When Winter approached the tent, she heard footsteps inside. She stilled, creeping up noiselessly to avoid exposure. She peeked into the tent and saw Sam shuffling around. What was he looking for? Winter scanned the tent, but there were no signs of the fortune teller. She huffed, stepping away. A callused hand reached out and grabbed her ponytail, pulling her inside. Fiery red eyes glared at her, as a voice smooth as honey said, "Why do you keep spying on me?" Winter swallowed, "I wasn't." He tightened his grip, demanding an answer. "I was looking for the fortune teller." Without another word, he let her go and walked out of the tent. She massaged her scalp. She quickly searched the tent for any leads on the teller. She felt a familiar pull and saw something glint in the corner. Winter walked towards it and dislocated the sword from the clutter. Was this what Sam was looking for? Winter brushed it off with her hand and hid it in the folds of her blue gown before ambling to the secret room in the library.
Winter went down the stairs and entered the cozy space, removing the sword from her skirts. Winter studied the sword in her hands. Every inch of the sword's engravings was burned into Winter's memory. Her magic kept drawing her to this sword. The same sword that Jax and Sam were connected to. The sword, the purple flame, the bracelets. Where did she fit in all of this? Winter, resolving to come back and investigate the sword later, set it on the lone table in the room. Hopefully whoever took the papers she left out last time would have the mind to leave the sword alone. Exhausted and unable to think of another solution, it was a chance Winter was willing to take.
Winter tugged on her night clothes and staggered to her bed. She started thinking about the nature of the festival in relation to the mock war. It was such an interesting way to reward the students. Get them to fight each other and then distract them with fun afterwards. Like a gentle pat on the back for enduring the pain of a knife to the rib cage. The students didn't see anything wrong with it either. No one asked questions. No one objected or revolted. It was all normal. Winter began shaking her foot while she replayed the conversations she had with her friends in her mind. A flash of the monster she had seen popped into her head and Winter jolted up from her bed. She went to the desk, grabbing paper and a pencil, and began sketching the creature from memory. It stood on two legs with large, dark scales covering every inch of its body. It had no neck and listless black eyes that seemed to sink too far into its head to be useful. It had a mouth that was filled with too many razor sharp teeth and arms that dragged to the floor and moved like thick snakes.
When Winter had finished, she noticed Stories Untold lying inconspicuously on her bed. She grabbed it and placed it next to her drawing. "Show me the monsters." When she opened the book everything but the first page was blank. The page had the image of the beast she drew and a description of it underneath. Winter inhaled. These monsters were recently created which meant that someone was actively forging new monsters. She rubbed her hand over her face. Why was it let lose at the festival? Winter closed the book then said, "Show me the fortune teller." She opened it again and skimmed the pages about the powerful seer she had encountered. It was a timeless creature. Another monster, though it was one that existed naturally. It could see infinitely into the past and the future. It only reveals itself when it decides is appropriate. Otherwise the creature refrained from interfering with the timeline at all.
Winter held her hand to eye level, recalling what the monster had said to her, "As your mother said, you are more special than you know." Winter groaned. She was tired of hearing that. The ambiguous words from the monster left her no closer to revealing any secrets than she had been before. Winter rubbed her eyes. Her lack of energy wouldn't help either. She closed the book and laid in her bed.
That night she had another dream about the little boy. He chased her through the halls of the school. Their laughs echoed off the walls. They ended up in the secret room again, playing and talking. He put his small hand over hers. Still, she couldn't see his face. "Aliana." Winter awoke in a cold sweat. Aliana? Maybe this wasn't her dream at all. Who was Aliana? Winter gulped. Any time she had a dream about the little boy, they were in the secret room. So whoever took the bait last time, had to be him. She bit the inside of her cheek. What if her magic was just drawing her to answers? Maybe she had it confused.
Winter got ready and walked out the door. She made her way to the library where she saw Leo and M.J. already talking in hushed voices. She pulled out a chair and cleared her throat. Leo tilted his chair back obnoxiously, "Let's hear it." Winter folded her hands on the table, "M.J. agreed to be part of our team if I could help him get what he desired most." Leo nodded, "Brenna." M.J. watched her. "Naturally, the bond is already doing most of the work. We just need to change her image of him and get Sam off the table." Leo scoffed, " I don't think he was ever on the table to begin with." Winter rolled her eyes, "Yes but she keeps chasing him because he doesn't have a soulmate." M.J. leaned in, "How are you going to get her to stop?" Winter shrugged, "Simple. We strip her of all hope by making it seem like Sam is taken." Leo chortled, "There's no way Sam would ever agree to helping you." Winter tilted her head, "No, but we don't need him." "Huh?" She smirked, "We have something much better." Leo snapped, "M.J." Winter turned to M.J., "You just need to make it seem like Sam and I are an item when Brenna comes." She rotated to face Leo, "You bring her here and then read her to see if it's working." Leo stood, "Yes your highness. As you wish."