Page 61 of Of Blooming Embers
We stepped off the bridge and onto a decagon-shaped platform, surrounded by ten thick trees. Rope fastened each vertex to three of the nearest trunks. Piles of pale flowers were scattered over the deck—the citizens’ offerings to Selene.
“Come closer,Belladonna.” Crooking one knobbly finger, the withered female standing in the center smirked at the nickname. I was sick of the Augur’s riddles.
I marched before her, the others hanging back a bit. “Let’s get this over with.”
She angled her head, scrutinizing me. “Always in such a hurry. When you rush, you miss the details.”
“Well, I’m seeing them now.Belladonna.”
Belladonna.Correction,Nightshade.
Silently, her shoulders shook. “How you amuse me. I see you’ve come to terms with your lineage on the walk.”
“I bloody well have done no such thing.”
“But you will.” She sighed, lifting her forearms at each side. “During the Budding Moon,Hallowed End is where you’ll find the next part of your journey.”
My eyes swept over the circle of trees. “This place? What is it?”
“A place for blessings. A place for thresholds to be crossed, as long as you have the key.” She lifted my left hand with her first two fingers. Her touch was steady and cool as her thumb ran over the carved obsidian circling my forefinger, and it tingled against my skin.
“So, it’s a portal, and this ring … this ring is the key to opening it. If this can open portals, why haven’t I needed it for others like the one in Inksalt Loch?”
“Druiks who know the locations of such cosmic vortexes can traverse the mortal realm. They’re a static source of travel within the region. Travel between Oneiric realms, however, is another thing altogether.” She held her palms up, chin lifting.
“Other than the Ancients themselves, only those who possess a celestial key can call upon and unlock the inter-realm passageways. As you know, without the right time and place, the ring’s ember simply acts as a mechanism to transmit your physical body over shorter distances from one place to another. Yet, if you’re close to a strong ember source or sacred location like this”—she gestured widely—“the key bearer only needs to imagine a destination to travel there.”
“So, which realm would this portal lead to?”
“Where you will find what you seek?—”
“My mother? Kaden?” I interjected; my words agitated.
A slight smile tipped her lips, her brows drawing together as she leaned toward me, lightly poking her finger into the space above my heart. “In a dismal place you’ve seen before. You weren’t ready to face it then, but you are now. You must simply imagine it—here—and only during the peak of lunation.”
My lips pressed into a white slash as my fingers shoved through the curls at the top of my head. I let my arms drop. “Always during blasted full moons. Seems incredibly careless of the Ancients to leave the portals so vulnerable every month.”
The Augur’s gaze unfocused, and her words softened tenderly. “There’s only so much to be done when nature fuses with the Ancients’ creations. The gateways between realms are no exception. All living things, whether a tree, mortal, or beast, are both wild and confined. Even the Ancients must obey Kosmos; their power limited to the realms and human affairs they preside over. If they leave the realm or source that gives their ember life, it eventually weakens. Just like when mortals physically visit other realms outside their own … they’ll be called to join the realm in which they’ve overstayed their welcome.”
My energy tingled under my skin. “Why won’t you give me a clear answer? Why speak in cryptic riddles?” I demanded, tired of games. My fingers dug into my belt.
The Augur cupped my chin, her skin warm and humming against mine. “There’s a design to the fabric that builds each of you. Yet, those exquisite threads of the Aetherbind that fasten your very essence to your physical self and destiny are elastic. As all threads are … until they break. I, too, must respect Kosmos and the design of the Fates’ tapestries. For every knot I’ve shown you, elsewhere, another unravels.” She stepped closer, dropping her arm, her eyes shining.
My lips parted, and I gaped at her. Beheld her golden eyes as they seized mine. Her pale brow quirked. A quick sip of air rushed into my windpipe. “Your eyes. They … I’ve seen them before.” In a flurry, the images of the youthful seer from Ceto sped through my mind as her beautiful hands flipped over the oracle cards. “I don’t … I don’t understand. Who—what—are you?”
The liquid metal of her irises consumed the white as a dazzling, gilded aura spread over her. “Very good. You’ve assembled the details. You’ll do well,Belladonna.”
The others rushed forward, flanking my sides.
Yaya gasped, her hands reaching for the female. The men watchedquietly, stances wide. Breena was Breena. “What the ever-loving fecking void?” she mumbled. “Who is this broad?”
A benevolent smile spread across the Augur’s face as she hovered backward over the boards. Her long, pale hair and gauzy robes drifted around her form despite there not being a hint of a breeze.
“You’re ready, child. Lean on your kin.” Her melodious voice glided through the mist as her gaze connected with each of us.
My heart lurched as I struggled to comprehend what was happening.
All at once, the haze spun around her, melding with her glittering, golden aura. The deeply etched wrinkles smoothed, and her face morphed into that of the Haadran seer.
