I shoot the healer a glare as he drops to the ground next to Adrian. His hands light up green as he scans Adrian’s body. Adrian doesn’t react to the healer at all, just mumbling under his breath as he stares at the sky blankly.
The healer shakes his head. “I need to get him to the office. I can’t find anything physically wrong with him but there is clearly an issue. What was he doing before the episode?”
“He was running endurance training,” I say. “He had a vision and it triggered the seizure.” I cross my arms.
“Has that ever happened before?”
“No, he said that he saw every possible future, not just what needs to be done.” I rub my arms, fighting off the chill that has nothing to do with the weather.
“I want to keep him for observation for at least a day.” The healer stands up and dusts his robes off.
“Shit, we were heading out for a mission that can’t wait.” I glance at Jayden and Raven over my shoulder.
“We can’t go without him, baby.” Jayden grabs my hand, gripping it tight in his.
“Of course not. He’s been a part of every mission. We can’t just leave him.”
“Then we delay a day. It’s only the end of the world,” Raven says.
I shoot her a glare for her ill-timed joke. “Isn’t it always the end of the world?”
“Death, destruction. Have to stop it,” Adrian mumbles.
“Fuck, that’s not good.” Dread pools in my belly at his words.
“Okay, buddy.” Jayden reaches down, scooping Adrian up in his strong arms. “Let’s get you to the healers so you can rest.”
Raven and I follow behind Jayden as he carries our seer friend back up to the academy. The others all stay behind to continue with training and I’m grateful that they know what the priorities are right now. We need to make sure Adrian is okay, but they need to help with the others.
“He said that he saw all the possible futures. You don’t think they all end in death and destruction, right?” Raven asks.
“They can’t possibly all lead to our deaths and losing the war.” I shake my head. “They just can’t. We have to be able to stop it somehow.”
“We will figure it out. We always do. I’m sure it’s just that he’s disoriented so he’s focusing on the horrors he’s seen instead of possible solutions.”
“He’s never gonna be the same, is he?” I ask.
“Once this is all over, none of us will be the same. Don’t forget there’s no real winners in war, just the ones who lose the least in the process, but there will be losses and we need to be prepared for that.”
“Why do you think training and them coming together is so important to me? We need them to be as prepared for the inevitable. The queen isn’t going to announce battle and a time and place to meet. She’s more devious than that. She will attack us without notice,” I say.
“We need to worry about one thing at a time, like Jayden says.” Raven claps me on the shoulder. “Focus on Adrian for now and then on the mission tomorrow.”
The healer rushes to open the door to the academic building for Jayden to carry a blubbering Adrian through. We follow down the halls to the healers’ wing. Jayden lays Adrian on one of the cots and takes a step back. All the color has drained from my mate’s face.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, grabbing his hand.
“The things he was mumbling on the way here, it’s bad, baby.” Jayden blows out a breath.
“Did any of it make sense? Could you piece anything together?” I ask.
“No, it’s just a lot of mumbled nonsense but dark nonsense. Fire, death, destruction. The academy burns. That’s one thing he said.” Jayden’s shoulders slump.
“Shit, at least we have something. We just don’t know when or how.” I lay my head on his shoulder.
“Did he see the actual battle with the queen?” Raven asks, cocking her head to the side. “That could be when he sees the academy burning.”
“You’re right. That’s probably it. If he really saw it all, then no wonder he’s disoriented and rambling. I can’t imagine having that huge burden on my shoulders.” I shudder.
