Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Having a stranger declare they’d been waiting for her shook Avera to the core and led to her focusing on the cloaked figure. “Who are you?”
“A guardian,” replied the feminine, if mature, sounding voice.
“Guardian of what?”
“Come with me to find out.” The woman released Avera’s arm and began walking away.
“I can’t leave my friends.”
“They will be fine for the moment.” The woman kept moving.
“Hardly fine,” countered Avera taking a step to follow. “The mist is controlling them.”
“Controlling, yes, but not harming. They will simply join the others in their task.”
“What task? What are those people doing?”
“They’re trying to melt Damnation Lake.” A statement thrown over the woman’s shoulder.
“Why? What is this place?” Avera cried out as the distance between them grew. A part of her hesitated to follow the stranger. But how else would she get answers?
“The city you saw below used to be called Ultilina.”
“Never heard of it,” Avera stated.
“Because those who knew of it have long since turned to dust. I’m the only guardian left and once I’m gone, there will be no one to give warning.”
“Warning of what?”
The woman didn’t answer, simply melted into the mist and Avera chewed her lips as she tried to decide. Follow her friends or the stranger?
Since she’d come for answers, she chose the latter. After all, the city in the hollowed pit didn’t appear to be harming anyone, just putting them to work. She grabbed her bag and that of her friends before heading after the woman.
It didn’t prove easy to locate the direction the mysterious stranger had gone as the mist swirled thickly around the ledge, making Avera watch her feet lest she wander wrong and end up plummeting over the ledge.
The amulet glowed once more, clearing a bit of the area around her, but she only caught by chance the swirl of a cloak.
She hastened to catch up only to pause as the woman seemingly disappeared.
“Hello?” she called out.
“In here.” The voice sounded close.
Avera reached out and her fingertips scraped against a wall. She trailed her hand over it, inching alongside until she found an opening. Avera dumped the bags she carried and clutched her dagger before entering.
The mist abruptly ceased as if it didn’t dare enter the cave.
A cave set up as a home.
Avera glanced around at the space, a fairly spacious single room.
It contained a bed, a table, and a pair of chairs.
Shelves were carved into the walls and held jugs.
Herbs hung from the ceiling. A fire crackled in a hearth but somehow burned with no wood.
Avera noticed the flames rested atop a black puddle. A strange fuel source.
The woman removed her cloak, revealing herself to be old, her face wrinkled with age, her figure slight, her white hair bound in a single long braid.
“Tea?” the stranger asked, placing a kettle on a hook over the odd burning fire.
Self-preservation kicked in to remind her that trusting the woman might be hazardous to her health. “No, thank you.”
“I promise, it’s not poisoned.”
Avera’s eyes widened. Had the woman read her mind? “So you claim,” Avera replied.
The stranger chuckled. “While there are many who would like to see you dead, I am not one of them. On the contrary, you need to be alive, for you have a great role to play.”
The claim led to Avera bubbling with even more questions. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That you have an important destiny, Avera Voxspira.” The woman pulled out a pair of cups despite Avera declining the tea.
“You know who I am, but who are you?”
“You may call me Opal.”
No title or surname. Avera pursed her lips. “If we’ve never met, how did you recognize me?”
“As I said earlier, I’ve been expecting you.”
“How can you expect me when I didn’t even know I was coming until a short time ago?”
The woman turned from the hearth. “Because I see the future.”
Unexpected answer, and not one given as a joke. Opal appeared quite serious.
“That’s not possible.”
“Why?”
“Because no one can see what hasn’t happened yet,” Avera huffed.
“Are you sure about that?” Opal asked with amusement. “Surely, by now, you’ve encountered enough on your journey to the Spire to realize there is more to this world than you ever imagined.”
“What would you know of my journey?”
“That it happened abruptly because of betrayal, and that your version of reality has been tested. Or are you going to tell me you’ve encountered something like the mist before?”
“It is strange.”
Opal snorted. “That is downplaying its nature.”
“Is the mist magic?”
“Yes and no. It is not a spell, not the usual kind, but magic did create it as a vessel to send out a message, one that clings to those who hear it and forces those caught by it to obey its command.”
“A command that brings them here.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“We’ll get to that in a moment.”
Opal’s refusal to reply brought a tautness to Avera’s lips. “When you claim you see the future, I assume it’s also some sort of magic.” Stated more than asked.
“While I do know magic, foresight isn’t considered such as there is no spell needed. It is more like an innate ability. I close my eyes and I see glimpses of what is to come.”
“You’ll have to excuse my skepticism, but how can you see something that hasn’t yet happened?”
“Because people are predictable to a certain extent and when it comes to the future, there are parts that are set and unchanging.”
“And what of the parts that aren’t?” Avera countered.
“Those would be the forks where a person of pivotal importance chooses a path.”
While it sounded pompous to ask, Avera still blurted, “Am I a person of pivotal importance?”
“Oh, yes. It is you who will decide the fate of the world.”
An ominous thing to claim. Avera blinked. “I’m afraid the world is in trouble then, since I currently have no power. My throne was stolen from me by the man who murdered my mother and siblings.”
“Which I predicted.” Opal came to the table bearing a pot and she set it down beside the two cups.
“You knew someone would kill my family?” Avera exclaimed.
“Yes. So did your mother, although she did her best to avert it.”
The news rocked Avera. “She was aware it would happen?”
“I told her the last time she visited that the choices she had made, despite my warning, set her on a road that inevitably led to her violent death.”
“If you knew Benoit would kill her, then why not warn her so she’d know not to marry him?” It emerged as an accusation.
“Because that’s not how seeing the future works. I don’t see individual events, more like impactful results. At our last visit, I told her she’d bear a girl child who would be very important. One that would need to be protected.”
“Me.” Suddenly weak knees had Avera plopping into a chair.
“Yes, you.” Opal poured the tea and held out the cup to Avera who took it with trembling fingers. She set it down rather than drink.
“Were you the reason my mother all but ignored me?” The queen had said she’d distanced herself to ensure no one knew she favored Avera. Could Opal’s vision be why?
“In a sense. My visions showed that if she chose to lavish you with love, you would die before your tenth summer.”
“Because of my brother.”
“I couldn’t see who ended your life, only that jealousy would bring about your death.”
“You’re the reason why I’ve spent my life more or less alone,” Avera whispered.
“To keep you alive and prepare you for what’s to come you needed to be strong. Independent.”
“What about loved?” Avera countered harshly.
“Your mother loved you.”
“She never told me, not until she lay dying.” Avera couldn’t help the bitter twist to her words.
“Should you succeed in the quest you’re upon, you will find happiness.”
“And if I don’t?”
“You’ll be dead, so it won’t matter.” A blunt reply.
“What quest? I never agreed to any task.”
“Are you not the queen of Daerva?”
“Not according to Benoit,” Avera muttered. “I was never crowned.”
“That’s just a ceremony. Meaningless words, and a spectacle for the masses. You are Daerva’s queen.”
“A queen without a throne. Benoit has painted me as a traitor.”
“His lies won’t stand scrutiny. And he’s not your most pressing problem.”
“What is?”
“The evil trapped within the frozen lake.”
“Are you going to give me a proper explanation or keep giving me tidbits?” Avera complained.
“How to explain...” Opal leaned back in her seat and her expression turned dreamy.
“A long time ago, a great foul being came to our world and laid waste to it. Burning. Murdering. Destroying. Through great courage and sacrifice, that evil entity was vanquished, buried under this mountain, frozen in time. Forgotten until a curious Verlorian came along and broke the seals that kept the foul one trapped.”
It might just be coincidence and yet Avera murmured, “My father.”
“Yes, your father, Basil Currosa of Verlora. Despite my warning your mother to never return after she was crowned and did her pilgrimage to the Spire, Basil convinced her to bring him here. Claimed scientific curiosity. Which wasn’t exactly a lie.
What he failed to tell Calixte was his intention to steal what he sought, thus starting a chain of events that included your mother’s death. ”
“What did he take?”
“Five very unique rocks.”
The reply had Avera frowning. “That doesn’t seem to be a great crime.”
“It is when those stones acted as locks. You see, the prison created for this evil thing wasn’t enough to stem its influence. Even frozen, it tried to exert its will.”
Avera held up a hand. “Why jail it if it was so dangerous? Why not kill it instead?”
“Because it is essentially immortal. Our weapons are not sharp enough to cut through its hide. Our magic is too weak to cause damage.”
“I’m surprised it could be imprisoned.”