Page 257 of The Ascended
We looked at each other across the chaos of his research, both thinking thoughts we didn't want to voice. The resistance existed because Olinthar had become a tyrant. But what if the threat was bigger than that?
"I need to tell you what I saw in the sanctum," I finally said, keeping my voice steady.
He looked up, his mismatched eyes finding mine. Then they hardened. "Being honest now?"
The edge in his voice made my jaw tighten. "Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Act like you have the moral high ground here."
"I wasn't aware I was acting." He set down his book with deliberate care. "Please, tell me about the sanctum."
“A prophecy unfolded while I was in there. Before everything went to shit.”
His attention sharpened. "What did you find?"
"More like something found me." I took a breath, then told him everything. The living prophecy, the visions of reality breaking, the hordes of creatures. And the woman.
Xül went very still as I described everything. When I finished, he moved to a different shelf, pulling out a tome that looked older than the others. The binding was some kind of scaled hide.
"Those sound like..." He flipped through pages. "But that's impossible."
"What is?"
He turned the tome towards me. The drawing was crude, ancient, but I recognized the wrongness immediately. Creatures that defied explanation—too many joints, too many legs, too many teeth.
"These were fabled monsters from the Cursed Lands of Vaerhuun,"he said. "But those lands had been sealed for millennia, even before the four realms were separated. The creatures are long dead."
"Why did I see them?"
"I don't know." He studied the page intently.
I leaned back against the desk, careful not to let my eyes linger on it for too long. “The line of fate that led me to the door, it was intertwined with mine. Intertwined with Thatcher’s.”
"And this woman you saw—you said she looked directly at you?"
"Right at me. Like she could see me watching."
"That shouldn't be possible." His frown deepened. "Prophecies are echoes of potential futures, not windows. For her to see you would mean..."
"What?"
"She exists outside normal temporal constraints." He closed the book carefully. "Or she's powerful enough to perceive across time itself."
“Well, that’s only mildly terrifying.”
He set the book aside. "I really hope that this was just some random anomaly."
"What if it's not?"
"We've been focused on Olinthar. On getting him out." His voice was controlled, but I could hear the edge beneath. "But if something from Vaerhuun is stirring—that's not political. That's existential."
"You're afraid."
His eyes snapped to mine. "I'm practical. There's a difference."
The silence that followed felt heavy, charged with unspoken accusations. I traced my finger along the markings etched into the table's surface, memories of the past weeks flooding back.
