LITMIR.BIZ

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      His expression darkens with worry and he shakes his head. “I don’t know, Elloren. I don’t know where she is. No one knows. And my younger sisters have run off with her.”

      My breath catches tight. Her sisters, too! I remember the surreal sight of Sage heading into the wilderness and feel a sharp spike of guilt. Oh, Ancient One, I should have said something...

      He shakes his head again in disbelief. “They sent the entire Fifth Division out after them. But they couldn’t find them. It’s like they all disappeared into thin air.”

      The Fifth Division is made up of the best Gardnerian trackers. It’s impossible to hide from them. They gained notoriety during the Realm War, ferreting out secret enemy bases, locating hidden groups of dangerous Fae. It’s rumored that the best of them can read a week-old trail left behind in the woods. I know all this because they’ve been actively recruiting my brother, Rafe, for a few years now.

      “Isn’t that your division?” I ask. “Why aren’t you out with them?” Shane’s a tracker. And a talented one at that. Just like Rafe.

      Shane’s face twists into a mask of bitterness. “Well, Elloren, it seems they thought I lacked the necessary level of detachment needed to kill my own sister.”

      My face blanches. “Kill her?”

      Shane’s expression turns pained. “She didn’t just give birth to an Icaral, Elloren. They believe she’s given birth to the Icaral.”

      I’m frozen into stunned silence.

      We all know of the Prophecy, set down by the late Atellian Lumyn, one of the greatest Seers our church has ever known.

      A Great Winged One will soon arise and cast his fearsome shadow upon the land. And just as Night slays Day, and Day slays Night, so also shall another Black Witch rise to meet him, her powers vast beyond imagining. And as their powers clash upon the field of battle, the heavens shall open, the mountains tremble and the waters run crimson...and their fates shall determine the future of all Erthia.

      Lumyn was considered to be a prophet, his writings read by all pious Gardnerians and second only to our holy scripture, The Book of the Ancients. He died when I was a child living in Valgard, and I still remember the crowded streets on the day of his funeral, the communal outpouring of grief.

      Mage Lumyn accurately predicted the rise of my grandmother to power and her battle with an Icaral demon. He set down his final Prophecy soon after my grandmother’s death and the end of the Realm War, and it sent waves of shock barreling through Gardneria. My people thought the Icaral demons were defeated. That they were finally safe from the Icarals’ terrible fire and winged darkness. But now an even greater demonic threat loomed on the horizon.

      “The time is here,” Shane rasps in a harsh whisper. “The Church Seers have confirmed it. And not just them. The Seers of other races, too. They’ve all read the same message—the Icaral of Prophecy is here. A male, possessed of his wings and full powers. Every other male Icaral has been captured and stripped of its wings. Don’t you see, Elloren? It has to be my sister’s baby.”

      “No.” I shake my head, desperate to refute this. It’s too awfully bizarre. How could kind, thoughtful Sage give birth to the demon of Prophecy? “It can’t be...”

      But I know from his expression that it can.

      Shane looks down at his punch glass, barely able to contain his misery. “Did you know he beat her?”

      “Who?”

      “Who do you think? Tobias. Quite the temper that one has.” He looks around at the crowd, anguish breaking through. “You know, she did everything they ever wanted her to do. All of them. He started in on her soon after she got to University. That’s why she ran off with that Kelt.” Now he’s grasping his glass so hard I fear it might shatter. “He took advantage of her,” Shane grinds out, fury swimming in his eyes. “Isn’t that just like a Kelt? He used my sister, forced his filthy self on her and now...” He breaks off, his eyes glazing over with angry tears.

      I reach out for him, but he flinches away from me.

      “Shane, it can’t be,” I press, undaunted. “The Prophecy isn’t just about an Icaral. There has to be a Black Witch, too, and there isn’t anyone with that level of power...”

      Shane shoots me a look of wild incredulity. “Of course there is. Or there will be.” He glances pointedly across the room at the Banes.

      My throat tightens. Fallon Bane. The next Black Witch. Sent to kill the demon baby of Sage Gaffney. It’s the stuff of nightmares.

      I turn back to Shane, my voice weak. “Do you really think Fallon Bane could become that powerful?”

      “Yes, at the rate her power’s growing.” Shane’s face closes down, his voice going hard, devoid of all hope. “There’s nothing that can be done about it, Elloren. It’s all over for my sister. Go back to your family. This isn’t your affair.”

      I look toward Fallon.

      She pulls out her wand and mock points it at a thin military apprentice. He freezes, and the others in her party grow silent and tense.

      This isn’t allowed. Apprentices are forbidden from pulling wands on each other.

      I’m stunned. There are officers dotting the entire ballroom and, again, no one rebukes Fallon for a flagrant violation of the rules.

      Fallon laughs and resheathes her wand, diffusing the tension, the onlookers breaking out into nervous laughter. The young apprentice gives them all a thin, frightened smile before slinking away.

      Fallon watches him leave, then fixes her eyes on me. Her smile is slow and deliberate, her message unmistakable.

      Careful, Elloren Gardner. That could easily be you.

       CHAPTER ELEVEN

      Aislinn Greer

      Shane takes his leave, and in an effort to calm myself down, I walk over to the refreshment table to get something to drink.

      I pour myself some punch but find that my hands are shaking, the glass ladle chattering against the crystal cup as I fill it with sweet, red liquid dotted with edible flower petals. Summoned by Sylus, Paige has reluctantly gone to join him, leaving me all alone.

      Suddenly aware of someone’s eyes on me, I glance to the side.

      A slight, plain young woman with intelligent green eyes is regarding me calmly from where she sits, a book open and facedown on her lap, her hands resting on it. She’s dressed like Echo Flood, in a conservative, multilayered frock with a silver Erthia sphere hanging from it. No makeup. I notice that the hands resting on her book are unmarked, like mine, and it seems incongruous. Her dress pegs her as a girl from a very conservative family, yet she’s unfasted.

      “Fallon doesn’t seem to like you,” she comments as she glances over at Fallon, who’s laughing and eating with her friends. She smiles at me sympathetically, her eyes kind. “You’re brave, you know. In your choice of enemies.”

      “You don’t like her, then?” I ask, surprised.

      The young woman shakes her head. “Fallon? She’s mean as a snake. So are her brothers.” She shoots me a look of caution. “Mind you, if you tell anyone I said that, I’ll deny it.”

      I raise my eyebrows, relieved to finally be meeting someone outside Fallon’s social circle. I extend my hand to her. “I’m Elloren Gardner.”

      She laughs and takes my hand in hers. “That’s obvious. I’ve heard all about you.”

      “Let me guess,” I say guardedly. “I’m the girl who looks exactly like my grandmother?”

      “No,” she laughs, “you’re the girl who’s been living under

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