Elara's POV~Father’s chest rose and fell weakly as his face turned pale enough to reveal the blue veins beneath. “His pulse is fading!” one of the healers barked as she brought her hands to his chest and furrowed her brow.A second healer was bent over a low table, stacked with serums and small glass jars. “We need heart root, fresh and not dried ones.”“That’s rare,” the first muttered. “Rare or no,” snapped the second, “without it, he'll be gone by nightfall.” I clutched my mother's arm as she wept into her hands. Her shoulders were jerking so hard I could feel it in my bones. “Mother—”Tears streaked down her cheeks, and she shook her head. “They said he’s been poisoned. Elara, they told me it's already inside his heart.”“Poison? How? How could this happen? Who—”“Not for days!” she shouted, her voice matching my uncertainty. “He hasn’t received any guests. No one’s been near him,” she cried as her fingers knotted together. “I would have known—”A gray-haired elder came walking i
Damien's POV~As soon as I had dropped Elara off at her parents, there wasn't a single moment left to be wasted. My fingers wrapped around the steering wheel as I yanked my phone from my pocket and quickly messaged Caspian.Meet me here.I had sent him the directions and location of where the vultures lay scattered on the pavement. As I drove fast with my foot pressed harder on the gas.Nothing had changed since I got there.The dead vultures remained where they were. I pulled over to the side of the road and got out cautiously. The gravel crunched under my boots as I moved forward on them.Kneeling, I examined the closest one. Its eyes were plucked out, and its feathers were burnt. There were no signs of visible wounds and no sign of poisoning, but the air, something about this place felt wrong. “What’s going on?” the question echoed in my ears as I hadn't felt this much fear in years.The sound of a car humming in the background awoke me from my reverie. Just then, I looked up to my
Elara's POV~Damien was the first to move. He threw his door open and stepped out onto the street without a second thought. I stepped out alongside him. When I looked at what was scattered on the floor… I suddenly felt a sick feeling in my stomach. The road was littered with black feathers and bodies of dead vultures. There were at least two dozen vultures who lay on the ground, every one of them had started to decay.It wasn’t just the sight that irritated and disgusted me, but it was the silence. There was no wind, and no sounds coming from the forests on either side of the road. “What happened to them?” I whispered.Damien crouched to examine a bird without touching it. He took out his phone, snapped a photo. “Get into the car.” His command, his voice harsh, as my pulse shot up in direct response. “Damien—”“Elara now,” he hissed, still staring at the bodies. I got into the car and sat down without saying anything. He opened the door and got in next to me, starting the car as we dr
Elara’s POV~After the baby had whispered the name from the scroll, Ilsa was the first to speak. Ilsa stared right at the child as if it had grown wings in that moment as she spoke. "There is no way that she just said that. That name hasn't been spoken about in over a century. Not since—”“Not since what?” I asked, hugging the baby a little tighter.“Not since the first time Jas tried to ascend. It was the name of the person she had tried to forget. For a good reason.”Just as she had said that, Damien came in through the doorway, frowning. “And now a baby is saying it. That can’t be a coincidence.” I was about to chirp in when my cell phone rang, and a name I hadn't heard from in weeks showed on the screen. I felt my stomach drop as I answered, already bracing myself. “Mother?”“Elara,” she replied immediately, her voice low. “Your father wants to see you now.”I froze in shock. “What? Why? What’s going on?”“He didn't tell me," she said. “You need to come.”“M-mum—“ I muttered as m
Elara’s POV~I had woken up very early before the sun had risen. The morning felt like every one of those mornings when you'd get to feel and know that something was off. The baby, Jasmine's echo-born daughter laid asleep in the cot next to my bed. Damien had stayed on guard all through the night, never letting her out of his sight for a moment and for once he had allowed us to care for her because there was only a few hours left before he could make any headway in finding what he needed. I watched as the baby, tucked her knuckles beneath the edge of her blanket gripping tightly as though she was protecting herself in her own dreams. Maybe she was.The new Academy was being formed. Brick by brick. Spell by spell. It was never the same as before, and it wouldn't get to be. And that definitely the point. We weren't at war anymore. We were now learning to live. And the idea about that mostly terrified most persons than it provided comfort to the rest. Heavy with sleep I dressed up an
Elara's POV~The baby slept in my arms. It was heavier than it appeared. Not in weight, but in meaning. In all the questions, none had answers yet. I stood by the window of the east tower, gazing lazily at the rain as it slid ceaselessly down its cracked glass. The Academy, however, still smelled like stone and fire. Still, there was a bit of peace in that scent now. Or maybe she was just tired.Damien was being even quieter than he had been at first when we came back from the vault. He stayed busy, walking the perimeter, tightening up all sorts of magical protections and lurked at the edge of the training field, even when half the recruits were in town. And I let him. There was nothing we had to talk about since everything shattered the instant Jasmine died.“ Excuse me, sleeping?” Lyra said softly at the doorway. I turned to see her holding a steaming mug, her sleeves covering her hands.“She is,” I said. “But she’s not her.”“No,” Lyra agreed. “However, maybe that is not a bad thin