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“That information means nothing to me.”
I laugh.
“I don’t know. They have weird prophecies. Maybe it was predicted that you’d need help one day.” I shrug.
Dessin and Warrose stop running, staring at something blocking their path at the edge of the forest. I jog up behind them to get a better look, but Dessin’s tan arm shoots backward to capture my arm, keeping me at a safe distance behind him.
There are two men dressed in heavy charcoal-gray robes. Middle age, light-brown skin, and black hair braided in thick rows.
“Skylenna?” one man calls out. “Is it Skylenna?” he seems to be asking the man to his left.
“My friend here is without sight. But we’ve come to speak to you both.” The younger one nods his head to Dessin, eyes looking back and forth between the two of us.
Dessin’s arm tenses. “Who are you?”
“The Druidalas Kin. From Shaman’s Land.”
I recognize the name. It’s from one of the seven forests on the map.
“Okay.” Dessin shifts on his feet. “What do you want?”
The younger man steps forward, holding the arm of the blind one. “You never came to visit us. We heard you saw the Nightamous Horde and the Stormsages.”
“We’ve been a little busy,” Dessin says coldly.
“We understand. That’s why we’ve come for you, tracked you several weeks. To tell you something that will help with your journey.” The blind man takes a quivering step forward, and the closer he is, the better I can see his cloudy white eyes. “You’ll know she’s ready when the first blood is drawn for the one that was born of slaughter.”
We blink at him, silent, waiting for more. But that’s it. That’s what he came this far to tell us. “What?” I blurt out.
Dessin remains silent, working something out in his head. Putting those words together like a puzzle. “I see.” He nods, letting go of my arm. “Is that all?”
The old man nods his head. “Prophecy says, when the war begins, we will ride with you. Remember that.”
6. The First Blood
My hand hovers over the door, rethinking if I should wait until I’m in a better headspace.
But it opens before I can decide. Niles widens his eyes, looking me up and down.
“What’re you doing here?” he asks.
I don’t answer. My hand falls back to my side.
“Want to go with me to sneak food and hang out with Ruthie?”
I shake my head. “No. I was hoping to talk to Chekiss.”
Niles opens the door wider. “Oh, come in.” He moves aside so I can enter. “What’re we talking about?”
“Alone, Niles.”
“But—”
“Out, you little pest,” Chekiss says from the corner of the room, sifting through a spread of books.
Niles rolls his eyes. “Gladly.”
And we’re alone. The room crackles and sparks from the roaring fireplace, filling my nose with the scent of burning wood and rosemary.
