Page 35 of Beneath the Earth (Seven Wardens 3)

The air thrummed with unfamiliar magic, both around the stones and around Macey herself. She wasn’t actually sure where the kludde started and where the magic from the stones did. All she knew was that she didn’t feel like her normal self.

Something tugged to the left and she turned, only to see a forest of flaming trees. Macey shrunk back, the heat almost burning her face before disappearing as the magic in the air shut it down. That wasn’t the path she was supposed to take then. She couldn’t say she wasn’t relieved.

This time, the magic tugged her to the right, where a great wave crashed down onto a seaside town. Macey raised her hands and tried to ward it off, but her own magic was bound by that of the stones and nothing happened. Once again, the image was shut down. That path probably wasn’t the right one to go down either.

The magic was back. This time it felt like it gripped around her whole body, turning her around so she was facing the opposite way to where she had before. Or at least, she thought so. There was no actual way for her to be sure. With her eyes closed and her other senses pretty much useless, she could have been standing completely still for all she knew.

As before, a scene rose up before her. An older version of herself sat in a comfy chair with a small bundle nestled in her arms. A door opened behind her and an older Flint stepped in, an adoring look on his face as he approached older-Macey and began to talk to her. Macey had no idea what they were saying, but the pure joy on their faces couldn’t be denied. Older-Flint leaned down and tickled the bundle, which squirmed in older-Macey’s arms. A baby. That was what it must be.

The scene faded away in front of her, this time much less abrupt than before. Somewhere deep inside, Macey knew this meant that path might still be possible, but it wasn’t the one she should be taking now. A weird longing welled up inside her. She hadn’t realised how much she wanted that until this very moment.

A new image drifted into being. It was Izban, his blue hair the only colour in the otherwise bleak and dark scene. He was talking to someone who purposely stayed in the shadows, his face hidden under a large black hood. Izban kept looking around, as if he was scared of being watched. Then he passed a little brown parcel to the hooded person and a flash of pain crossed his features. The metallic taste of betrayal ran over Macey’s tongue. Somehow, she knew that’s what Izban was doing. Betraying them.

Another scene started. Macey looked about the same as she did now, though she was surrounded by a whirlpool of water. Other-Macey lifted her hands up, controlling the water as it spun higher and higher into the sky.

A weird sensation made Macey step closer to the image, though the movement may well have been in her head rather than actually real. The vision changed, transforming before her into a great pit in the ground with Jared at the bottom and other Macey climbing down into it. The look on her face was pained but determined. Much like she’d actually feel if the situation arose.

The vision changed again, removing other-Macey and Jared from the equation completely as her other men rose to the forefront, the crashing waves of the sea behind them as it broke over the rocks.

They were in a small boat, shouting to one another and trying to gain control of it. Panic began to make itself known within her as she struggled to not to run to their aid. If they needed her help, then why were she and Jared still in Belgium with a kludde and not there? They shouldn’t have split up in the first place.

As suddenly as it had all started, everything went black and Macey swayed back and forth, her consciousness somewhere between awake and asleep.

Strong arms wrapped around her waist as the swaying intensified, almost going as far as falling.

“The sea,” she muttered aloud. “We need to go to the sea.”

“What?” a familiar voice asked.

“We need to go to the sea,” she repeated, hoping Jared would listen this time. If it was Jared holding her at all. Though she was pretty sure it was.

“We can’t go to the sea,” he said.

“She’s responding to what she saw in her visions,” a different voice said. “It probably won’t come to pass like she’s seen it, but that’s the path she needs to travel the most.”

“And it’ll end well?” Jared asked. His voice broke a little, betraying his concern over the whole thing. It would only have been noticeable to someone who knew him well and she longed to reach out and comfort him but didn’t seem to have use of her arms yet.

“That will really depend on her.”

“I can’t travel on the Staran,” Jared said, anguish spreading in his voice. “And I’ve used a lot of my earth magic to get us here. If I use any more, I won’t be of any use once we get to the sea.”

A sudden image appeared in Macey’s mind, like an echo of the visions she’d been shown.

“I think I can do it,” she muttered.

“But… only Cam and Flint are able to.”

“That was before I helped heal the Staran,” she said weakly, the last tendrils of the vision still running through her, making her unsteady on her feet. “I was inside of them, back when I first encountered Self-Doubt. I think it changed something. Let’s try it, it’s worth a stab.”

Jared nodded. “Alright then. How do we do it?”

“I’ll leave you to it,” Wilg said with a smile. “It was a pleasure meeting you. May you always find the right path, and may you always find the way back.”

Macey wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, or if there was a phrase she was expected to say. “May the path be with you,” she stuttered. “Thank you for your help.”

“The kludde will be ready to assist you, should we be needed,” the Teacher said while already turning away from them. “I hope you’ll manage to heal the earth. The world. Everything. Your path will be difficult, but there is a chance that you may succeed.”

With that ominous statement, he disappeared into the mists surrounding the stones.

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