Page 33 of Shadows in Bloom

Kyra shook her head. “No, she hasn’t. It’s been slow the last few times… We were hoping you could help.”

I picked at the skin of my fingers. I wanted desperately to ask them what they meant, but at the same time, I didn’t want to know, and I didn’t want to listen to another lie. I was aware that this was a dream, but it felt so real. They had the potential to provide real answers for me. But I couldn’t. I simply lacked the bravery to open my mouth and speak.

Nissia smiled and nodded her head. “Nairu, why don’t you kneel in front of the shrine? I will light the incense and we can begin.”

I obeyed her command, dropping to my knees on the cold stone floor. I rested my hands on my lap as the aroma intensified and my mind grew weary. Something felt off inside of me. My magic was practically humming beneath my skin. It was becoming difficult to breathe—from the smoke or something else entirely; I wasn’t certain.

Nissia brushed the hair from my face and whispered, “Don’t fight it. The more you fight it, the more pain it will bring you.”

Nissia placed a bowl of water in front of me, and I didn’t have a chance to look away before I caught my reflection in the pool. I froze, unable to look away as my face twisted and contorted intothe same evil image that I had seen in the mirror on the night of my first veritable nightmare. It grinned, looking at me with wild eyes, before its voice began to echo in my mind.

We are so close to achieving what we must do.

I struggled to rip my eyes from the bowl.

Stop running from me. I am inescapable.

Regardless of my utmost efforts, I was unable to budge even slightly. I was straining to push away the bowl, so I wouldn’t have to see the image and hear its wicked voice. I wanted to wake up. Needed to wake up.

Aren’t you tired?

I was. Tired of traveling. Tired of training. Tired of not knowing why. Tired of living the life I led. But I knew this voice was hoping for that. It was poisoning my mind to wear down my will to carry on fighting. Why? I didn’t know, but I knew I wouldn’t allow that to happen. I would not be so weak as to succumb to its lies.

It was that conviction that finally broke its hold on me. “I will NOT listen to you any longer!” I shouted, raising the bowl and slamming it back down onto the stone floor. The clay shattered into pieces and scattered across the floor. A few shards pierced into my skin, sending beads of blood trickling down my legs. Ignoring the pain, I stood.

“N-Nairu…” The priestess looked on in horror. “What have you done?”

“Nairu?” Alandris whispered. “Did you fall asleep?”

I opened my eyes with a gasp. The nightmare had differed from the others I’d experienced. It felt like I’d been there—the real me. It was as though my current thoughts and emotions were overlapping with those of my dream self, blurring everything together to the point I couldn’t differentiate between the two. Which feelings were my own, and which were hers? A nightmare within a nightmare.

“Nairu?” he repeated.

I shook my head. “Sorry, I was just remembering it.” I leaned back and looked toward the star-filled sky. “I get them often. This one was particularly odd, though. I’m not sure what—”

“Wait.” Alandris cut me off sharply. He looked like a hawk, scanning the tree line around them.

I listened closely, but nothing stood out to me, only the usual sounds of insects chirping and the leaves rustling in the wind. Still, I readied myself on the chance that Alandris had caught something different that I hadn’t detected.

“Stay here,” he commanded.

I watched as he made his way to the forest edge to the west of us, his hand gripping the dagger at his side. I toyed with the thought of waking the others up, and the thought of following him, but either way, I envisioned myself being scolded, so I stood and waited. I patiently waited until I perceived a soft clicking purr, the noise of branches breaking, and witnessed fire burst forth from Alandris’ hand.

Before I had a chance to wake the others, Alandris’ voice boomed. “EVERYONE UP!”

The quickness with which they rose to action was impressive. Kaz was halfway across the field before I could even register what was happening. I heard an arrow knock behind me. Zorinna, too, had wasted no time pulling her bow. Faster than all of them, though, was Kallistra, who was planted in front of me with daggers drawn in each hand before Alandris had even finished shouting.

“Stay behind me and don’t move an inch,” Kallistra warned.

“But you have to help them!”

At least six creatures had emerged from the trees. Though humanoid regarding their body shape, the resemblance stopped there. Their skin was a milky white color, covered in hundreds of red eyes, looking like pustules ready to burst. Though they stood on two feet, six more appendages burst from their skin, three on each side of their waist—like the arms of a spider. I had read of them in books—Visumena. Rare, supposedly.

I waited more seconds than I’d wanted to for Kallistra to budge, and when she didn’t, I rushed past her toward the tree line, ignoring the curses that flowed from her lips the moment she saw me bolt. There wasn’t time to think about the consequences of my actions, about whether I could even tap into my magic successfully. Two of the Visumena made a rush toward Kaz, two scuttled past them all in the direction of the camp, and two locked their focus on Alandris. It wasn’t until I heard the horrendous clicking noise that I noticed another had come forth from the trees and was headed straight for me.

A bird would not help me now. I needed raw, pure energy. I imagined my shadows more like a whip, lashing out from my palms. As they struck the creature’s chest, leaving a gash in the flesh, the creature let out an ear-splitting screech. It charged at me, and with no time to react, the creature tackled me to the ground, its maw snapping dangerously close to my face. I struggled to avoid the strange viscous fluid dripping from its fangs.

My head was swimming from the blow of smacking against the rough ground, but I knew I couldn’t lose consciousness, or it would be the end for me. I gritted my teeth, digging my nails into the shoulders of the Visumena, using every ounce of strength in my body to hold it back. I attempted again to channel my magic into my hands. When the Visumena’s screeches grew so loud my ears felt as though they would burst, I knew I had succeeded.

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