Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
~ Shade ~
Igasp as color returns to the forest around me and the present world comes back into focus.
Thane’s large hands are gripping my shoulders, and he peers at me with concern. “Shade, are you all right?”
Reaching up, I rub my head, still dazed. “I just saw a memory of the oracle.” As the truth of what I’ve seen hits me, I twist my head to where Elgen and Tarlaz are standing on the grass, right where the oracle died.
“It was you,” I say to them, still struggling to believe it. “You’re the oracle.”
Elgen pivots to face me. “Yes, I suppose you’re correct.
The pair of us must have been connected and shared a singular body.
And it’s clear we believed our power should not pass to Queen Krosia, so we took measures to stop that from happening.
How we ended up at the academy, however, remains a mystery. ”
“You still don’t remember?” I prompt.
“No,” she answers simply.
I think about how Elgen and Tarlaz were connected, but they split apart in the memory. “Do you think if we found a way to rejoin the two of you, that you’d get your memories back?”
“It’s a possibility,” Tarlaz says.
It’s hard to believe that the shadows have some incredible power, but I can’t deny what I saw.
They’re the oracle. And they’ve been in the academy this whole time.
I struggle to get my head around it, and the thought that the oracle and their power is linked to me is making me just a little terrified.
Especially because it’s clear that Queen Krosia would kill to get her hands on it.
I think of the Xalgrith king as well. This power must be what both Queen Krosia and King Malgur are after, and the king almost got his hands on it because of me. I shudder.
“Mate, are you with us?” Thane asks, his face still close to mine. I get the feeling he’s been trying to get my attention for a while. “What do you mean you saw a memory?”
My other mates crowd around me, watching me intently.
I lick my dry lips. “This is going to sound crazy, but just hear me out, okay? The oracle was a being with two souls, and together, they had an incredible power. A power that Queen Krosia somehow learned about. She tried to take it from them, but rather than let her have it, the oracle sacrificed themself, and those two connected souls split apart and disappeared into the shadow realm, taking the power with them. I think that power is what both King Malgur and Queen Krosia are after. I think it’s the same power King Malgur sensed on me.
And I think…Elgen and Tarlaz are the oracle. ”
When I’m done, my mates all stare for a long while, looking at me, then to the shadows before returning their gazes to me again.
Raith rubs the back of his head. “Fuck. That’s…some story, sunshine.”
“The shadows have been at the academy for as long as I can remember,” Thane says with a frown. “The queen would have seen Elgen and Tarlaz.”
I shrug. “I don’t know what else to tell you. They were dark shapes when the oracle died, and they flew away from Queen Krosia. I guess they went under her radar at the academy. Plus, I’m connected to them and even I can barely feel any power coming from them.”
“Curious,” Galen muses, squatting to stare at the shadows. “Not the part about Krosia. That doesn’t surprise me, but to think these two were in the academy that whole time.”
Raith laughs. “Krosia is goin’ to be kickin’ herself when she finds out.”
“Which isn’t going to happen,” Knox says coldly. His dark eyes never leave me, and I can see his mind working as he lets all the pieces fall into place. “Now that we know what both the Xalgrith and Krosia are after, we need to be careful.”
Raith scrubs a hand over his face. “So what do we do now? It’s not like we can run and hide Shade and the oracle.”
“There’s no running,” I say to my mates. “The Xalgrith felt this power. They’ll come for me, and I’m sure Professor Yevar will send them straight to Shadowbone. Even if I could, I wouldn’t leave Kenzie and the other students to face the Xalgrith alone, and it’s not like we can tell the queen.”
Thane goes to reply, but I’m distracted when a low melody whispers through the trees. Come, oh mistress, bonded to four… The words dance and weave through the branches, riding on a light breeze that rustles the leaves of the nearby trees.
My brow creases. “Do you guys hear that?”
My mates all stop and listen, and Bonfang flaps his wings, lifting into the air like he’s following Knox’s silent command. The wolf disappears over the trees, and it’s a short while later when he returns.
Knox’s face hardens. “We need to go.”
Thane’s shadows curl around him. “What did you see?”
“They’re here,” Knox answers, and going by Thane’s lack of surprise, I’m guessing he knows exactly who Knox is talking about.
“They? Who’s they?” I ask.
Shadows gather beside Knox as he creates a shadow pathway, but I strain my ears as the song continues, floating through the forest. Listen, oh mistress, hear our plea…
The wind changes direction, and I sniff as an unpleasant smell reaches my nose. “Hey, do you guys smell that?” It’s the smoke I scented earlier, though it’s stronger now.
My feet are moving before I realize what I’m doing, and I’m on Emorie’s back in seconds.
“Something’s wrong,” I say to her in my mind. “I need to know what they’re not telling me.”
“Then we shall investigate. Hold tight, bonded.” Without questioning me, Emorie lifts into the air, her large black wings only just missing the trees as she ascends.
“Shade!” Thane calls after me, but my mates don’t stop me. Instead, they mount their creatures and follow me above the trees.
For only our mistress can set us free… The song finishes as we fly over a large hill and the destruction comes into view. My heart stutters. Far in the distance, a whole section of the forest is on fire. Smoke billows into the air, and flakes of ash rain from the sky.
I let out a strangled cry at the sight of the burning trees, and I can faintly make out some of the forest creatures running from the flames.
“The Xalgrith!” I say to Emorie in a panic as my mates and their animali hover in the air on either side of me. “They’re here!”
“No, bonded,” Emorie says softly. “Look closer.”
I take a deep breath, grateful for my heightened eyesight as I stare at the burning forest. Barely visible on the far right, behind a row of burning oak trees, stands a group of shadow warriors. “Why aren’t they helping?” I ask my phoenix, but the realization hits me a moment later.
“Queen Krosia did this, didn’t she?”
“Yes,” Emorie replies. “A long time ago, the oracle came to me and told me my own prophecy. They told me a darkness was coming, and when the time came, I must bond with the only one who could help.”
I tear my gaze from the fire to look at the two shadows who are resting on my shoulder again.
“Oh, don’t look at us,” Elgen says. “Whatever we may have said or done is not something we can remember, right now.”
“But how am I supposed to help?” I mutter, feeling completely inadequate for this task.
“That was not divulged to me,” Emorie replies calmly.
“Okay, but you must have some idea. How did you know to choose me?” Personally, I’m starting to think she really made a mistake given everything we’ve already been through, but I’m not about to tell her that.
Emorie tilts her head, her beady black eyes focused on the burning forest. “I chose you because you were the first student at Shadowbone to seem completely unequipped for the job.”
“Oh, great. So my incompetence caught your attention,” I reply dryly. “I’m sorry to say, but you probably should have been looking for different strengths.”
“You misunderstand me, bonded. Your…clumsy charm caught my attention, yes,” she explains, “but that is not why I chose you.”
“Okay,” I say slowly. “Then why did you?”
She’s silent for a moment. “Because no matter what the professors put you through, or how unmatched you seemed, you always…”
“Managed to evade death?” I finish for her. “You know that was luck, right?”
She gives me a look. “You always had hope.”
I swallow hard. “Some would say that hope was just me being delusional.”
“And others would say that hope is the only thing that can get us through this,” Emorie replies. “You’ve seen what the shadow queen is capable of.”
“The giant chicken has some wisdom,” Elgen adds with a nod. “In simple terms, your stubbornness to not die is exactly what we need.”
“My stubbornness to stay alive?” I reply.
“They refer to your bravery,” Tarlaz corrects.
Okay, now I want to laugh, because obviously these three still don’t understand me at all.
“I’m not brave,” I counter. What we really need is this so-called goddess who’s going to help us all.
If they were here, I would happily help them get the power from Elgen and Tarlaz as the oracle foretold.
But until then, survival remains our focus.
But why would Krosia burn the forest? I mean, I get that she’s evil, but what does she gain?
“Why would the queen do this?” I ask my mates, because the shadows are still chatting about the definition of bravery, which according to Elgen, the word can sometimes be used interchangeably with stupidity.
Knox is the one to answer me, and his entire body is tense as he watches the flames lick at the sky. “Krosia has always been able to draw more energy from this realm than the rest of us, but over time she decided it wasn’t enough.”
“She can draw on the shadow energy from the rest of us, but that has limitations,” Thane adds.
“One day she discovered that by burning parts of the forest, the destroyed trees released more shadow magic that she could harness. We’ve questioned her about it on multiple occasions, but she’s rationalized that it’s the cost of us winning this war.
That if she doesn’t increase her power, this realm turns to ash anyway. ”
Horror cuts through me. “The prophecy,” I rasp, feeling ill. “Forests of ash before the final call.”
Knox nods. “She thinks this is justified. That the prophecy showed this was meant to be. That in time once the war is over the forests will heal.”
“But you’re supposed to be saving this realm,” I say, starting to get choked up.
“And in her way, she believes that’s what she’s doing,” Thane growls. “At least, she has the other originals convinced.”
“But…the creatures? Surely, some of them would have tried to fight this?” I think of the foxrets and how organized they’d been. “Surely some of them would have tried to fight for their homes?”
“Yes,” Raith says, looking just as sickened as I am.
Kazer lets out a low growl that rumbles in his throat.
“We’ve rehomed many creatures over the years, but it has been difficult without the ability to truly communicate, especially with the more powerful zenali creatures.
Some of the zenali have tried to fight Krosia, but they can’t resist that kind of power. ”
“This is what Borshoz was talking about, isn’t it?” I say to Emorie and the shadows, and my stomach drops when I think of Professor Yevar’s words as well. The professor had hinted that the shadow queen was evil, but I hadn’t understood.
“The creatures want an end to this war,” Emorie says. “But what is the point if the cost is already the end of everything they hold dear?”
Tears well in my eyes, but I rapidly blink them back before they can spill over. Crying isn’t going to help the shadow realm and all the creatures within it.
“We need to do something,” I croak. “We need to stop her!”
The sun drops lower below the horizon, leaving only a stain of light across the sky.
“If the queen detects us and realizes you’re outside of the academy walls, that will give her the excuse she’s looking for to end you,” Knox reasons. “And if Elgen and Tarlaz do indeed hold some great power, we can’t risk the queen getting close to you. No, we must go. We will fight another day.”
I open my mouth to protest, but Raith speaks up. “Kazer, Arizak, Bonfang, Rinoc, and I can stay. We’ll help those we can, but my brother is right. You need to go.”
“But—”
“Look at what Krosia is doing just to get a fraction more power.” Thane gestures toward the burning forest. “You saw what she did to the oracle. What do you think she’s going to do to you if she finds out you have what she’s been searching for all these years?
And once she has that power, what do you think will happen then? ”
A tear slips down my face.
“He’s right, bonded. I too will stay,” Emorie tells me. “I will help lead the creatures to safety. For now, it’s best if you return to the academy.”
A flake of ash lands on my cheek, and I stare grimly out at the burning forest.
“Okay,” I say to my mates. “But we need to figure this out soon.” I peer at Raith and the animali, and even though I’m not sure how much help I’d be, I still wish I was joining them. “Promise me you’ll be safe.”