Hopeless Magic (38 page)

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"Yes, for me, too," Jericho smiled. "Amory sent this for you," he reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a thin manila envelope.

Silas, took the envelope and held on to it tightly.

His eyes flickered my way, noticing me for the first time and his smile disappeared. He walked slowly to the fire, staring intently at me, his unsettling grey eyes never leaving mine.

"What is your name," he demanded.

"Eden," I cleared my throat and glanced nervously at Jericho, who stood cautiously behind the man.

"Eden," Silas repeated out loud, saying the name carefully. "Eden," he said again.

Not sure what to do, I looked at Jericho. Maybe he was only told one person would be at the exchange and I had spooked him. I probably should have waited in truck.

"Amory was the one who asked Eden to come,"

Jericho offered, having the same thoughts I did.

"I am glad that he did," Silas reached out his hand to me and I took it, shaking it carefully.

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When our palms touched, his magic ignited in a painful spark. I wanted to let go, but I couldn't.

My magic was too curious to release.

"You are the one," he said, his grey eyes searching mine again, only this time they were friendlier.

"I don't know what you mean?" I looked to Jericho for help, but he stood there silently watching.

"The one. The next Oracle," he said gravely.

"I've been told that before," I admitted humbly.

"It is true," he affirmed and a shiver slithered down my spine. "It will not be easy. There is only pain ahead for you."

I tried to pull my hand away from him, but I couldn't. I was afraid and gave Jericho a frantic look but he was not moving.

"What do you mean?" I asked nervously, not really wanting to hear the answer.

"Pain and sorrow, that is your calling. You must fight through it, though. You cannot be the next Oracle if you let it swallow you whole. Rise up, 591/711

great one. Rise up and find your destiny." He was squeezing my hand too tightly, it was starting to hurt.

"I don't know what you mean," I cried out in desperation.

"You must find me when everything has ended,"

he nodded his head, expecting a reply. "You must find me," he demanded.

"Yes, ok, I will find you," I agreed.

He let go of my hand and turned around. He leaped into the air, turning into a sleek, black panther. I jumped back, not expecting his transformation. Silas, the panther, ran off into the darkness, not looking back and leaving me sitting dumbfounded behind.

"What was that?" I asked, feeling like I was slipping into shock.

"I have no clue," Jericho admitted, loudly. "That was wild," his mood had clearly changed for the better and I found myself irritated by that.

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"He's all doom and gloom and suddenly you're in a good mood?" I demanded, standing up and stomping my foot.

"Oh, relax. He's just an old Shape-shifter. What does he know?" Jericho laughed and I started to see reason.

"You're right. I'm being ridiculous," I shook my head.

"Y'know, some of the old generation did have the gift of prophesy," Jericho said off- handedly, putting out the fire with his magic.

"Jericho!" I whined, all of my previous fears ignited.

"Come on, Great One, it's time to go home," he started off down the dark trail and I watched after him, stunned for a moment by his audacity, before the wilderness was too much. I ran after Jericho, unwilling to be alone with Silas the panther running around.

39.

"It was super-disturbing," I declared, propping my feet up on the bar stool that Lilly was occupying next to me..

"Oh, stop being such a baby," Jericho reprimanded from behind the refrigerator door.

We had just gotten home from Texas. The drive had been long and tiring, and I just wanted to go to bed, but as soon as we walked into the house, Roxie and Avalon had demanded a debriefing. I knew Amory would be there any minute. But I couldn't stop myself from relaying the details of our prophetic run-in with Silas.

"You sound like you're enjoying this Jericho,"

Aunt Syll remarked. She was leaning next to me on the kitchen island and I was glad she had picked up on it as well.

""Yes, thank you!" I exclaimed. "Aunt Syl, he has seriously been giddy ever since we left the desert."

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"Jericho!" Lilly gasped.

"What?" he closed the refrigerator, opened the freezer and removed a half gallon of chocolate ice cream. "I just don't think Eden should be so upset about it, that's all." He opened the silverware drawer and removed a spoon, digging into the carton of ice cream hungrily.

"Yeah, right," I rolled my eyes. "He's all, 'there's only pain in your future.' And I should just relax."

"Jericho's right," Avalon agreed, picking out his own spoon from the silverware drawer and sharing the ice cream straight from the carton with Jericho. "At least until we ask Amory," Avalon clarified quickly, noticing I was about to protest.

"You guys are disgusting," Roxie said with disbelief.

"What?" They asked in unison, while we stood there watching them eat.

"Well, hello there," Amory said happily, walking in through the garage door. "I'm glad to see you 595/711

two home, safe and sound." He looked to Jericho and me. "Successful trip?"

"Yes, I think so," Jericho announced, through bites of ice cream.

"Jericho!" I shouted, offended.

"What?" Jericho asked innocently. "I'm just saying, we got the job done. Oh, and Eden had her future told, that's all. So, all in all, pretty successful trip."

I gave him a look that had daggers behind it, but he just kept eating his ice cream.

"Uh, oh," Amory walked over to Aunt Syll and pulled her into a side hug, kissing her on the cheek. "Would you mind if I borrowed my grandchildren tonight? I would like to work with them on something."

"By all means," Aunt Syll replied sweetly, standing on her tiptoes to return Amory's kiss with one of her own.

"Gross," I cried out. "That is so gross," I covered my eyes and pretended to be severely offended.

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"Come now," Amory looked at me disapprovingly.

"Amory you're old enough to be her grandfather,"

Avalon reminded him sarcastically.

"I'm a lot older than that, child," he joked and we all laughed. "Jericho, why don't you go pick up some pizzas or something, you look like you're starving," Amory handed Jericho a hundred dol-lar bill that he stuffed into his jean pocket.

"I am," He agreed.

"Jericho," Aunt Syll chided, "I have never seen a person eat more in my life. Between you and Avalon, I'm surprised the grocery stores are able to stay stocked."

"So true," Roxie agreed, still watching in awe as the two boys devoured the ice cream carton.

"Alright, Eden, Avalon, you're with me tonight, let's go," Amory walked back out through the garage door; I followed Avalon out.

Amory had left his black Mercedes running, so we climbed in quickly. I gave Avalon the front 597/711

seat because I imagined his legs too long for the back seat of a car.

"What do you have in mind, Amory?" Avalon asked, unable to hide his curiosity.

"I want to follow a hunch. We're going to work on something tonight," Amory replied cryptically.

He drove in silence towards Council Bluffs, a city just on the other side of the Missouri River from Omaha. He followed the same route Avalon had taken before, when we had worked on my magic the first time I had met him. The car wound around the curvy roads of the Bluffs until we came to an empty parking lot somewhere high above the river and railroad tracks below.

"Alright, use your magic to stay warm, but we are going to need a lot of room to work," Amory instructed before getting out of the car.

Avalon gave me a curious look, before following Amory; I was forced to do the same.

The end of January was absolutely freezing with temperatures well below zero and snow covering 598/711

every inch of the ground. I used magic immediately to warm my body and keep my nose from falling off. I realized I hadn't even grabbed a coat and I was still in the same outfit from the mission.

"What is this about?" Avalon asked Amory, while we stood in a foot and a half of snow.

It was just early evening, but the sky was already black, only this far out from the city a million stars lit up the night from above. From below, the blanket of snow glowed in the dark, creating light enough for us to see each other without magic.

"I know what happened in the caves in India, Eden. And I want to test a theory," he smiled at me, and when I looked back confused, he continued. "Those caves hold a special magic, you know this, an exaggerated magic. The wind inside the caves can read magic and pull it out of the young Immortals. What I think happened to you, is the exact opposite. You, Eden, pulled the wind into you. Your magic fused with the wind 599/711

in a way that now you are capable of manipulat-ing it."

"What do you mean?" I asked, remembering the blue smoke in the bathroom just a few days ago.

"The Forever Winds have never been violent before. Never," Amory turned grave. "And when you walked into those caves, it was almost like the wind wanted to hurt you, from how Avalon described it. Maybe even kill you," We both nodded, and Amory continued. "Well, of course, no one like you, an Immortal that had absorbed mul-tiple magics, had ever entered before. At first I thought, maybe the winds were just confused and had difficulty finding the real source of magic.

But, then I realized that you and Avalon possess a new magic, something completely evolved from what the rest of the population holds. So, naturally the winds saw you as an enemy."

"Naturally," I mumbled.

"And then, Eden, you did what you always do, what you do best, you absorbed the magic. Just like every Immortal that has tried to attack you 600/711

has lost at your hands, so did the Caves,"

Amory's black eyes twinkled in the darkness.

"And now, I think you can control the wind."

"Haven't I always been able to control the wind?"

I asked, thinking in terms of the natural wind.

"Yes, yes of course. But I mean,
the
Wind. The Forever Winds."

"What would that mean?" Avalon asked in awe.

"It would mean, you both would wield a power stronger than anything we have seen before," he said with finality and I swallowed loudly. "Go ahead, give it a go." Amory nodded to me. I didn't know what to do.

I reached out my palms and let my magic go; but it was just magic and the leafless tree twenty yards away took the brunt of it.

"Don't think of it like electricity, Eden; it's not.

Think of it like the wind, like the breeze and the air, like the force in that cave," Amory instructed.

Avalon watched on, his mouth slightly opened.

"Ok...." I sighed.

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I tried again, remembering the necklace and how I had changed the color. I concentrated on that, wanting to change the snow at my feet. And there it was, the blue gush of wind, coming from no where, but with great force. The blue gust of wind settled at my feet, pooling around my ankles and whisping around me in gentle whirlwinds.

"Fantastic," Amory exclaimed in awe.

"What is it?" Avalon asked, walking carefully closer.

"I have no idea," I answered honestly. I moved the blue smoke around me, showing off.

"What does it do?" Avalon reached down, moving his hand around inside the smoke. I pushed it up his arm and around him, enveloping him inside the dark air.

"I don't know that either," I replied, while Avalon waved his hands in front of his face, trying to see.

"Amory, what does it do?"

"Eden, I have never seen anything like it before in my life," Amory mumbled quietly, walking 602/711

closer to investigate. "Can you always control it?"

"Yes, I can. I mean, as soon as it's there I can control it, but sometimes it just shows up without me, like, calling it," I stumbled through an explanation, trying to find the right words to describe my connection with the wind.

"How interesting," Amory mumbled again.

"Avalon can you control the wind?"

"I can try," Avalon stood up straight and determined. I felt him struggle with the wind, demanding what it should do, but nothing happened. It didn't take long for him to grow frustrated; a small burst of his electricity escaped into the snow with an explosive pop, sending snow ten feet in the air.

"Take some of my magic, and then try," I offered, feeling Avalon's irritation and wanting to get our emotions under control.

I noticed the smallest escape of magic, from my blood to Avalon's. The feeling wasn't unpleasant and I barely noticed, but it was the first time I 603/711

had physically felt Avalon take magic from me.

In the past, I had been distracted enough to not notice the exchange.

Once Avalon had borrowed my magic, he could manipulate the blue smoke just as easily as I could. He had fun, sending it high up into the air, rushing it quickly into the forest and then back again and wrapping it around me, mummifying me in thick, blue, magical air. But one thing was clear, my magic was necessary to control the wind, it belonged to me and not Avalon.

"This is truly fascinating," Amory said in awe.

"But you have never seen this before?" Avalon asked, slightly distracted by the fun he was having with the smoke.

"Never," Amory answered with finality.

"So we have no idea what it does then? Besides this?" Avalon demonstrated by swirling the air around, boomeranging it fifty yards out and then bringing it back to him.

"That is correct," Amory agreed. "I want you two to be working with it though. On a daily basis. If 604/711

there is more to this.... smoke, than meets the eye, I would like to get to the bottom of it. If it can be used as a weapon, we need to know. Study it, work with it, find out what it does. This could be a vital tool in the near future, and I want every advantage on our side."

"What do you mean?" I gasped, a haunting feeling of foreshadowing washing over me.