Page 54 of Hollowed

“Ibelieve this is a good starting place,”Priscillasaid, setting two more books onto the towering stack. “Let’sget through these before we search anymore.”

Nodding,Idropped my hand from the booksIwas perusing, moving around the stack.Priscillapressed a stack into my arms.Shepatted my cheek and smiled, her eyes flitting across my face before she dropped her hand.Iwalked back to the chairs by the windows and sat down, pulling them onto my lap. “Ihope this has at leastsomethingwe can use.”

Shelaughed, mirroring my movements with her own stack. “Wecan only hope.”

Bothof us settled into the plush chairs and began leafing through the pages in front of us.

Theendless tomes were interesting, but nothing helpful had come up.Ihad learned more thanIhad ever wanted to know about creatures of theOtherworld, enough to give me nightmares for years.Nearlyan hour passed before eitherPriscilla, orIspoke again.

“Haveyou found anything useful?” she asked, looking up from the thick book in her lap.Hereyes were wide as she leaned into me, waiting for my response.

“No,”Isighed, closing my book over my finger to keep my place. “Thoughif it is only sluagh being summoned,IthinkIwill be immensely grateful.Thereare much more terrifying creatures in theOtherworldthat could have been summoned.”

Shepeered up at me, raising a brow. “Alexanderonly suspects the sluagh.Donot speak something worse into existence, dear girl.”

Mycheeks burned. “Ofcourse.Haveyou found anything?”

Shehummed. “Perhaps.Thereseems to be something about that prophecy you mentioned, but nothing certain yet.”

“Youknow the prophecyAdelaidewas speaking of?”Isat up straighter, desperate for any new information about that prophecy. “Alexandersaid there were too many prophecies to know which one she was referring to.”

“Thisone seems to be the only oneI’vecome across that could be relevant,” she said, looking back down at the pages. “Itmentions flames and death.Iam still searching for a full translation of it, but this book only has vague references to it.”

“Pleaselet me know if you find it,”Isaid, dread settling like a lead weight in my stomach.Flamescould refer to me, but death was never something good to be associated with.Chewingon my lower lip,Iturned my attention back to the book in my lap.

Mymind struggled to pay attention as my thoughts slipped to whatAlexandercould be doing or discovering, if anything.Priscilla’searlier words about my parents also wormed their way back to the forefront of my mind.Ihad been blind for so long, and thoughPriscilladid not seem to fault me for it,Iknew my ignorance was complacency.Ishould have pushed back sooner.

Shakingmy head to clear those thoughts,Iturned back to the book.Icould not change the past, butIcould change the future.SleepyHollowwould not burn to ash,Iwould make certain of that.

Afteranother long period of nothingness, a poem caught my attention.Thewords jumped out asIturned the page, dragging my eyes back to them and holding them there.

Thepoem detailed a dance between death and a bird of flames, chasing each other through time, only for the bird of flames to be consumed by a sentient mist and pulled beneath the earth to theOtherworldby a swarm of large black birds the size of men.Thesimilarities to the sluagh were enough to give me pause.

“Haveyou heard of birds of fire?”Iasked, not looking up atPriscillaasIcontinued reading over the poem again and again.Shedid not reply, andIlifted my gaze to see her looking at me contemplatively. “Priscilla?Arethey actual birds or are they figurative?”

Hereyes refocused on me, and she sighed, closing her book. “Isuppose that depends on who you ask.Therewere real birds of flames long ago—phoenixes—who served the sun goddessBrig, though one hasn’t been known to exist for a long time.”

“Could—”Iswallowed, the words heavy on my tongue like ash.ThequestionIwanted to ask refused to leave my lips for fear of the answer, soIsettled for a different one. “Thispoem talks about death coming with a swarm of large black birds.Couldthat be the sluagh?”

Priscillareached over and pulled the book from my hands.Herfinger traced down the poem, her lips moving as she read.Onceshe was finished, she tapped at her chin. “It’squite possible.Thereare some similarities to the small pieces of the prophecy.Thedescriptors.”Shewaved her hand, her words trailing off. “Letme keep looking at this.Youfind out more about the sluagh and what someone could hope to achieve by summoning them here.”

Iwanted to protest and pull that book back to comb through it myself, to be the one that found the information to saveSleepyHollow.Instead,Inodded and opened another book, content to hide from whatever truthImight discover.

Uneasegnawed at my stomach, butIignored it, flipping through the pages ofAComprehensiveHistoryofCreaturesof theOtherworld.Itwas organized as an encyclopedia, with entries on a vast array of monsters that existed in theOtherworldand their characteristics.

Turningto theS’s,Ibegan my search anew, putting the thoughts of the phoenix out of my mind.Priscillawould be more than adequate to research the prophecy, andIwas uncertainIwanted to find out more.

Willfulignorance was apparently my calling.

Findingthe entry on the sluagh,Isettled back into the chair.

Sluagh(sla-ow):Thesluagh are a host of the dead, an army of unforgiven souls who fly through the air as a host of gray birds or a thick mist.Thesluagh are said to approach and pick up a person from anywhere, transporting them to their hiding place and draining the soul of its power.Ininstances where the humans have magical abilities, those abilities can also be taken.Whensummoned, the sluagh can be directed to target specific people and transfer the power drained from the target to the summoner.

Whilethe sluagh would occasionally rescue humans from danger in old times, they are generally dangerous and deadly.Ifyou see a large crescent swarm of gray birds, or an unnaturally thick mist, the sluagh are approaching.Ifpossible, go inside immediately and close all windows, lining all possible entryways to your home with salt.Thesluagh are only active during the night and more active as the autumn harvest begins, ushering in longer nights, though they can be summoned at any time.Whilethe sluagh can still appear with the rising sun, they prefer the darkness of the night, which is often all that is needed to accomplish their tasks of destruction.

“Priscilla,”Isaid, my voice trembling. “Thesluagh can drain magic and transfer it to the summoner.”

Herfinger froze over the passage she’d been reading.Aftera moment, she closed the book in her lap and looked up.

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