Page 72 of The Ember and the Emerald

“Then we find Ian.” Daggers undergirded Ahav’s determination. He would stop at nothing to achieve his goal.

I shifted gears. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but in this time loop, mere days from now, you die in monstra fire.” Not months, considering my mother’s pregnancy wasn’t too far along when she made it to Kansas.

“I see.” Other than stare at the water, Ahav gave no reaction.

“There’s something else. Andrea, Morris’s first wife, is the Ember. That, I know. The rest is pure speculation, but here goes. I believe she used too much of its power, and that’s what killed her. But Morris used special shells to bring her back to life. Eventually. The collapse of the catacombs possibly trapped her in rubble. If Ian’s father found her during the restoration and hid her from everyone but his son, Ian could’ve used her power to create the monstra anew, kicking off the time loop.” I reached for the journal, intending to show him a passage, but of course, the tome wasn’t in the pack.

Moving on. “Ian could have her chained somewhere, waiting to find and use the emerald to drain the Ember from her. Or he’s got the emerald, and he’s hunting her. And I promise I’m not being deliberately confusing. I only have pieces of the story.”

He thought for a moment. Nodded. “I’m glad to have those pieces.”

Good. “Let me search for Ian without you. Go home. Stay with the queen. Stay safe,” I pleaded. This man, my bio-dad, was the linchpin. Save him, and we could save the others. He knew Ian—the original Ian—better than anyone. Only with him could we win this war.

“I will not turn back,” he said, stubborn.

Maybe I could offer him another vision. But as I probed my mind, loud, blaring sounds blasted from the camp. My blood iced.

He popped to his feet, blade in hand. “The monstra come. Hide, Oracle. You are our best weapon.”

My chest locked up as he rushed off. I didn’t understand. We weren’t in a village filled with people. This wasn’t right. Didn’t fit my vision.

Maybe I should hide, as ordered, but training or madness drove me onward. I snatched up my bag and sprinted for camp. My ring still hadn’t reappeared, but my ring finger blistered, a molten pulse reminiscent of what I’d once wielded. Power. Fire. Victory. I extended my arm, summoning my sword of flame with everything in me…

No sword, but golden armor flickered across my body, guttered, then vanished.

“Stay!” I snarled but the metal did not reappear.

Fine. It didn’t matter. I had daggers and the rocks; I wasn’t without weapons.

Chaos reigned all around. Soldiers barked instructions and sprinted through thick, cloying smoke. Men fought to free the pegacorns; others ducked beneath the canopy draped over spearpoints. The king crouched among them, features cut from stone as he issued orders. Intermixed through it all were screaming, running people. Except, they were transparent, as if they were being projected from the past.

Realization stabbed me: I’d seen the past mixed with the future. This was my vision.

Death had come for us.

A roar split the sky open, clawed through my ears, and shook my lungs.

Then another roar came, and another and another, until they merged into an endless shriek. My eardrums burst and bled.

Focus. I ripped the bag’s zipper open, and light spilled out. A surprise. The stones glowed faintly, alive with an inner beat.

Okay, that was new. Let’s find out what they can do. I lifted one, preparing to hurl it at a beast.

But which one? The swarm blackened the horizon: massive, grotesque things with eyes like rubies, wings like torn sails, and scales that drank the moonlight. Veins of molten orange ran from chest to jaw, lighting their mouths from within.

I’d drawn them a thousand times, but the truth eclipsed every nightmare. At least I didn’t spot the half-morphed Jasher among them.

One creature dove low and spat a torrent of fire. The canopy smothered it, turning flame into instant smoke. Arrows hissed through slits in the fabric, flying up, up, slamming into the first line of monstra only to bounce harmlessly from their obsidian scales.

“Look them in the eyes,” I shouted. “They can’t strike if you meet their gazes.”

Multiple monstra jetted down, down, intending to snatch soldiers between their teeth, but they impaled themselves into the hidden spears. White dust flung, and the monstra behind them began raining from the sky, flailing. Others broke into a frenzy of aggression.

The air filled with the odor of scorched metal and blood. I locked on a target to hurl the glowing stone⁠—

Flash. Suddenly, I was running but not fast enough. A monstra’s claws closed around my shoulders, snatching me off my feet as if I were a doll.

I screamed in agony, and the vision snapped, tossing me back into the present, the stone now on the ground at my feet. Hot wind brushed the back of my neck. I’d seen the future. And now, as a shadow fell over me, I knew. Dive or get carried off.