself,” Quinton explains. “He told me all about it and how he has a dagger that is said to kill them. With the dark tales’ crown he already has, he could rule endlessly.”
“I saw the goddesses. We both did. He made me take him into the past, and I saw them both for a few minutes,” I tell them all, and everyone is speechless. The goddesses have always been nothing more than rumours, but they are where we all came from. To actually see them is something I know I will never forget and will always treasure.
“That’s incredible, if only it didn’t hurt you so badly,” Tobias states.
“Warren woke me up, and if he hadn’t, I think I would be dead. It’s not meant to be done like that. I can feel it,” I explain to them. That’s why the cost was so high for me.
“I will thank this Warren when I see him next,” Knox says, and I smile at him.
“I had an idea other than my uncle’s plan. Despite what you may think, I did love Sin like a brother. You Tale brothers and Madi are the only family I’ve had and ever cared about. I just couldn’t save Sin and Madi, so I chose Madi. I made that decision, and I pay the price for it every day because I lost a brother and the girl I was in love with. I came up with a plan to fix it all, but I need to be close to my uncle. When he brings the goddesses back, I’m going to save the good one that created the good tales and ask her to bring Sin back to life,” he tells me, and this time, no one knows what to say. Could it work?
“Do you think she could do that?” I ask, leaning forward and staring at him for an answer.
“If his soul is still around, maybe,” Quin replies. “I’ve been researching them as much as possible, and I know they have that power.”
“It’s a chance, but we are talking about bringing goddesses that are lost to the world back to life,” Tavvy interrupts. “Powerful goddesses that could turn
around and kill us all.”
“My uncle will never stop until he finds a way. He wants to destroy the world and have dark tales rule. The dark goddesses’ powers are the best way to do that. He isn’t strong enough on his own,” Quin explains. “I soon figured out how crazy he really is. Trust me, he won’t give up. I won’t either, because the only person that could help us get Sin back is a goddess. I still remember when he came to talk to me before all this.”
“What? When?” I ask, and I see how Knox, Tobias and Noah all don’t look at me.
“A few weeks after you moved to the academy. Did they not tell you?” Quinton asks.
“Nope. Somehow it didn’t get mentioned,” I say, raising an eyebrow at Noah who looks at me first.
“We checked in on him because of that phone call you had. Sin was the only one who actually spoke to Quin as we all figured out he had powers and not the good kind,” Noah explains.
“Sin told me I could make a choice. That being a dark tale didn’t mean I had to choose to follow darkness and evil. He was right, and I didn’t see it until he died,” Quinton admits. “I was too busy latching onto the only family member who had ever cared about me. I should have seen that I had family all along, and they were who I shouldn’t have betrayed.”
“You should have told me,” I say to the Tale brothers, because I don’t have an answer for Quin.
“I know.” Knox is the one to reply, but I know he is speaking for them all. “Quin, you must go back to the academy. If my parents or any Master sees you here, they will kill you, and then our chance of getting Sin back is gone.” Knox waves a hand, and a portal appears behind the sofa.
“I’m going back too. See you in a few hours, hunny. Make sure you rest,” Tavvy says, standing up with Quin. I smile at her as I wave goodbye and watch as she walks into the portal after Quin, and it disappears.
“I’m going to sleep for a bit, is that okay?” I ask Noah, Tobias and Knox. “Could you all stay close?”
