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“I never even properly met her,” Izban complained. “She appeared out of nowhere, told us to follow her, and then suddenly we were in a pub in Scotland. She never even told us her name. Why am I the one who’s got to find the prophets?”
“Wait, what do you mean? Find them?” Cam asked, looking at the mage thoughtfully. “Are you thinking that we each need to find the people on our papers?”
Izban groaned in frustration. “Am I the only one who can see the obvious? Those are all friends and allies we’ve met over the past few months. Whoever brought us here, whoever sent us these messages, they want us to find them and probably get them to help us defeat the Mahoun. They know we can’t do it on our own. Just because we’re the Seven Wardens doesn’t mean that we have to fight the Voice alone.”
“Wow, he’s actually talking sense,” Jared snickered, but immediately shut up when the mage shot him a very dark look. He turned serious. “What do we do when we find and convince them to help us? We still don’t know where the Mahoun is or how to get to him. Or how to fight him, even. As much as I like the idea of getting our allies together, this isn’t a very good plan.”
“The Staran brought us here,” Macey said thoughtfully. “And now we got these messages. Someone is helping us. Should we just assume that they’ll keep helping us? Should we trust them to bring us to the Mahoun when the time is right?”
Flint shook his head. “I don’t like this. This could all be one gigantic trap by the Voice to split us up and then capture us one by one. So far, the only person who’s occasionally helped us is Malan. Why would someone else suddenly start assisting us without even introducing themselves?”
“Maybe it’s Malan.” Jared shrugged. “He loves playing games, maybe he just wants to make it all more interesting.”
Macey huffed. “Well, if this was him, he’s certainly managed to confuse us. Not that he ever not confuses us. He’s never said a straight sentence to me, not one simple, easy to understand word of advice.” She paused for a moment and twirled her piece of paper between her fingers. “But I don’t think this is Malan. He wouldn’t want to miss seeing the confusion on our faces. He loves to show off, while this is someone who doesn’t want to be seen or thanked. A mystery benefactor. Or, as Flint said, a trap.”
“We were eventually going to ask for help from our friends anyway, weren’t we,” Amber said, absentmindedly reaching out for Izban who took her hand. “Maybe this is intended to give us a little push in that direction.”
Macey ran her hands through her hair. She really didn’t know what to think. There were so many possibilities and questions racing through her mind, but none of them stood out as the solution to this strange riddle. What Flint had said made sense. The Voice had tried to split them up before, and had managed to capture Macey in the process. Still, that theory didn’t sit right with her. The way the messages had appeared in the flames… that was a beautiful, intricate magic, and she couldn’t imagine the Mahoun wielding that kind of power. His magic was likely more crude, more violent.
“Let’s go in pairs,” she decided. “That way we can go everywhere quickly, but aren’t alone.” When nobody protested, she quickly continued. “Cam and I both have water beings, so we’ll go together. Izban and Amber, I don’t think I’ll even try and split you up. That leaves Flint and Jared. Rónán didn’t get a mission, but maybe it would be best for you to join Amber? Maybe the ceasg will appreciate a selkie coming to visit.”
She didn’t want to say that it was a bad idea for Rónán to come with her. As liberal as her family were, they probably wouldn’t like her bringing a selkie back home. Especially not her selkie boyfriend.
He seemed to understand, giving her a smile and a nod.
“What are we going to do exactly?” Jared asked. “I’m sure the kabouters are going to support us, but where are we going to meet? Am I to ask all their best warriors to come with me? Or just their mages? Who do we need?” He sighed. “Why is everything so complicated?”
Macey shrugged. She didn’t know any more than the incubus did. “The Staran brought us here. Let’s as
k it to bring us where we need to go? And if it doesn’t, let’s meet at Malan’s house. He’ll probably lead us in the right direction just to get rid of us.”
Jared chuckled. “Yes, you may be right about that. Maybe I’ll pick up some waffles for him while we’re in Belgium. If we don’t see the prophet, we can always offer them to the Mahoun. Maybe he’ll give up in return for waffles.”
“This is getting silly,” Izban growled. “Let’s go. I wish our phones worked here but as they don’t, let’s leave a message with Malan should something happen.”
He stepped towards the large door they’d come through, pulling Amber with him.
She waved at Macey, unperturbed by her boyfriend’s sour demeanour. “See you later!”
As soon as the couple had stepped through the door, they disappeared, swallowed by the strange magic surrounding this place. Macey walked over to Cam, who was staring intently at his piece of paper.
“I’m not exactly looking forward to visiting the storm kelpies again,” he admitted. “Shall we go to your family first?”
“Yes.” Macey nodded grimly. “I have a loch monster to talk to.”
The loch was covered in thick fog that seemed to suck in the last evening light. It didn't make sense to Macey that it was almost night here already, but she remembered how the guys had told her once that time flowed differently on Earth than it did on the other planes.
The Staran had released them at the very tip of the loch, not far from where the underwater palace was based. Problem was that she couldn't actually take Cam down there.
"I'll try and call my aunt," Macey explained while she undressed. "She's the one with the best hearing, so hopefully she'll send my father up here without me having to swim all the way down to his home."
Cam nodded, but his eyes were fixed on her naked skin. "You've got scales again," he said softly, pointing to her abdomen.
He was right. Hundreds of tiny scales were covering her belly and thighs, sparkling whenever she moved. Strange. They seemed to come and go as they wanted. She shrugged. A problem for another day.
She stepped into the cool water, immediately feeling happier. This was home. The familiar smell of the loch calmed her mind and she breathed in deep, relaxing further. She needed to come here more often. Now that she was swimming in the loch, she noticed how much she'd missed it.
She dived, her eyes quickly adjusting to the dim light filtering through the water's smooth surface. She knew she only needed to partly shift, but she couldn't resist shifting all the way. As soon as her gills had sprung up along her neck, she breathed in the cool water, relishing in the refreshment it brought.
