I ignored his mumbling about followers and engagement. Then I waited some more. How long did it take to silence the phone? When he laughed to himself and typed, I cleared my throat. He was worse than Eli.
“Davin!”
Davin jerked and then turned his lips downward into a pout.
Seriously?
He put his phone away and then closed his eyes, still pouting.
I shook my head and then chanted until the crystal raised from the bowl. Light burst around us like a sunbeam. Then two ribbons of golden light appeared, snaking upward from the crystal. One enclosed Davin, and the other spiraled around me.
The tendrils grew brighter and spun around us, until I saw no beginning nor end. There. We were connected. Then the illuminations exploded without a sound, quick as a blink.
I took Davin to centuries past, before I ever met Cyrus or Eligor, when I was eight years old. Where it all began.
Chapter Two
Mother’s Workroom
Ikelia
“Ikelia, run!” I heard my mother’s voice but I couldn’t see her.
“Mama? Where are you?” My voice rang against the trees as I desperately searched for her in the forest. The sun was fading, and darkness would cover the land soon. I was familiar with the forest near our home, but these woods were unfamiliar, frightening.
Why am I here, alone?
It must be a dream. My parents would never let me wander alone.
“Run, Baby. Run!” Mother’s voice rattled my bones, leaving me breathless.
“Mama? I can’t find you.”
My heart pounded as I darted left and right in search for her. Every which way I turned, trees stood in my way and I couldn’t enter—or rather exit. But I also didn’t want to leave without her.
“Follow my voice, baby.” She sounded so close and yet I couldn’t find her.
I shoved through the tightly packed trees. But no matter how fast I scurried or which direction I ran, I ended up at the same spot. The trees grew taller and wider, blocking out the sun and crowding me, preventing me from going beyond.
“Ikelia, run!” My mother’s urgency only flustered me.
“I can’t. Where are you?”
Tears pooled in my eyes as fear gripped me, squeezing me tighter with every second. Then a stream of black mist, that looked like a snake, coiled upward from the ground. Terror choked off my breath. More and more came after. So many.
What are those things?
“Mama. Mama. I’m so scared. Help me.” I whimpered and folded my arms around myself, trembling.
Those black tendrils curled around me, streaming faster. I wanted to scream, but my tongue twisted in knots.
“Ikelia.” The malice-filled voice boomed in my head. “You cannot escape me. I’m coming for you, little witch.”
“No, no, no, no…” I shook my head. “I’m not a witch.” I had no idea what that was.
The black vapor entities swarmed me all at once. I thought I was good as dead when a claw gripped my neck and lifted me, cutting the air from my lungs. Pain kept me frozen. I had to do something.
With my little fists, I punched and punched, but my strength was no match for him. I stopped when a form materialized. His black cloak billowed with the violent wind, but where his face should be was an empty darkness. Two crimson eyes glowed within.
“You’re a fighter.” He sounded amused, though his voice was deep and sinister.
When he loosened the hold on my neck, I gulped air greedily.
“Let me go,” I panted. Knowing I was dreaming, I became bolder. Courage was my friend once I recalled this wasn’t the first time I had dreamt of this evil being.
“So brave. Not like the other times when you cried and begged. What’s different this time, girl?”
The truth was, I was deathly afraid, but he challenged me and something in me rebelled against the fear. When I didn’t answer, he gripped me tighter with a little shake.
The thick, heavy air shifted, and he stiffened. Waiting. A scent like honeysuckle—fruity and warm with hints of honey and ripe citrus—wrapped around me.
My mother was here.
The demon let go of me, spun, and jabbed a dagger he pulled from his side into my mother’s heart, who had materialized behind him. Shock rendered me voiceless.
No blood spilled from where she had been wounded.
A dream, I reminded myself, but no amount of reassurance stopped Mother from turning into ice. No, not my mother. Her face twisted and warped into mine.
“See your future, little witch,” it hissed in my ear.
“No!” I screamed and flashed my eyes open to reality. I gasped for air as the morning sun blinded me through the small slit between the brown curtains in my bedroom.
I wiped the sweat off from my forehead, sat up, and glanced about my small space. The oak table by my bed with a burnt-out lantern. Wood ceiling with an intricate spider web in the corner. The doll my mother had sewn—black yarn hair, two brown-button eyes, and pink thread lips—sat on the dark cherry chest with painted flowers.
My room.
Safe. I’m safe. I’m home. It was just a dream.
I threw a prayer of thanks to mother earth and inhaled a deep breath as I got out of bed. No monsters. I wasn’t sure if what held me captive was a demon, but what else could it be?
I had never told my parents about my nightmares, but this time, I planned to. Unlike the times I woke up crying and unable to breathe, this time Mother had been stabbed in the heart and turned to ice. Or did the dream mean danger for me after Mother’s face turned into mine?
The aroma of fried eggs and fresh, warm bread greeted me when I came out of my room. Breakfast was on the table, but the used plates and cups indicated that my parents had already eaten.
Father must be in the barn, where he went every morning after meal. Mother would never leave the used dishes on the table, so where was she?
“Mama?” I whispered. The scary dream had me spooked. In the empty house, my mind ran wild with thoughts of mother turning to ice.
Autumn leaves fell from the tree outside the window. Perhaps Mother was attending the horses. With no sight of her, I assumed she was in the barn with Father.
Footsteps scuffled.
I whirled, my heart pounding, half expecting to see the demons from my nightmare. But the noises were soft and familiar.
I tip-toed to Mother’s workroom. I sighed with relief—she was well and unharmed. She went from her cabinet to a table, back and forth. Mother always had her door closed and told me to never go inside, so I was surprised the door was ajar enough for me to peek in.
If there had been a window, I would have risked my neck to peek in from the outside. I had always been curious what wonders Mother hid in her workroom.
I tried to go in a few times when she went to the market, but the door was always locked. So when I got a glimpse, I wanted to see more.
I poked at the door a tiny bit so mother couldn’t tell the door had opened another millimeter. Her braided hair draped over to one side of her shoulder and she wore a simple, long blue dress with the same color sash around her waist. Even though her cheeks were pale instead of rosy, she looked pretty. But her red-rimmed eyes told me she was tired.
Maybe she had a nightmare like me and didn’t sleep well.
People said we looked alike, that I was a miniature version of her. We had the same high cheekbones, heart-shaped face, and big brown eyes. And even the same braided hair style.