“Hey…how are you feeling?” Emma whispered, touching Prescott’s head softly, as she watched him open his eyes for the second time.
The first time, she had screamed and had called for the nurse in charge of his treatment, not minding that Adah was with her. Nothing could have dampened her joy. She had just checked on Annabel and Amelia, who although their vitals were stable, was still asleep, yet out of coma. According to the chief nurse, a week was enough for them to wake up now. Then she had checked on Prescott, and only touching him with fondness had elicited the response of his eyes opening. Emma had been overjoyed.
“Prescott, can you hear me?” She asked softly, dragging a seat to herself, whilst Adah watched on, not understanding the communication method of the squirrel and Emma. Like the people in the community, she had never seen a talking animal, or rather an animal that communicates as Emma had painted Prescott to be.
Her friend who was in the upper echelons of the community leaders had informed her of Emma’s interview, and what the elders had thought about it. The chosen one. Every doubt they had during the interview had been cleared during the duel, when the latter had shifted into that multicolored wolf with intricate strange designs on its body.
Adah was still researching the designs; one of her gifts was a retentive memory-she never forgot something, so long as her two eyes had caught the statement, or books, or whatever. Her brain retained it, forever.
However, it hadn’t been of use to this predicament; she had never seen a mark as Emma’s.
When Emma bent to touch Prescott for the third time, Adah noticed the black tattoo that peeled from underneath her shirt.
It wasn’t the wolf alone then. She thought, swallowing spittle. If the Haybalik prophecy was true, then the elders should be drilling Emma at every minute of the day, not putting her through classes. According to the prophecy, it was the end of the world if the powers, if the evil forces weren’t stopped.
Adah didn’t know what could cause it, but she had an inkling that Emma did, reason she was here; to train and fortify herself.
Adah sighed, watching Prescott keep his eyes open for more than two minutes. He was truly awake.
“Who is the girl behind you?” She heard the squirrel say, and gasped in shock. The squirrel could talk? Her gasp drew Prescott and Emma’s attention to her.
“You can hear him?” Emma asked, hoping Adah could. It would help with communication; since Annabel was still sick. Adah was the only one she could talk to here, for now at least. She didn’t think she would bother her mother’s ex lover again.
“Yes, I can. He’s asking about me…”
Emma smiled. “Well, Prescott, we have another person who can hear you speak. Do you want to create a mind path with her?”
Prescott shook his head. ‘We have to know for sure she is to be trusted. I hope you haven’t told her much?’
‘No, I didn’t. But she seems like a good person.’
Adah didn’t know what was going on, but she felt it; the communication strand between Emma and Prescott. A mind path? That was only among the supernaturals. But Prescott was an animal? How did…
Adah pressed a thumb to her forehead, she could feel a headache coming. She wished to broach Emma’s mind, but her instincts told her not to dare, and she didn’t. She had seen Emma fight, but what else was the latter capable of? However, she had understood Prescott’s shake of head; he didn’t want her in the group yet, and that was okay. She was still new to them.
“Emma, I will be leaving now…I have a meeting with an old friend.” She said, before waving at a Prescott that stared at her with a scrutinizing gaze. He made no effort to show that he had heard her. Emma waved back still. “See you tomorrow in class then.”
Adah nodded and walked away.
“She’s hiding something…” Prescott started when Adah left the clinic.
Emma laughed. “Prescott, we are all hiding something. Are you ready to join me? I think I need a roommate.”
Prescott smiled, and nodded fitfully. He has never been a fan of clinical smells.
****
Tempest dropped down, twenty feet away from the barrier that separated Leonarya’s world from the outside world. She picked the stick from the ground, and dropped it into a thicket of bushes, so that the magic resonating around it wouldn’t be noticed by a passerby; a worker of Leonarya’s returning from work.
When she was sure that the bushes covered it well, she cast a spell of covering over it. She wasn’t going to take chances-it would aid her speedy escape from here. After that, she picked the herb from the small satchel that was slung across her body, which she had picked from her garden, and chewed on it, mentally making incantations on what she wanted; to take the features of Margo.
She could easily have done this without the herbs, but seeing that she didn’t know what she would encounter in Leonarya’s lair-if she would fight-she didn’t want to waste her energy on spells that would bring the same results as some herbs would, when aided with little or no spells.
Lifting her hands, she grunted when she saw that the spell had worked. Instead of her slender pale fingers, there was almost the brown shade that was only Margo’s. Then she inhaled deeply, casting a shifting spell on herself. She instantly became a housefly.
She made sure to keep her energy within herself, and then she permeated the barrier. The first thing she noticed was the deadly quietness in the community, and for a second, she was tempted to return; to return and prepare; to maybe show herself to her mother; that maybe she was acting out of anger. But then, she reaffirmed her beliefs; she would rescue her friend.
She continued on her flight, until she entered Leonarya’s palace. It was there she saw the entire group of people, who had congregated in her sister’s palace, and that the latter had a familiar visitor with her.