Page 34 of The Shadowed Oracle
“It was you,” Dean repeated softly, the beginning of a bright smile pulling at his lips. “You did all that by yourself.”
“But why now?” Ingrid asked. “Why am I seeing all this—feelingall this now?” She sucked in a shaky breath. “The nightmares. The Shades, they were nothing like this. Not even close. What’s changed? Why am I?—"
“Remember what I said about the viseer stone?” Dean cut in. “How it needed to charge?”
Ingrid tilted her head down, listening.
“Everyone and everything sent by Makkar is full of power, straight from the source of Ealis. And they’re all around you now. Their presence is charging you. Giving only a fraction of what you’d get in Ealis, but still, enough. Enough to give you back what you never knew you lost in the first place. Your power, Ingrid. The magic. The magic that’s inside you. It’s finally waking up.”
Equal parts excitement and sheer terror swirled in her head. She didn’t know where to start. How to start.
Her power.
Hermagic.
She ran the word over and over in her mind, repeating it until the word sounded funny. Her magic, she thought again, losing herself to the fantasies of what it could mean. What possibilities, what benefits, and, as petty as she knew it was, what vengeance she could enact.
But she’d have to wait, Dean told her. The process of wielding this ability would be lengthy, fraught with mistakes and misdirection, even if she did have a good teacher. And as it stood, she didn’t haveanyteacher. Period.
Karis was the only one who could’ve fully mentored her, the only one who could’ve taught from experience. And since he had no reason to tell Dean all the particulars of his power, Ingrid couldn’t even get secondhand lessons from his son.
“So it’ll just… come to me?” She was hopeful for all of a few seconds before catching Dean’s wincing reaction.
“Sort of.”
“Awesome.” Ingrid’s shoulders slumped. “You don’t have the slightest clue, do you?”
“I wouldn’t say that. Ifwe go to Ealis, your power will grow exponentially. As for honing that power, though, we’ll have to find someone.”
“Just find someone? Any old someone?” He made it sound so mundane. Like a doctor’s office. Or a little trade shop somewhere. “Really?”
“No, not just anyone.” A buried thought seemed to be unearthed in him. “Actually, there is a faction of magic wielders in Ealis. The Libeeri. But they’re very private. Hard to find, let alone meet with, due to how sought after those with power are.”
It sounded less and less possible as he went on. To travel to another world, find some secret faction of experienced wielders, and only then could she start what sounded like a long, tedious process.
“What if I’m too late?” Ingrid asked. “What if I can’t learn?”
Dean gave her a stern look. “Then you’re fucked. Shit out of luck. Sorry.” His cheeks inflated slightly, holding in a laugh.
“Alright then, I see how it is.” Ingrid planted her hands on the ground, readying to stand.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“To start learning, I guess. Seeing as you won’t help me.”
Dean’s smile faded into a deathly stillness as he peered up at Ingrid, who was now standing, albeit shakily. “Iamhelping you. You’ll need to know all this if you’re going to?—”
“Going to what?”
“Going to fight with us.”
“And why the hell would I do that?”
Dean shifted his weight backward until he was flat on the ground with his arms flailing up over his ears. “Oh, I don’t know Ingrid. Maybe because people are dying?”
“That’s not my problem,” Ingrid grunted. She didn’t know them. Didn’t owe them anything. If she were being completely honest, she often thought about how much easier her life would be if there were fewer people around. Less crowds. Less of everything.
“We have a serious population issue anyway,” Ingrid argued half-heartedly. “Earth is dying, you know.”
