With a sneer, he looked every one of us in the eye. “Define truth and strength.” He paced back and forth. “At first, we thought it meant the vessel had to be truthful throughout their entire life time. Of course we know that couldn’t happen, so what could it be? And after many discussions, it came to us. The truth the prophecy speaks of means the vessel must
know
the whole truth.”
We all listened as he blundered on.
“As for strength, we knew what that was. You see, I wasn’t entirely truthful when I said earlier we kept Nathanael alive because he was the warrior. Yes, of course that had something to do with it, but alas...” He was showing his showmanship state again. “Truth be told, the warrior will lead us to victory, because you...” he said, pointing at me. “Don’t have the strength. You need my son to open the catacomb. Ah! Young love.”
His mouth twisted up in an evil grin that rocked my bones to the core. “Nathanael is the strength.”
“Get on with it!” Zack boomed.
“I will, good man. Now this poses yet another question, but I’ll get to that in a bit and will skip over the next two as well, as they all only require one answer.”
Some of his audience grumbled and some sighed, like an audience at a really bad theatre production. And as with all bad actors, Braxton ignored it.
The show must go on,
I thought to myself.
Someone behind me giggled.
“Now, where is the catacomb? That was easy. The catacomb would not stray too far from the vessel, and wherever they went, it was sure to follow, just like Mary’s little lamb. Have you ever noticed how violent those rhymes are? Hmm, that always perplexed me.” He shrugged.
I actually rolled my eyes as he hesitated. Nathanael’s father was simply pompous.
“Oh well, on to bigger and better things.” He watched us closely. “The Tov had to keep the catacomb close, so as to be sure the catacomb did not reveal once the vessel turned eighteen, because if it did, they would have no choice but to intercept it.”
He looked directly at me. “Now Saydi, have you ever wondered why they simply just didn’t hide the Rondure elsewhere, somewhere you would have nothing to do with?”
I stared blankly.
“Well, allow me to tell you. You see, Saydi, the Tov put the finality shield around the catacomb.” His voice dripped with sweetness. “Sorry to say this, but there was no way to move the Rondure unless they killed you.”
Gasping, I looked to my Dad and the rest of them. As if to confirm it, they hung their heads low.
“Yes, it’s a sad thing. You see, it is tied to you permanently. Your Spirit Light would have to be released on death, and only then could they move it, and of course we all would lose. But alas, your parents loved you so, they made sure that would never happen. This tidbit of information has no bearing on the truth the prophecy speaks of and is for your own knowledge only.”
“I love watching Tovs squirm in their human skin.” He chuckled. “Now this question is for you, John. Did you ever wonder how we found out the vessel was Saydi?”
Dad didn’t answer.
“Well, it was your beautiful wife. Oh, not on purpose. She was so distraught after we gave Saydi the book and figured out who we were that she approached Father Lacombe.” Braxton made a cross over his chest. “May he rest in peace.”
The sorrow was fleeting.
“She needed his help to hide Saydi and, well, as we say, the rest is history. Hmm, when you think about it, Father Lacombe was a very good ally. Maybe I was hasty in that killing.”
Again, it was back to him. “Let’s get back to the other questions. Now that you’re eighteen, why isn’t the catacomb opening? We know where the strength is...it’s here.”
He sneered. “As much as I hate to admit it, my son is very much in love with you and he is your strength. So, I guess that leaves the truth.”
The thing had a fixation with pacing and tapping its chin. “What do you not know about who you are?” He glanced over at Dad, then back to me. “You see, dear Saydi, you would never be able to bring forward the catacomb, because you don’t know the whole truth.”
A rush of gasps could be heard all the way down the line. Nathanael held my hand tight. I looked at Dad. He shook his head and sighed.
“Joshua!” Braxton called. I hadn’t even noticed Joshua wasn’t there.
He came from the trees, holding Mom in his clutches, then threw her to the ground at Braxton’s feet.
“Mom!” I screamed, moving forward. Nathanael had my waist.
“Adina!” Dad panicked, taking only one step forward while the rest moved tight against the line.
Braxton gripped her arm and yanked her up. “Now Adina, will you...”
“You hurt her and I will kill you with my own hands!” Dad seethed.
Braxton waved his hand. “I have no intentions of hurting her. She will be free to go when she tells Saydi the whole truth.” He shook her. “Adina, now!”
Mom’s eyes were red and swollen. I inspected her the best I could, to make sure all her limbs were intact and there was nothing to indicate they’d hurt her. Tears streaked down her face.
“I’m sorry, Saydi...” She yanked against his hold. “No!”
“Mom!” I choked, trying to lung forward.
Nathanael held me. “No, Saydi!”
Braxton had total control of everything. “Adina, my dear, I can easily tell her myself and would be happy to do so right after I snap your neck...”
“Don’t!” Dad yelled.
Braxton ignored him and shook her. From down deep, his voice came. “I’m giving you a choice to live or die.”
“Saydi,” Dad said quickly.
Mom screeched, “No John, don’t! He’ll kill me anyway.”
“Oh come now, let’s not play the hero, Adina,” Braxton patronized.
Dad stood tall and confident. “Release her, Andrew, and I will tell Saydi.”
There was a long silence that seemed to last for days. While my heart pounded in my ears, I started vibrating with fear he’d do the same to Mom as he did to Father Lacombe. My stare was tight on his claws.
“It’ll be okay, Saydi,” Nathanael soothed, rubbing my arm.
Braxton started again, “Oh, very well, I’m feeling gracious with the victory on the horizon and besides, I don’t really care which parent tells her.” With a swift move, he yanked her back behind him and threw her over the wall like a sack of potatoes. She flew way over our heads and screamed.
“Nathanael!” I shoved on him.
He and Dad both leapt at the same time. Dad got to her first, taking her by the waist. They both landed at the exact same time.
“Well, John, you have one second,” Braxton warned.
Dad held Mom to his side while she cried, almost in hysterics. “Saydi...your mother is one-eighth Pyre.”
There was no time for me to take in the information, for within that instant the Pue encased me in a tornado. Yet somehow I was in the eye, not being tossed around. It abducted me from Nathanael’s arms and took me across the wall and caverns of fire to the Pyre side.
“Saydi!” Nathanael cried.
Close your eyes.
Obeying the voice within me, my eyes closed and the whole battlefield was in view. Nathanael flew into the air with his fist poised straight down. He smashed it into the earth; the earth yielded under his power. The caverns closest to him closed up, allowing those with no abilities to cross over—all the elements were in battle once again, all trying to get to me.
The Pue began its descent, gently placing me down and hovering all around me. The earth shattered yet again and knocked me to the ground.
“Saydi!” Nathanael shouted, using Pyre and Tovs’ shoulders as stepping stones to get to me, and when he did, he helped me up.
Behind us you could hear the sound of trees crashing against each other. They echoed against a foreign hollowness, then tumbled away until the sound was no longer there. The destruction of the woods continued until the invader weaved into the clearing. The earth split, demolishing everything in its path, then moved quickly to the water’s edge.
The water thundered against the rocks as it disappeared into the earth and, with no choice, the core surrendered, allowing the cavity to expand in size and swallow the water. The swimming hole was as dry as the diamond mine, but far below the echo of a swish and wave sounded—it got heavier and heavier, silencing the echo as it refilled.
With incredible power, the water shot like a comet toward the sky, twisting and turning until it cascaded into a funnel. A burst of wind blew past us and close on its heels—a fire ball. They drove into the funnel’s core with ease. Nathanael and I turned, unsure where it came from. The thunder roared above as lightning flashed behind the clouds. Wind gusted all around and with another huge crack, the sound of the sky falling ricocheted to the earth.
What the sky delivered split the water in two and pushed them out from the other. The Pue fled from my command. “No!” I screamed.
“Saydi!” Nathanael grabbed me.
I watched as it weaved its way up past the peak of the water tunnels and dove between them into the depths of the hole where the water once was. The battlefield was silent. Nathanael and I pivoted. All eyes were on the water and us. Dad and the Tovs had tears in their eyes.
The Braxtons and Pyre smiled.
Again the earth shook violently. Rocks jumped from the caverns, some shooting up like bullets. Boulders shook easily in the heaps they had been thrown in prior. A faint rumbling penetrated from the hole, getting louder and louder, and as it did the earth shook harder. The tops of the water tunnels leaned away from each other.
With a final explosion from the earth, the Pue burst out of the hole and surpassed the top of the water funnels, then stopped. It flowed softly back and forth, glowing against the night sky, something cradled gently on its tip.
“Ah ha!” Braxton roared, making us jump. Joshua and Job were at his side, all glaring at me. “Thank you, Miss Gardiner. It’s too bad we will have to kill you once you complete the Rondure.”
Shouting and yelling rang out. Nathanael took my waist and spun around in front of me, hiding Braxton from my view. Within a few seconds, I was completely surrounded, the Pyre on the outside of our protective circle.
The Pyre moved quickly against us. The sound of bones crushing coupled with the screams of pain, filled the air again. The Pyre seemed to slice through the line like it was butter.
Mora and Pearle pulled me back. Dad, Zack and André stood with Nathanael in a semi-circle, me enclosed in its middle. Dad maneuvered the wind while André enclosed it in fire. Zack looked to the sky, and with quick-handed movements, as if he were working a marionette, he began to weave lightning through the clouds.
Nathanael snapped his body and thrust his arms out. Boulders tossed out from the caverns all around us yet stayed within our circle, revolving around. Dad and André wrapped the boulders in a blanket of fire wind, then Nathanael pulled his arms in. With a push of the air, his face tightened, eyes closed, and teeth clenched. A low, slow growl seeped from him.
The boulders sped up, continuing to whip around us, then they started to crumble and change color. First they were orange, then their shape shifted. Then red, then yellow, then green and finally a blue. The pieces melted into each other, ungluing, until they were no longer a solid mass.
They were molten rock.
I tried to keep my sights on Job, Joshua and Braxton, but Joshua wasn’t easy to keep track of because he was the one who could bend shadows to conceal himself. He disappeared quickly, then showed up somewhere else. It looked like he was scoping out the line to find a hole in it. He was having difficulty.
All my Magisters and Dad twisted sideways, throwing their arms above their heads, then slammed them out in front of them.
“Move!” Nathanael growled loudly. All allies ducked, and so did I.
The lava dispersed in large globs, finding and sticking to its prey. Loud shrieks of torture emanated the air as the musky sweet smell of burning flesh thickened all around us. My eyes watered from the mixture of the sulphur stench and burning hair. Our allies went to work immediately, using the Pyre’s weakened moment against them.
Covering my mouth and nose to the stench, I closed my eyes, viewing the whole clearing and searched for Braxton. When I spotted him, he was standing on the largest mound of rock farthest from the mayhem...just standing there. It had to be Job at his side, Joshua again escaped me.
My feet left the ground. I was literally plucked from my safe circle and found myself in the air. For a split second, Nathanael’s face was there, then a massive jolt and grunt broke me free from my abductor. I spiraled toward the ground—hands grabbed me, but before any comprehension of where I was could register, Nathanael threw me over his shoulder, leapt onto a rock and with all his power jumped over the circle of fighters.
A massive blow jerked my body away, throwing me down. I could hear screams, terrifying screams. It was me. I hit the ground, my chest unexpectedly sucked air in, the wind knocked out of me. That wasn’t the worst of it... The pressure on me doubled when the hoof of Braxton bore down.