See How She Awakens (The Chronicles of Izzy #4)(27)
“Are you sure it is her?” Kennan’s voice pulled my attention to him standing off in the distance. He looked so real, so whole. The memory twisted in me like a red hot knife. He was gone. This was cruel.
“Guardian, since the dawn of time I’ve known it is her.” Aberto walked into the frame, standing a head taller than Kennan. “She has a destiny to fulfill, and you are holding her back from it.”
“How can you expect me to thrust her into a life of loss, of pain, if I can protect her from it?” Kennan’s words dripped with malice. He held no love for Aberto, it was something I’d known for a long time. That hate was ancient, borne of what Kennan felt to be betrayal upon the death of Cait.
“Would you deny her the destiny of her making? Would you let the world fall into insurmountable darkness to protect one being? You swore an oath, Guardian.” Aberto’s voice was even, unfeeling. I hated when he used that tone.
“I would,” Kennan swore. Those two words struck me. Memories of our arguments back at the Council, every fight leading up to the battle played out in my mind. He’d done everything in his power to keep me from harm, to change my mind, but it hadn’t been enough. I’d still flung myself headfirst into danger, into my destiny. I’d never be able to let the world perish for him. Perhaps that meant he loved me more, but I would never be able to survive knowing I’d done nothing to save the people that mattered the most.
“You do not deserve her love if you are not willing to allow her to be what she is meant to become. When the time comes, you must let her go, Guardian.” Aberto’s eyes saddened briefly as he looked into Kennan’s eyes.
“I don’t know that I can.”
“Then your selfishness will bring destruction upon this world.” Aberto faded away taking Kennan with him.
Ultimately, Kennan hadn’t been able to keep me from fulfilling the prophecy. No matter how hard he’d tried, he could not sway my decision. Destiny was a bitch that way, always pulling you in the direction that was meant to be. Sometimes I felt like every step I took, even those I’d taken leading away from my destiny, led me right back to the path that had been laid out before I’d ever taken my first breath.
I wanted the parade to end. Seeing Kennan had ripped open the wound once more. The gaping hole hadn’t begun to truly heal yet, and was once more left raw by the memories. Like everything with destiny, it was never easy.
“Izzy, we need you. You are the only one that can stop this.” Molly moved toward me. She looked as she had when we’d put her in stasis. This wasn’t a memory. This felt decidedly different.
“Molly?” I called out.
“Izzy, don’t give up on yourself. You are loved more than you know. That is what I went into the dreaming to tell you, to remind you that you weren’t alone. You never will be.”
“How are you here, Molly?”
“I wanted you to know. Aberto comes into the darkness sometimes to check on me, to see if I’m becoming more Revenant than Seer. He told me he’d put you under so we could talk. It was the only way I could tell you the truth of what is happening.”
“What do you mean?” I’d been so focused on myself, on fighting my own internal battle, it had escaped my notice everything was trying to tell me, warn me, about what was coming.
“The Revenants have a message.” Molly moved closer, causing my stomach to drop. Her bloodied face came within inches of mine as she raised a charred hand to my face. “See what is coming.”
Terror ripped through me as the Revenants moved around in my mind. Each one chanted their warnings over and over again; none of them making much sense until I felt what Molly felt. Conall had showed me what would become of him, but there was so much more. Everyone I cared for was washed away by the darkness.
Looking deeper into their thoughts, I found something that couldn’t be true. No matter that each one had the same memories, the same fear, at the center of the darkness was a glowing red ember, seeking to destroy everyone, and everything, in its path. As I looked closer, the truth of what I saw terrified me. The glowing ember—the thing that would rain down destruction upon the world—was me.
The darkness had told me I’d be the catalyst, the downfall of the world. The truth echoed through the Revenants memories, vision after vision of me bringing pure destruction, laughing as they all fell. One by one the Revenants began to fade as I was brought back to Molly.
“Why didn’t you warn anyone?” Panic ripped through me. I was a danger, a bomb waiting to explode.
“Because that isn’t the only thing I have to show you. There are two versions of this tale, Izzy. Be calm and see the truth.” Molly lifted her other hand to my face plunging me back into memories, only this time things were less clear.
I stood in the middle of a room, surrounded by familiar faces, yet none of them were entirely clear. I couldn’t seem to focus, to tell what they wanted.
“You will complete this task for us, Seer.” A voice muttered from the background.
“No.” My reply came out with a blast of blue fire. Every entity in my vicinity dropped to the ground writhing in pain. “This ends now.”
“How did you fight it?” One of the voices gritted out through the pain.
“I’m not alone.” My voice held strong as I pushed the fire out further, causing everyone around me to scream. Their pain echoed through my mind as I was brought back to Molly.