Page 91 of Gift from the Source
“I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just nervously excited.”
His hum vibrates through my mind before he lets out a soft purr.“Then let’s not dally any longer. Grab your mother’s book and let’s go.”
My heart drops to my stomach as even more nerves creep up.“My mom’s book? Why? I still need to get myself balanced. I usually do that in Tillman’sroom. I was waiting for you to do that in case you had some sound guidance for me.”
“You will need the book. You don’t need to waste time meditating. That is my sound guidance.”
That’s all he says as he tucks his wings around himself and poofs out of thin air. I’m not sure what that trick is, but it’s different than how we transport. Our movement is silent and unseen. His, although silent, creates a small twinkle of white light like the flash of a shift.
“Well, he’s just made this even more nerve-wracking. He told me to bring Mom’s book and said not to waste time meditating.”
The humor on Oakly’s face falters and Gaster stands a little straighter. Both don’t have an ounce of worry about them, but they’re now scrambling for an answer for me.
“Whatever it is, you’re going to crush it. If he told you to bring your mom’s book, it more than likely has to do with the portals. And maybe he doesn’t believe you need to be balanced for whatever he’s going to show you.”
“Exactly, Willow. Just do as he says and get it out of your pocket dimension. He isn’t going to make you do anything or teach you anything that isn’t beneficial to you. Keep that in mind,” Gaster says.
“You’re right. You’re both right. I got this.” I exhale sharply and shake my hands out then open my pocket dimension.
With a tight smile to them and Mom’s book clenched tightly in my hand, I shadow across the palace to the south wing. Instead of popping out right at the amplifier room, I come out at the end of our hall so I can walk there and get a hold of my nerves.
Caspian’s room is the only one occupied at the moment, so I make sure to keep my steps quiet as I pass his door. He said this morning he would be in there ‘looking’ if we needed him. The other three are off at the academy, along with Keeper and Tanith.
Taking a left at the end of the hall, I expected to see V sitting outside the door, waiting for me, but instead, he’s nowhere in sight. For a second, I hesitate to turn the handle in case he made some stop before coming here, but the magic coming from inside spurs me on.
Not because it’s calling to me as usual. It’s barely doing anything.
My steps falter as I shove my way in, then shut the door behind me. V is perched on one of the spires on the Angel Aura Amethyst and other than the power of the crystals, the overwhelming magic is nulled.
“What’s going on? How are you doing that?”
“This Eye is slightly different than the one back home, but it works all the same. I can still feel the power of the realm in the crystal. Come sit down and get comfortable while I speak,”he instructs and I don’t hesitate any longer. If he’s finally going to talk, I’ll listen.
“Good to know how easy it is to persuade you.”
“With answers? Absolutely,”I tease as I sit on my platform and pull my blanket around me.
It’s not lost on me the thing he said the other day about some answers aren’t meant to be found. I just don’t know if that was a warning for me to stop all my questions or a warning to be more mindful of what I’m asking.
“A little of both.”
“Good to know.”I snort, then look around the crystals before settling on him.“So…”
“Don’t be shy with your questions now, Willow.”
“Well, I don’t know what to ask now. If I’m being honest, I feel like I have whiplash. You went from telling me we’d have our time, to now apparently our time being here. It feels sudden and jarring. I don’t know what to expect or if I’m expecting too much. This is one of those situations where I’m just following your lead.”
“If I’m being honest with you, I didn’t expect the Shadow God to take my words to heart. I imagined him sulking in his thoughts and taking some time to digest what I meant. It seems I judged him wrong, and his quick discovery forced my wing. We were supposed to have more time than this,”he says with a tinge of annoyance. It sounds like it’s more with himself than Cas, though.
“You didn’t judge him wrong. Sometimes that’s exactly what he does and sometimes he devours every bit of information he can before he even tells you that’s what he’s doing. I’m not sure what you mean about us having more time. Do we not?”
“Not as much as I would like. With that being said, we won’t waste any more of the precious moments we have,”he says with a squawk and glides down to the platform beside me.“We are going to open a portal within your mind.”
What did he just say?
“I’m sorry?”
“The reason your mind’s eye is not being pulled as it normally would is because I am a creature born of the Valorian Veil. The magic that flows through here has been infused with the magic of your creator, yes, but nonetheless, its resources and origination are from my realm. Therefore, I can control it. Right now, I am taming it for your benefit. The Angel Aura is still functioning fully with Valorian essence. Elementra has blessed it and allowed it to continue to feed from its home.”
