CHAPTER THIRTEEN
VESPER
Vesper’s visit with Zyphira may have been slightly impulsive.
In fact, he spent nearly an hour hollering the Oracle’s name in that creepy ass place between dreams and waking before she appeared.
And by that time, his voice grew hoarse and his throat ached, not just with his demand, but with hope he’d receive answers.
The Sacred Lands erupted out of the inky darkness hidden beneath that black water.
Gargantuan dandelions sprouted from charcoaled soil, obsidian trees twisted into his path, and a lavender haze clouded the air, thick enough to send him into a coughing fit.
Zyphira’s injection of purple smog gave the heavy magic a grittier texture.
As Vesper glanced around, his heart throbbed with memories so vivid he could practically taste them.
He could see him and Izzy darting through the winding shroud of plants, Iz’s hands moving at lightning speed whining about Vesper’s cheating.
What she never knew was he had to change the rules to even gain the slightest upper hand.
She’d always been leagues smarter. Also a fuck ton more likely to bend the game in her favour.
But that was the past, and now, Vesper gazed toward his future.
A few paces in, Zyphira sat on a shallow toadstool, her shriveled legs crossed. From her creased brows, flushed blue skinned cheeks, and her purple eyes that harboured the sear of a hot poker, she appeared angry enough to raise the tide and drown Ellynne merely for spite.
Oh, fuck.
Zyphira shoved her spectacles up the bridge of her nose. The Oracle scar stamped into her forehead hummed with the ancient magic of the Hollow. “I assume you had good reason for screaming my name across the Divide like some lunatic?” she said, her tone less than amused.
The Divide? Was that what this place was?
He’d only been here with Izzy and once when he’d met with Zyphira before and she’d burdened him with the prophecy, their pactum, and given him the Stone of Refraction.
Then, this place hadn’t looked like an inky, bottomless abyss, but rather mirrored the Sacred Lands as it did now.
Vesper bowed at the waist and flashed the seer a grin he hoped would smooth the rough terrain of her rage. “Zyphira, it’s a great pleasure to see you. Have you lost weight? Done something with your hair? You look ravishing.”
“Cut the nonsense, Prince,” she snapped. “What is it you want?”
Splaying his hand over his chest, Vesper feigned a gasp. “And here I simply wanted to see an old friend. How are you? It’s been too long.”
The Oracle narrowed her gaze, though her thick-rimmed spectacles already shrunk them to raisins. “Among my important work, I have also been keeping a close eye on you. And I’m afraid my disappointment is unmatched. I had high hopes for you, Vesper Merikh.”
A sinking dread filled his stomach. He needed to patch this up quickly. “Then you’ve seen how I’ve restored Ellynne. Not to brag, but things are shaping up quite nicely and I’ve—”
“While you have been busy drinking, smashing mirrors, and taking Scarlets to your bed, your friends have been doing the work intended for you. So do not spew that nonsense. I know better. I thought you were better.” Zyphira sighed, pulled her glasses off, and massaged her eyes with two of her twisted fingers.
“You, dear Prince, have strayed so far from your path it’s been buried beneath the rubble of your mistakes. ”
Vesper shoved his hands into his pockets. “Actually—”
“No more excuses. This stops now. The drinking, the fucking, the carelessness—all of it.”
Zyphira’s words spanked him like some bratty child. As much as it wounded his ego, he probably needed it.
She held up her hand to stop him. “Why did you beckon me?”
“I was calling to request your assistance.” Though he doubted she would offer him anything after that rather brisk scolding. “The Council is reclaiming my home. They’re taking Ellynne away from me.”
With a tilt of her head, she said, “And you are asking me how to fix this mess you made for yourself?”
“You set me on the path to resurrect Izzy for the prophecy, and obviously the first attempt failed.” He kicked a rock that knocked off the toad stool and skitter to a halt. “I could use your guidance to get back on track.”
“So now you wish to follow the prophecy’s path? Isn’t that convenient for you?” The Oracle’s impatience soaked up all the air in this cavern and left him sputtering like a fool. “You do not get to choose it only when it suits you.”
Cautiously, he strolled over to her, afraid she might claw his eyes out if he didn’t speak from his heart.
After his honesty with Emmery, he could do it.
He knew he could. But it was like ripping off a sodden bandage scabbed into a wound.
It would undoubtedly be painful and bleed like a bitch.
He took a seat on a tree stump beside her, grateful she didn’t turn to meet his stare head on.
“I’ll admit, I’m feeling a bit … lost.” Her unrelenting gaze on the side of his face was an icy gale. “Alright, fine, I’m struggling. And I’ve made a decision, but I need information from you. To see if it’s possible.”
“Time is ticking, Prince. Get to your point.”
Vesper heaved a breath. “I decided I’m going to take one more shot at getting Izzy back.
I’ve seen her here. She’s in this place you call the Divide.
And although I failed the first time to bring her back.
I know the prophecy depends on it, and we need her to kill this fever too, but could she do something with her burden of mind?
Could she … I don’t know, persuade the Council to help us keep Ellynne? ”
If a pin dropped, it would have shaken the room given the silence that enveloped the air between them in that strange purple smog.
Vesper didn’t dare breathe as the Oracle scrutinized him, picking him apart as Quill often did, but his soul was raw, worn, and so bloody tired he let her see it all—every scabby, nasty bit he’d examined the last few days.
“It is possible. Her magic is the strongest I’ve bore witness to.”
Those three words inflated his heart, like he hadn’t realized it had been a balloon without air all this time. “Tell me what to do,” Vesper breathed. He spun on the wooden stump to face her. “I’ll do it. Anything.”
“The path you abandoned led you north. Now, if you were to veer back on track, it would send you to Morana. There are answers there. Those who bear the magic you have never recognized in another. Your past, your present, and your future wait there. But you must look within to find it.”
“And if I go to Morana,” he continued, “it helps Emmery, right? I know she’s looking for her tethered, but I want to help her. I owe it to her. I owe her so much more, but I need to start somewhere.”
As if she wanted to put her fist through a wall in anger, Zyphira replied, “Follow the path. It’s the only way to help her fulfill her destiny. You two are tied whether you choose to accept it or not. And you have much to repent for.”
Vesper waited for more, but the Oracle’s intense stare only pricked his skin. “What about Izzy?”
“She waits for you to free her from where she is held captive. Caught between. In Morana, seek a woman named Kyrith. She will guide you.”
“The Council comes in a month. Which is way too bloody soon. I need to know if I can do all this by then.” His heart drummed in his chest, beating that familiar tune of hope he was afraid to hear for fear of it fading to a sad, broken thud.
“Perhaps.”
He released a tense sigh. “So this Kyrith—” Her name danced on his tongue. “What does she look like? Where do I find her? How will she lead me?”
Zyphira just blinked at him.
“Really? Nothing? I know I’ve been a total prick, but come on. Give me something.” He released a heavy breath. “Any advice? Words of wisdom? Or is everything you say cryptic just to fuck with me?”
As Vesper crossed his arms over his chest, the Oracle mimicked him and reflected back the snark he wore in his own expression.
He had to give it to her, even for an old crone, Zyphira’s spirit hadn’t been stolen by time.
She reminded him of Marlys. But maybe it was the motherly, smack-you-in-the-ass attitude they both wore like a crown.
“Was that not obvious enough? Did you need me to spell it out? Use simpler words? I have a responsibility to hold the answers in my palms and only interfere when absolutely necessary. Lest I set off a chain of events and bring eternal darkness. You would not want that, would you?”
“I suppose not.”
Vesper glanced around the Sacred Lands and spotted the clearing where he and Emmery had been attacked by serpents deep in the cavern. It was now burnt to shit from Kaida’s flame. The memory seemed so distant now.
“Though, I could do without the attitude, I’m working on that deal we made.
” Vesper rubbed the inside of his wrist where the pactum scar in the shape of a cavae carved his skin, not stolen by death because of the amulet used to bring him back.
It would’ve been nice to have one less thing to deal with.
As if Zyphira could hear his thoughts, she grabbed a nearby stalk of grass and walloped him across the back of the head. It took him by such surprise Vesper didn’t have the good sense to dodge. Maybe Zyphira thought she could smack some sense into him. Clearly the joke was on her.
He rubbed the back of his head as the bite and sting reddened his skin.
“When you are in the north, do not ruin this. There are those who wait for you and have for some time. You will do better or so help me—”
“Alright, alright!” Vesper held his hands up in surrender. Gods, he had his work cut out for him. “Go to Morana. Find Kyrith and the people with magic like mine. Get the answers for Izzy to save Ellynne. And do better. I’m on it.”
Zyphira grinned, a sharp display of her black teeth. “You called on me, boy, remember that. Do not disappoint me.”