I finally yell, “WAIT! Why are you guys here?”
“Because,” Other Elle brushes her hands down her shirt, smoothing it out with exaggerated calm, “we were told we could come here to make a wish, and I planned to get rid of Auradelle that way.”
Bryx throws his hands up. “Do what?! That’s not what you told me!”
The bickering starts up again, and suddenly the temple begins to shake. Sand, dust, and debris begin falling from the ceiling as a loud roar shakes the entire foundation.
We all freeze.
“Well, now you’ve gone and done it,” snarks Peeble.
Another roar, closer this time, and I begin to panic. “Okay, I need everyone to hush! I have got to make this wish before this wyrm takes down this whole place.”
Other Elle comes rushing toward me. “Oh, no, you don’t. I have been here for months trying to find the perfect solution to the absolute dumpster fire of a situation I’ve been placed in. If anyone drinks from that water, it will be me!”
Let me tell you, it is a wild thing fighting with yourself. It’s like looking in a mirror and knowing every hit will only make youlook uglier. I don’t want to do too much damage, because I don’t know what that means for my future.
We are running through the temple, dodging columns, and I am desperately trying to think of what to do.
Meanwhile, the foundation begins to groan. I look up in horror as I see the wyrm circling the building, trying to cause a sinkhole. It looks like that horrible worm from Beetlejuice, all black-and-white striped, but fatter, like the ones from Tremors. Its body coils around the exterior walls, each pass sending more cracks racing through the marble.
I realize I only have seconds before my opportunity is gone.
“Someone distract the wyrm! We need to buy some time!”
The group spreads out, banging weapons on stone, confusing the wyrm which direction the vibrations are coming from. The creature rages and roars, whipping its massive body back and forth, unable to pinpoint a single target.
I finally lose Other Elle around a corner and skid to a stop.
And I don’t believe what I see.
It is Peeble. Riding the back of the wyrm like they were born for desert warfare, tiny wings flared, mandibles raised to the heavens.
“ONWARD, BEAST!” Peeble screams. “SUBMIT TO YOUR MASTER!”
I stare for a full second, equal parts horrified, impressed. Then I shake it off and look at the pedestal. The water is unguarded. The basin sits there, shimmering, still, completely unbothered by the chaos around it.
I slide up to the side of the pedestal. Just as I reach for a handful of water, Other Elle knocks me to the ground. We roll across the floor, punching, clawing. She grabs a fistful of my hair. I grab hers right back. We’re both screaming, because getting your hair pulled hurts regardless of whether you’re a badass vigilante.
I finally shove her down the side stairs, sprint back to the water. I scoop up a handful, cup it to my mouth, start my wish as I drink.
I wish to go to the iteration with my Kaelren and—
Other Elle comes charging up the steps. But the wyrm is right behind her. Its massive jaws open wide—wider than anything that size should be able to—and close around her in one bite.
I choke on the water.
Damn it.
The wish is half-formed. The water is already burning down my throat, already doing whatever ancient magic it’s supposed to do, and I didn’t finish the thought. I said my Kaelren. I didn’t say which iteration. I didn’t say the present. I didn’t say any of the things Eltrien told me to be specific about.
The temple is collapsing. The wyrm is thrashing. Peeble is somewhere screaming what sounds like a battle cry mixed with profanity. And the world is starting to shimmer at the edges, that telltale blur that means I’m about to be pulled somewhere else.
I look down at my hands. They’re fading.
“Not again,” I whisper.
The last thing I see before the world dissolves is Eltrien’s face across the temple, his expression a mixture of terror and something else—recognition, maybe. Like he knows exactly what’s about to happen because he’s seen some version of this before.
