Image (Insight #3)(4)

Libby and Preston both frantically nodded ‘yes.’

“You stay here,” I said to Libby.

She sighed. “I knew you were going to say that,” she said, looking solemn. Landen nodded for Preston to go back to Ashten.

“She’s in the observatory,” Preston said to Landen, who nodded in response.

August climbed into the backseat of our Jeep, and Landen drove off in the direction of the passage, not allowing anymore arguments.

August slid in the middle to talk to us as we drove. “I don’t want to concern you, but we may have less than three days. It’s well into the seventeenth day in Esterious, and Delen is in the same time as Willow’s birthplace,” he said, looking at Landen.

Landen tightened his jaw and increased his speed. There was no doubt he was in shock; he thought we had more time, and he longed for the peace in which he wanted us to live. Sensing that I felt guilty for being the reason we had to live through this, Landen reached his hand over and let it rest on mine. He then looked at me and shook his head ‘no,’ reassuring me that there was no reason for my guilt.


Chapter Two

Once we reached Delen, we could see that all of the palace lights were burning brightly; people were lining the streets, anxious to see what had brought Perodine back so abruptly. As we walked through the large iron gates, flashes of the storm came to me, then an overwhelming emotion of grief flooded me. The girl kissing Landen...the pain in Drake’s eyes as I hurt him once again...those memories were worse than any nightmare I’d ever had.

The front doors were open, and a young woman dressed in black was standing in the shadows; she intended to lead us to Perodine. Inside the place, we grudgingly climbed eight flights of stairs, then turned down a short hallway that led to a vast open room. In the center of the stone room, there was a square pool; stars from above reflected in the dark water. Perodine was standing near the center of the pool; the water was clinging to her waist. She waded carefully backwards, and as she moved, the water grew more shallow. She was wearing black slacks and a black T-shirt. I’d never seen her so informal; it made her seem more real, approachable. She was studying the reflection of the stars, and I could feel her anger, frustration, and absolute dread.

August walked in front of me and Landen. When he reached the pool, he quietly slid his shoes off and stepped slowly in, trying not to move the stars on which Perodine was focused.

Landen and I cautiously walked to the pool, anxiously watching them, wanting any help we could get from the stars above.

“Perodine,” I said quietly. She looked up as if I’d screamed her name, then noticed August in the pool for the first time. Around her neck, I could see dark bruises - as if she’d been severely choked by someone. “Who hurt you?” I asked, horrified.

As she held back tears that wanted to surface, her eyes seemed to turn to glass. She then waded through the pool toward me, filling with absolute defeat. As she leaned across the edge and put her hand on my face, her eyes carefully studied my every feature. “I’m afraid, my child, that he is more powerful dead than he ever was alive,” she whispered to me.

I felt as if the wind was suddenly knocked from my body, and my heart pounded in my chest. What did she mean? Donalt was a ghost, a demon?

“He’s been planning this for millions of years,” she continued.

“Planning what?” Landen asked, terror consuming him.

Perodine let her hand drop from my face, then slowly turned around and sat on the edge of the pool. August was now quietly studying the starry reflections.

“He knew all along where Guardian’s soul would be born, where you’d be born. He orchestrated this entire dilemma - just so he could return again,” Perodine answered. “I’m such a fool.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said, sitting down next to her.

“I just don’t know why I didn’t see it in the stars,” Perodine said, letting her face rest in her hands. I put my hand on her shoulder, and so did Landen; together, we tried to give her a sense of calm - but she refused to succumb to the emotion.

“Absolute genius,” I heard August say in a disgusted tone.

Perodine looked up from her hands, and August waved her over to see the reflection he was studying. She approached carefully. August began to point to the water, and as Perodine studied the stars, I felt an anger come over her with an intent of revenge.

“What do you see?” Landen asked them.

“In the stars, I saw conflicts in Willow’s path; a man, darkness keeping her from you. I thought it was Drake - but Donalt weaved his intentions alongside Drake, hiding himself,” Perodine said, shaking her head and smiling - almost deviously.

“I don’t understand,” I said, looking around at all of them.

“When I saw danger in your path, I thought it was Drake. I never thought it would be Donalt; I’d already considered him dead, and I never considered the idea that he’d linger between lives,” she said, looking around the room in the dark shadows. She let her anger overturn her fear, then glared into the darkness.

“How can he take the power if it’s her heart?” Landen asked, bewildered.

“I’m afraid he’s had four million years to plan - and I’ve had only moments to understand it,” Perodine said, concentrating on the stars again.

She and August waded in the water for countless minutes, then at the same time they said, “Three days.”