Image (Insight #3)(20)
“Do something, Landen!”I screamed, pulling her body onto my lap.
Landen’s hands were already on the back of her head, and I watched as he focused his energy. A white glow came from beneath his hands, and the blood vanished instantly. Perodine’s eyes opened, and she looked up at me and reached to wipe away the tears that were washing down my face. Landen focused his energy around me and Perodine, shielding us from another blow. Marc and Dane were pulling every painting off the walls and throwing them into the fire. Suddenly, a roar filled the room, and the glass windows shook from the sheer force.
“That’s right, you bastard!” Perodine said, sitting up. “Waste your energy – we will send you back to hell where you belong!” she yelled into the room.
The table where the scrolls and books were sitting began to burn. As August rushed to protect them, he stopped when he reached the table.
“Grab them!” yelled Landen, helping me pull Perodine up.
“They’re not burning - only the table,” August said in an astonished tone.
The fire on the table dwindled and the smoke faded, taking the evidence of rage with it.
“I protected those scrolls long ago, and last night I protected the books of Jayda and Samilya; he cannot destroy them,” Perodine said, moving out of the shield that Landen had put around her.
“I don’t think it’s wise to mock him – it – whatever it is,” Dane said as he walked over to me, satisfied that they’d burned every painting. Marc was starting to throw pillows that had artwork stitched into them; he was determined to burn anything that even resembled an image.
“I’m not mocking him; I was just making sure we were right. He would be out causing torment and breeding anger, but instead he is lingering here. We are getting closer to the truth that will defeat him,” Perodine said as she adjusted her ponytail and rolled her sleeves up further.
“Landen, I think we need to start on this floor; we need to cover whatever passage he might have,” Marc said, walking to Landen’s side.
Landen nodded, then pulled me to his side. As he walked past Perodine, he looked over her to make sure she was healed.
“Are you staying with her?” he asked August.
“Yes. There’s more that needs to be understood; do not leave this floor,” August said, running his hands through his hair.
Landen nodded and took my hand. As we followed Marc to the hallway, I tried to stop my body from trembling. I’d seen things that most others hadn’t, but I’d never felt a force like that before; I felt defeated already. Landen pushed a peace through me, and I looked up at him and tried to hide my worries from him. He pulled my hand to his lips and kissed it gently; I smiled and breathed out. We looked at the long hall ahead of us, as well as the massive number of paintings. The doorways only led to more rooms, more paintings, and the task of turning them all felt overwhelming in itself.
Chapter Five
The four of us began to turn the paintings in the hallway. When we reached a room, we’d all enter and cover every mirror, then turn every painting. For the first hour, no one really said anything; we just worked aimlessly. It felt like we were plugging holes in a sinking ship. As Dane and Landen covered a mirror that was over six feet high, the breaking glass made us all jump.
“This is insane,” Dane said, looking at Landen. “Do the two of you understand any of this?” he asked, moving on to another painting.
“I understand that we must unravel a broken message from our ancestors to find a way through Venus,” Landen said, turning on the fireplace so he could toss in the pillows and throws that had artwork on them.
“I think that’s where they lost me,” Marc said, making a pile for Landen to destroy.
“Yeah, me, too,” Dane said.
Landen looked up at them. “I’d think that all of you would understand that we’ve lived before,” he answered.
“Yeah, I got that part,” Dane said. “But you’re a descendent of Jayda, right?” he asked. Landen nodded. “OK,” Dane said, leaning in the doorway and waiting for us to finish burning the pillows. “But they’re saying that Willow was Jayda back then.”
I was handing Landen a pillow, but I froze when I heard Dane’s response. Landen looked at Marc, then back to Dane. “Do you know that you were always a girl – always a boy – I mean, which one of you was Jayda?” Dane asked.
Marc threw the last pillow in the fire. “We’re always in the same sun; we always have the same sex,” he said, looking around the room to make sure we hadn’t forgotten anything.
“How are you so sure?” Landen asked, knowing Marc believed what he was saying.
“Well, I asked my father that day you took us to see him. I wanted to know everything about dying; I wanted to make sure he was not going to come back as a chicken or something,” Marc said, almost amused by his words. “And that was the answer he gave me.”
“When I first met her, Aora told me we always stay in the same sun,” I added.
“I think Willow was Jayda and Landen was the ruler – and over time, through all the generations, Landen just happened to be born on Jayda’s side and Willow on Samilya’s,” Marc said.
“Then what are you confused about? You seem to have a better understanding than we do,” Landen questioned Marc.