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  “I’ll show you what I know,” August said, placing his hand on hers.

  “Have you learned anything else about the scroll?” Landen asked, stepping closer to the table.

  August broke his stare with Perodine and looked up at him. “Perodine has assured me it’s not the orbit that brings the trails,” he answered.

  I looked at her. “Then what is it?” I asked.

  She looked up into my eyes, and I could feel her grief. “After Donalt saw you for the first time, he was furious – he knew that you would end his dark reign. I had him watched, and my spy witnessed the chant that envisioned the battle you’re in.”

  “Chant? Like a curse? You’re saying I’m cursed?” I said, gasping for a clear mind as hopelessness consumed me.

  “No,” she said, rising to come to my side. “No one can ‘curse’ us; our thoughts control our lives. Even if it were possible to be cursed, I’d already protected you at that point.”

  “What was the purpose of the chant then?” I asked, growing too tired to understand half-spoken myths.

  “Its purpose was for him to see each time you’d be strong enough to strike him, to cause his rein to crumble. In his mind, he thought if he could see when you were coming, he could cause you to fail.”

  “I’m not coming for him. I wouldn’t even know he existed if it weren’t for Drake coming after me with the blue moon. Why would I chase a devil?”

  “You’re seeing this from the moment you’re in now. Try to imagine a grand scheme stretching across a multitude of lifetimes. In reality, a million different circumstances could have lead you there on that night. The point is, there are ten moments in this lifetime that you will be strong enough to bring the devil to his knees. These moments are reflected by the universe above – eight planets beyond the sun and moon will be your power to come full circle and defeat the dark ruler,” she answered

  “Can you see the moments? Can you tell me when the next one will be?” I asked with pleading eyes, shaking in fear of what was to come.

  Landen came to my side and tried to push peace into my body; the numbing feeling was chasing away my fears, but I still trembled.

  Perodine fought back tears before turning to walk back to the table to look at the scroll. “Each moment was traced by the stargazers of that time and recorded here. Some will be easily seen, like the Blue moon; others will be more obscure. The only thing I know for sure is that the influences will come in order of the orbit. To find the time, we’ll have to watch the skies above and the prediction of the scroll; when they match, we’ll know that the trail is upon us.”

  As we all felt the weight of helplessness, the room grew still – and at that moment, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to know. It was like having someone tell you that your life would end on this day at this time...who would want to know that?

  August leaned closer to the scrolls and began to study them more ambitiously than ever before.

  “The skies almost completely match what the scroll reflects around Venus. Now, to make you as strong as possible, we must find out how he plans to defeat you, understand what you’ll face so you’ll be prepared physically and mentally for anything he can use against you,” Perodine said, pulling her notepad closer to her.

  “Have you found any answers so far?” Marc asked.

  Perodine took in a deep breath as she read her notes over. “We’re pulling out the symbols now. Landen, have you tried to heal anyone on your own?” she asked.

  “Pelhan just taught me. Does it say that there?” he asked her.

  “We think this symbol of a fish and a hand means a Pisces healer; we just didn’t know if it was you or Drake,” Perodine answered.

  I felt the tension rise in the room; it was exhausting me.” I need to sit down,” I thought.

  “Are you OK?” Landen thought.

  “Just tired,” I thought as I slowly walked around the couch in front of the fireplace and fell into it. Dane took a seat on the opposite couch and protectively watched my every breath.

  “So who are we fighting here - Drake, Donalt, or both?” Marc asked.

  “I don’t know,” Perodine answered, still puzzled. As I gazed at the raging flames in the fireplace, Drake’s perfect image surfaced in my mind; all I could see was the pain I left in his eyes.

  “Tell me about what Venus will bring, the characteristics; is it not the planet of love?” Landen asked.

  Silence filled the room, and the tension continued to climb. I could feel August and Perodine struggling with the emotions they feared the worst, but they didn’t want to show it to us.

  “Just say it,” Landen said in a low tone.

  I heard August clear his throat before he began to speak. “Well, yes, it does influence love - most of the time. But Venus is entering retrograde in the sign of Scorpio,” he said.

  “Go on,” Landen said.

  I turned in my seat to see them behind me. Marc and Landen had their arms crossed, and Perodine and August were staring at each other as if they were trying to give one another some kind of hidden communication. Perodine looked past them at me, then back to Landen. “Your decisions will be made with a clarity that does not know the emotion of guilt. There will be nothing that can be held back; every truth that can be told, will be. Past relations will surface,” she said.

  “What do you mean? Relationships in past lives? We already had to deal with that,” Landen argued.

  “Son, that is not the part we’re worried about,” August said, sighing deeply. “You’ve had the privilege of making decisions with your heart, and the heart often has no clear reason. This time, Venus will influence you to make a rational decision based on what you see - not what you feel. Throughout history, it has been known as the heartless, the opposite of the love Venus normally gives us,” August said.

  Landen looked back at me, then to August. “Does this affect only me and Willow, or all of you?” he asked.

  “Everyone,” Perodine answered. “We must realize that now, because as the hours move forward and truths are revealed, we have to hinder our anger. This darkness feeds off the negative – and right now it’s being fueled by the workers on the other side of that wall.”

  “What truths? Willow and I have held nothing back, have we?” Landen asked, confused.

  “If you remove the emotion of love and look at things from a rational point of view, you will find a truth that has escaped you before,” Perodine answered.

  “Why did you think Drake was a healer? Is he not on the same side as Donalt?” Marc asked, trying to comprehend what he was hearing.

  August looked at Marc, and a sense of grief came over him; he understood Marc’s anger, but he wanted him to move past it, to see Drake as the brother he was to Marc – not the enemy.

  “For all we know, Drake is just an innocent bystander – someone Donalt planned all along to use as a vessel. His and Landen’s charts are weaved so closely together, you can barely see the defining line; at this moment, I fear his life is the one in danger – not Landen’s,” August said, looking down, prepared to block himself from the arguments he thought would come his way.

  August believed what he said. As Landen heard the truth in his words and felt the emotion of grief and sorrow fill him. I was too tired to try and understand if the sorrow was for August or Drake; instead, I turned forward and resumed my stare at the raging flames in the fireplace.

  “Does that say nineteen?” I heard Marc ask.

  “Nineteen is represented all over Venus,” August said.

  “It’s Willow’s nineteenth birthday,” Landen said.

  “It’s more than that; the symbol of the hand and fish also has nineteen embedded in it,” August answered.

  I heard the shuffling of papers, then felt an astonishment coming from Perodine. I turned in my seat and watched her recording symbols from my birth chart and the scroll we’d brought.

  “What is it?” Landen asked.

  “Willow was born in the nineteenth second, hour,
and minute, on the nineteenth day,” Perodine answered.

  “Yes, and this is her nineteenth year,” August said.

  “That may be the time we will face the climax of Venus, the window Donalt will use. The universe is a sea of perfect numbers, and Donalt would had to have found a way to weave himself into the equation, into the place of Landen or Drake. If this is right, he will have the chance on Willow’s birthday, the nineteenth hour, minute, second,” Perodine answered.

  I felt August’s fear, and my eyes raced between them. “A number that can only be divided by one and itself,” August whispered.

  “What are you saying - Donalt is going to try and become me?” Landen asked, feeling just as scared and confused as I was.

  “Maybe...maybe you, maybe Drake, but one of you,” Perodine said, leaning in to look closer at the scroll. Landen felt my uneasiness and came to sit by my side; I curled up in his arms and watched the fire.

  “How close do I need to be to him?” I heard Marc ask.

  “You’re in the room; that should be enough,” Perodine answered.

  “If I can shield Willow and me, what can they do – add to it?” Landen asked, moving us sideways so he could see the table behind him.

  Perodine looked up. “Water is powerful; if he moves through their energy, he will grow weaker - and if I know him, he will wait for the nineteenth hour to use his force. They will not be able to protect you from that moment – but they should keep you safe until then,” Perodine said, looking to the shadows of the room.

  “So in theory, any water sign would be able to protect us?” Landen asked. I knew he was looking for clarity that leaving Olivia behind was the right decision to make.

  “Yes, but the ones who have been at your side your entire lives are old souls who have lived before, fought at your side,” Perodine clarified.

  I looked over my shoulder at Dane; he was so calm. If I were him, I’d be nervous - and it wouldn’t matter if I’d been here before in another life. I turned back and looked up at Landen; Perodine’s answer didn’t give him any peace. I laid my head against his chest, then closed my eyes and let the memory of my family come to me. I was ready for this to be over...for me to be home again.

  “Landen,” I heard Dane say. Feeling Landen’s lips on my forehead, I opened my eyes and looked at him.

  “Come on, we’ll find a place to rest,” he thought as he stood and pulled me up with him.

  While Dane stretched out on the couch he was sitting on, Marc continued to try and help August and Perodine. Landen and I walked to the doorway next to the fireplace; as we walked down the hall, he peeked in the first two doorways before deciding to enter the third. The room was vast: a full sitting room was on one side, a large bed with a canopy was to the other, and windows made up the back wall with beautiful ivory drapes framing them. In the distance, I could hear the workers building the wall. It was a dim reminder that we had more to worry about than Donalt; before long, a war would erupt, and the newfound innocence of Delen would be lost.

  I walked to the bed and slid off my shoes; before laying down, Landen followed. Once by my side, he hooked his arm around my waist and pulled me to him so our eyes were just inches apart. He then reached up and gently outlined the frame of my cheek; his touch sent a peace through me that froze time and took away all my worries. We drifted and awoke next to our bodies, laying there with silent thoughts. Landen let his hand rest inside of mine. We knew that was as far as we could go here. I focused on the sensation there and let my thoughts leave me for the moment.

  As the sun rose hours later, we woke and lay in silence for a while. We could feel the determination coming from Perodine, and the peace of sleep coming from August, Marc, and Dane. We were sure Perodine was still devouring the information on the scroll. If she was right, then tomorrow at seven nineteen we would face Donalt. When we faced the moon and Mercury I remembered wishing that time would freeze, that I’d be able just to live in the bliss of Landen’s love, but this time was different. We were away from our family, and they were making sacrifices to keep us safe. I would never want anyone to be frozen the way we were now; I just wanted it over.

  “What are you thinking?” I asked Landen.

  He rolled on his side so he could see into my eyes. “That this will be over before we know it, and we’ll be home in Chara with the ones we love the most,” he thought.

  “How can you be so confident?” I asked, tracing his eyes.

  He smiled. “I don’t mean to be, at least not in a bad way. I don’t want to do any of this, but I have to realize that we managed to bring back your friend’s sight and hearing - that just a week ago, we relieved this city from the torment that they’d been under for millions of years...I just think we’ve come too far to lose now...we’ve been tested, and we’ve passed.”

  I sighed and nodded. He was right; it was hard to think that there was anything that was impossible. I looked to the dark shadows of the room, then back to Landen.

  “I don’t see how him consuming you will bring him power. I cannot - I will not - live without your soul on this earth,” I thought. As tears came to the corners of my eyes, he pulled me closer, and we both felt a grief - a grief we had to suppress before it consumed us both.

  “I don’t care what his plan is; he will not take me from you - I promise,” Landen thought.

  I knew he believed what he said, and I took shelter behind his words. When he kissed my forehead and rose, I knew his intent was to find our bags and shower for the day. I lay in the bed and looked to the window. The sound of the workers building throughout the night had never halted; the wall was close to three feet high now, and from where I lay it looked like it almost completely surrounded Delen. I could feel the sadness from a majority of the people in Delen; they weren’t sad that they were being built in, they were sad that the rest of the world was still held by a darkness, a darkness that made them forget who they were. I shared in their sadness; it just didn’t make any sense to suffer when there was so much life to live.

  Landen came back into the room, with our bags, then took out his clothes and made his way to the doorway next to our bed.

  Chapter Four

  While I waited for my turn to shower, I daydreamed that I was home, celebrating the passing of another year, hearing the stories of every minute of mother’s labour, what she thought, how happy she was to have me as her own. I barely noticed when Landen opened the door ,now fully clothed in his black slacks and button down black shirt; though I’d grown weary of the all black attire months ago, I couldn’t help but love the way his dark locks of hair and crystal blue eyes complemented the shade.

  “I’ll wait for you,” he said, pulling back my covers. “I want to explore today,” he said, handing me my bag.

  I smiled and shook my head. I didn’t really care to. It was too eerie; even with every light burning on a sunny day, the shadows seemed to dominate the rooms.

  The bathroom was very stunning; the tub, sinks, and showers were all made of beautiful marble. Three of the walls had mirrors that centered them, and they were framed with drapes. I tilted my head, questioning why they would do that; I mean, it looked good, but it just didn’t make any sense. I turned the water in the shower on as hot as it would go, then pulled out everything I needed before undressing.

  As the water came over me, I felt a numbing calm ease through me, and I turned so every part of my body would be surrounded by the heat of the water. Then, suddenly my ring and necklace began to burn my skin. I turned the water down, but the heat in the metal intensified, I felt a rush of wind, and the water that was falling all around me turned to blood. I could smell it, and I felt it coursing over me. I screamed as loud as I could and charged out of the shower, noticing that the mirrors didn’t reflect me; instead, they showed Chara, my home, immersed in fire.

  Landen busted through the door. “Willow - what? What’s wrong?!”

  “BLOOD! BLOOD! It’s all over me!” I screamed, jumping in place and crying brea
thlessly.

  “There is no blood Willow...Willow, look at me...there is no blood!” Landen yelled back at me, wrapping a large towel around me.

  I opened my eyes and looked down; I was just wet; I looked in the shower: the water had no trace of blood. My eyes rushed back and forth, and my heart pounded in my chest; I shook my head from side-to-side, then I looked to the mirror; I could still see Chara burning...I could even feel the heat from the flames. Landen’s eyes followed mine, then I felt the horror come from him as well. People were rushing in every direction, then we saw Libby; she was running with the crowd. She saw us and reached for us, and Landen didn’t hesitate. He reached for her, and I watched as her arm came from the mirror and Landen grasped it.