A Meet of Tribes

  Everyone chuckled, and I felt truly happy, despite our circumstances. We had a long day ahead of us, but we needed this little bit of fun to relieve the tension and shed some light on the gloom that had recently seeped into our souls.

  “I’m impressed,” Bijarki said huskily.

  Our eyes met, and I nodded. My cheeks burned. His acknowledgment of my fae abilities had quite an impact on my senses.

  “It took me a long time to get to this,” I explained. “It turns out, all I have to do is open up to everything that I feel and harness the power that my emotions generate. The fae live life to the fullest, fusing with the elements in the process. I just had to understand this process on my own terms.”

  “By allowing yourself to feel everything, even that which you had previously denied yourself,” the incubus said.

  I blushed as I caught the undertone of his statement. I figured he was testing me, trying to hone in on my feelings, to ascertain whether I felt something for him.

  My knees weakened as I remembered his earlier confession. I didn’t know where to begin with telling him about how I felt. I’d do better fighting a Destroyer right then and there than telling Bijarki that I was attracted to him.

  “I’m sorry I can’t see your fae abilities for myself,” said Draven. “I’ve only read about your kind, and I could never get close enough to see one of you in action.”

  Serena looked at him, a pained expression in her eyes. There was definitely something there between them, something that I hadn’t seen before. Her irises shone every time her gaze found him, as if he was the most important creature in the room. We’d have to talk about that later. We’d been so busy surviving in Eritopia that we’d barely had a moment to ourselves as friends to simply talk and knock heads on the more trivial things.

  “Nevertheless, if you harness this ability to its full potential, you will be extremely useful in the days ahead, especially when we go against the Destroyers,” Draven continued.

  “You think?” I asked, trying to imagine the steps I’d need to take in order to reach that level of power.

  “Absolutely. Nothing is more effective in a war than fire and disease. You hold the power of fire in your fingertips.”

  The gravity of that statement weighed heavily on me. It involved killing other creatures, and it was something that I wasn’t sure I was capable of. Death was so final. I couldn’t wrap my head around the concept.

  “I’ll have to keep practicing.” I changed the subject. “Grandpa Ben often said that if I can command one element, I can command all of them, and now I’m curious.”

  Serena laughed as we all resumed our seats at the table, halfway through breakfast.

  “One day at a time, champ!” She refilled her coffee cup. “You’ve made it this far. I have no doubt you’ll have the rest down in no time.”

  I smiled at her, wondering if she was right.

  Phoenix

  We all settled back into our seats after Vita’s display.

  I was genuinely thrilled to see Vita coming into her own with her fae abilities. As tiny and as introverted as she usually was, she had taken on a new form in Eritopia. Someone once said that the prettiest flower bloomed in adversity. The dire circumstances seemed to have channeled the greatness within her to meet the potential that she probably wasn’t sure she had. Her happiness was our happiness.

  I ate another pancake and washed it down with coffee. The Daughter sat next to me, quiet and curious, watching my every move with childlike interest. The way I chewed, the way I drank, the way I laughed and smiled—they were all of interest to her, as if she was watching a movie. Judging by the glimmer in her violet eyes, it was a movie she liked.

  She hadn’t eaten anything, so I wondered whether a Daughter of Eritopia needed nourishment or not and how I could help. I looked at her once in a while, giving her a candid smile as I worked through my breakfast.

  However, I couldn’t just let her sit there, so I placed one of my oaty pancakes on her plate and drizzled what I had decided to call maybe-maple-syrup over it. She looked at it curiously, cocking her head with a frown.

  “You should eat. It’s actually quite good,” I encouraged her.

  “What is this?”

  “Not sure what they call it here, but back home we call it a pancake. Also, I’m not sure whether you eat, or what you should eat, but I think this is a good place to start.” I smiled and handed her a fork.

  She looked at it, a foreign silver object to her, and set it on the table. Clearly, she didn’t see the point of it. Instead, she picked the pancake up with two fingers and took a small bite out of it. A drop of syrup slipped down her lower lip. My stomach tightened at the sight, and I instinctively licked my lower lip in response.

  She chewed a couple of times before she swallowed and crinkled her nose.

  “I’m sorry there’s not much on the menu here.” I sighed and looked at Draven, who was engaged in conversation with Serena.

  “I don’t like it,” the Daughter replied, then dropped the pancake back on the plate.

  “The house is protected by ancient magic. The Druid calls them wards. They’re the ones who replenish our food and supplies every day, but they’re not too creative in the cooking department, I’m afraid,” I explained.

  The Daughter looked around the banquet hall, as if searching for something.

  “I mean, I’d give anything for some fresh fruits, for example, but I’ve pretty much gotten used to this stuff. We need the nourishment, so we’ll take what we can get.” I watched her eyes dart around the room.

  Her gaze settled on something.

  I looked in that direction but saw nothing other than a light breeze moving one of the off-white curtains by the window.

  “This is powerful magic though, put in place by your sisters, the Daughters of Eritopia,” I continued, hoping to maybe trigger some memory or knowledge in her mind.

  I figured that maybe if I talked about the Daughters and this world, she might eventually remember what she needed to remember. I wasn’t sure whether the other Daughters had been born with any knowledge of their existence or not. Based on what the Druid had told us, they’d always been around, for as long as there was a recorded history of Eritopia, but no one knew who created them.

  “My sisters,” the Daughter said absently, her eyes following something around the table.

  “Do you see something?” I asked, unable to understand what she was looking at so intently.

  “You said there are ancient wards here.”

  “Yes,” I replied slowly.

  “I think I see them.”

  My mind came to a halt. Judging by the looks on everyone’s faces, they were as surprised as I was to hear the Daughter say that. We never saw anything around the house that wasn’t old and dusty and worn out by the passage of time. No magical creature, just wood, tattered fabrics, and decay.

  “What do you mean you can see them?” I asked.

  “The wards,” she looked at me, then pointed at one of the windows. “There’s one there, waiting for us to finish eating, I think.”

  She then pointed at a cabinet at the door that led to the kitchen and an empty space next to Draven. I couldn’t see anything, not even when I tried my True Sight. My mental energy was low. I needed to syphon from someone soon. But still, nothing.

  “They’re here. I can see them,” the Daughter said absently.

  “You can see the wards.” Draven repeated her statement from across the table, as if he couldn’t believe it either.

  “Yes. Phoenix said they were made by my sisters, and when he said that, I thought about it, and I could suddenly see them.”

  A moment passed as we all tried to digest that precious little snippet of information. As soon as she’d been told about her sister’s magic, she was able to see it. The wheels in my mind started turning with potential scenarios, and I decided to speak to the Druid about it later. Perhaps we could unlock more of her powers if we told her more about her si
sters and what purpose they served in Eritopia.

  “What do they look like?” Draven asked.

  “They don’t have a particular shape. They’re like…they’re like liquid shadows, floating around. They don’t have faces or limbs, but they change their forms, from what I can tell. They’re strange.” The Daughter described them with a tinge of amusement in her voice.

  “How can she see them suddenly?” Serena asked no one in particular, looking around the hall as if trying to find the wards herself.

  “It might have something to do with awareness,” Draven said. “Maybe if she’s told about something of hers, or something related to her being or her abilities, then she becomes aware of it and can see it.”

  The Daughter stood up and started looking beneath the warming dishes laid out on the table, lifting one cover at a time. She found a pot filled with what looked like porridge, steaming hot.

  “Yeah, we don’t usually touch that,” Aida said. “It doesn’t look that great and it smells even worse.”

  The Daughter then put the cover back, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She looked around, as if following the wards in their silent motion and removed the cover from the porridge pot once more.

  Vita gasped, as she was the closest to it. Her turquoise eyes widened at the sight of the contents. I had to stand up to get a better look, and my jaw dropped. The porridge was gone completely. It had been replaced by a multitude of fruits of all shapes and sizes, glistening in exotic shades of red, green, and purple.

  “What are those?” Aida asked, fascinated by this new development.

  She picked up one of the fruits that resembled a red plum and sniffed it. Her smile told me it smelled good. It probably tasted even better.

  I picked one up and took a bite. My teeth sank into the tender flesh, and a smooth, bittersweet flavor invaded my mouth. It was delicious and sweet but with a bit of a punch.

  “This is good. How’d you do this?” I asked the Daughter.

  She looked up and gave me a shy smile. Her hands fiddled with a lock of reddish pink hair.

  “You said you wanted fruits so…I asked the wards to give you fruits.”

  Her response was simple, yet mind-boggling. I was officially impressed. Moreover, I was delighted by the taste, so I tried another one—a small purple berry. I crushed it between my teeth, and it immediately reminded me of the blackberries from the woods back home.

  Finally, something other than those bland pancakes!

  “You commanded the wards to change the food?” Draven asked, after Serena told him what had happened.

  “I could hear them in my mind, whispering and shuffling about, talking about their chores for the day.” The Daughter nodded. “So, I reached out to them and asked them for fruits. They listened.”

  “This is unbelievable,” Serena tried one that reminded me of wild green apples. “They taste so good!”

  Soon enough, we had forgotten all about the regular menu and were stuffing our faces with fruits, exhilarated by the plethora of sweetness and freshness.

  The Daughter sat down and ate some herself, beaming with satisfaction and watching me as I conquered another plum. I smiled back, thankful to have her around. Something told me there were more surprises coming from her soon enough. I just had to make sure that she would stay on our side once she attained the knowledge required to wield her clearly godlike powers.

  “You connected with the wards somehow,” Draven mused.

  The Daughter looked at him.

  “The magic was crafted by your sisters, so it must have resonated with you. Not even my father could do what you just did,” he continued. “There’s definitely power in you, although latent. I just don’t know what it will take or how long it will take to harness it all. Or what you can do, for that matter.”

  She nodded slowly and looked down, as if suddenly unhappy with her current condition. I couldn’t really blame her—not knowing who or what you were but being able to influence ancient magic wards must be intense and confusing.

  I reached under the table, took her hand in mine, and squeezed it gently. My stomach churned every time I saw glimpses of sadness flickering across her beautiful face. This creature wasn’t meant to feel miserable or maladjusted. I wanted her glowing and happy.

  Our eyes met, and I felt my whole body heat up. My heartbeat accelerated, and I gave her another smile. She returned it with grace as our fingers intertwined. Her touch was incredibly soft, fluttering over my skin like a summer breeze.

  I had a lot to understand about her, but everything about her felt like ecstasy wrapped up in a dark mystery. It was either going to kill me or make me the happiest creature in all the worlds.

  Aida

  The day was off to a surprisingly positive start. It made me feel like, despite the disastrous previous couple of days and Azazel’s advance on the incubi nation, we still might be able to pull through this after all.

  None of us knew how, but having this glimmer of hope gave us enough strength to stand up from that breakfast table and head downstairs into the basement for another Tap-the-Oracle session.

  To say I wasn’t particularly excited about it would be an understatement. The visions so far hadn’t shown me anything positive—just doubt and cruelty—but I had to go deeper into my abilities as an Oracle. Vita’s progress on her fire fae power had given me a little competitive push; she was already quite far down the road with her visions, as opposed to Phoenix and me. After all, she’d had them outside the controlled sessions with the Druid, whereas I still struggled with the aftermath of my last incursion.

  The memory of black runes dancing across my skin that night still sent shivers down my spine. I reached the basement room with its hospital beds and medicine cabinets. Bijarki fired up the oil lamps, and Anjani prepared a special mixture of herbs for us.

  As if knowing the drill already, Vita, Phoenix, and I each took one bed, lying on our backs and waiting for the Druid’s instructions. Anjani filled a wooden bowl with several plants, including the petals of a peculiar type of scarlet rose with contrasting white edges.

  I leaned on my elbows and watched as she blended everything with smooth, circular wrist movements, using a wide silver spoon. Draven sat on a stool with Serena standing next to him, watching over us with a concerned expression. Knowing her, she worried about us more than we worried about ourselves. I caught her gaze and threw her a crooked smile and a wink to show her that everything was going to be okay.

  I had no way of knowing that for sure, but she didn’t need to know that.

  “What’s that you’re making?” I asked Anjani, trying to keep my mind focused on something other than the searing presence of Field next to my bed. I could feel his breath gently brushing against my hair from above.

  “It’s a proprietary blend we make in our tribe to really expand our senses,” the succubus replied as she continued mixing the herbs together. “During the full moon, the succubi ingest this and transcend everything, as our innermost senses commune with nature. It’s hard to explain what it actually does, but the Druid tells me you need to disconnect yourselves from this world in order to tap into your Oracle visions. This mixture will help.”

  “What’s in it?” Vita asked.

  I looked over to get a quick look at my little fire fae friend.

  Bijarki stood by her bedside, quiet and thoughtful. His gaze never left her face except to occasionally wander along the entire length of her body. Judging by the glimmer in his eyes, he found her attractive even in those brown velvet slacks and the ivory shirt she’d settled on—both items normally worn by men about two hundred years ago.

  “Most of the plants I gathered from the Druid’s greenhouse, some roots and stems of arrowhead, Moraine shrubs, and demon tears,” Anjani explained.

  I didn’t know what any of those plants were, but I nodded nonetheless.

  “I brought spiced rose petals from the camp, though. You can’t find thos
e just anywhere.”

  “What’s a spiced rose?” I asked.

  “It’s a rare flower that grows on the outskirts of tall limestone mountains such as the one where our tribe lives. It’s the main ingredient for this mixture, as it opens up one’s senses. You hear more, you see more, and you feel and taste things you’d otherwise never notice. It enhances everything, while the other herbs serve as additional amplifiers, accelerating the spiced rose’s effects throughout the body.”

  As she explained what the flower did, I couldn’t help but notice the fleeting glances between Anjani and Jovi. I could’ve sworn I saw my brother blush, and I had a feeling that there was a story behind that spiced rose that I didn’t know. Yet. I was going to have a little chat with my brother after all this was over.

  “I’ve had some unpleasant experiences with herb mixtures meant to hone in on my Oracle abilities,” Phoenix interjected.

  Jovi moved to stand by his bedside and watch over him, but the Daughter politely pushed him away, asserting her status as Phoenix’s caregiver.

  “I will take care of him,” she said, her voice sharper than usual.

  If she weren’t a potentially deadly goddess, I would’ve said she was downright adorable.

  My brother smiled sheepishly and moved back next to Serena. His gaze darted around the room but eventually settled on Anjani.

  There is definitely something between them.

  “You mean you almost died,” Serena said to her brother.

  “Not my fault!”

  “Technically, it was my fault,” Draven interrupted.

  “It won’t happen with this,” Anjani assured him, taking the bowl in her hand and coming to Phoenix’s bedside. “The dose is minimal, and based on what the Druid told me about your abilities, it will not overcharge you. You need to suck on this for a minute, then swallow it.”

  She loaded the spoon with the heady mixture and fed it to Phoenix. He chewed on the blend, slowly getting accustomed to the taste. He lifted an eyebrow and looked at me, then Vita.