Yvaine sat beside Ed, staring at the drawing Veylor had made. A massive wolf, sketched in charcoal, stood beneath a sky that was raining fire.
"What does it mean?" she asked quietly.
Veylor shook his head. "I don't know. I haven't mastered interpretation yet."
Zully leaned forward. "What if the wolf means Yvaine's finally going to shift?"
Nyx frowned. "Could be. But what about the fire? That feels… intense."
Elyan shrugged. "Could mean anything." Then he muttered, half to himself,
"The fire burns not what it touches, but what it awakens..."
He blinked. "Sorry. I riddled out again."
Ed reached for the drawing. "Let me see that."
He studied it in silence for a moment. "Hmm. Fire. Wolf…"
"Well?" Nyx pressed.
"Hold on." Ed stood. "I had a vision too."
"You did?" Yvaine asked. "Do you draw yours too?"
"No," he said. "I write them out."
"You're one of those seers who scribble on scrolls?" Elyan teased.
Ed smiled faintly and returned with his journal. He flipped to a page. "Here. I titled it The Wolf in Fire."
Veylor's eyes widened. "That's the same vision. Told differently."
He looked up. "Is this a coincidence?"
Ed shook his head. "No. I think the gods are trying to tell us something—like how I saw Yvaine's wolf the first time."
Yvaine blinked. "Wait. You've seen my wolf?"
Ed nodded. "Yeah. Second day in the cafeteria. That's why I offered to help with your potion."
She didn't know what to feel.
"You think it's all connected?" Nyx asked.
Ed hesitated. "I don't think so. But I can't ignore the timing."
"With time, it should get clearer," Veylor said softly.
"Is there a way I can see it?" Yvaine asked. "My wolf, I mean?"
"If Ed's seen it," Zully said, "maybe he and Veylor can link their visions. Veylor might be able to project it."
Nyx's eyes widened. "That's dangerous."
"Yeah," Elyan added. "You both could get trapped in trance and bound. Visiting day's in a few days. Besides, such magic is prohibited inside the school. Principal Myrrin is quite strict with banned magic."
Ed glanced at Yvaine. "I know somewhere outside campus…"
"No," everyone said at once.
"Please," Yvaine said, looking at all of them. "Please."
Zully opened her mouth to speak—but the bell rang.
History class.
______
A few hours later.
Zully, Nyx and Yvaine were heading to the place Ed had asked to meet.
Nyx says, "Oh I don't know, I just don't think this is a good plan."
Zully says, "Hmmm the Almighty Nyxara Cravelin is scared."
Nyx rolls her eyes and says, "I'm not scared. Just worried something would go wrong. Why would I be scared when I've got this?" She raises her black umbrella.
Yvaine says, "Yeah that's an umbrella."
Nyx laughs. "Is it?" She pressed it open, but instead of spreading out, the clothing revealed a slender sword.
Was everything weaponized with Nyx?
Zully says, "That's pretty cool."
Nyx folds it back and it returns to a harmless umbrella.
Yvaine says, "Thank you, guys, for doing this."
Zully says, "It's no big deal…" She sighs and adds, "Let's not just get caught. Let's hurry, the guys will be waiting."
"Yvaine! Yvaine, wait up!"
The trio turned. It was Caelan, jogging towards them.
Nyx pulls Zully and says, "Make it snappy."
Calean soon meets up with her. " Hi, there. What are you up to?"
Yvaine says, "Uh…Hi,you too. I'm not up to anything."
Caelan says, "Do you want to walk with me?"
Yvaine says, "Uh no… Nyx and Zully… they're waiting for me."
Caelan asks, "Are you mad at me? I mean after the kiss…"
Yvaine cuts him off and says, "The kiss was nothing and I'm not mad. Please I have to go."
"Yvaine… wait…"
"Sorry." She walks away.
Caelan just stood there watching her. The kiss meant nothing? It didn't mean nothing to him, when she'd kissed him back like that. He can't let that go.
He turns and walks back.
Yvaine soon meets up with Zully and Nyx.
Zully asks, "Are you okay?"
Yvaine says, "Yes."
That's a lie, Yvaine Theolux.
She adds, "Let's go."
They get to the Emerald Hall. Ed, Veylor and Elyan are waiting.
Veylor says, "What took you so long?"
Nyx says, "Yvaine stopped to greet her boyfriend."
Yvaine snaps. "He's not my boyfriend." Ed looks at her, she looks away.
Zully, sensing the tension, says, "Let's get going, shall we?"
Ed led them through the hall. It was green and empty.
They get to a wall and stop.
Ed placed his palm on the wall and pushed in. The wall moved, revealing a passage.
Nyx nods. "Cool."
Zully raised a brow. "How do you know this place?"
Ed shrugged a little. "My father attended here. Gave me a map. I kinda studied it. I come here sometimes to get away from the chaos."
"I wish I had a map too," Elyan muttered.
Veylor crossed his arms. "We have just forty-five minutes before dinner. Let's get this over with."
They stepped through the hidden passage. It led them out into a strange garden—quiet, calm. There was only one tree. A willow. With roses growing around it.
Elyan's eyes widened. "Oh. This place is… really beautiful. It makes me kick."
As he spoke, his ears twitched a little and his body started to glow—tiny golden sparkles rising off his skin like mist.
Yvaine raised her eyebrow at Elyan. " What's up with him?"
"I am a fae, Yvie." He says with a smile "Anytime I'm close to pure nature like this, my senses just awaken. Nature feeds my energy."
"Or your energy feeds on nature." Nyx teased.
"Whatever, Nyxara. " Elyan wabed her off with his hand.
As he spoke, the roses began to bloom more. The roots started to move gently around his feet.
"Okay, tone it down," Nyx said, watching the moving petals.
Ed looked at the tree. "We can do the spell under the tree."
Veylor sat down on the grass. Ed joined him.
Zully pulled her bag forward and brought out her book of shadows.
Zully exhaled. " Spell to bind vision."
The book opened by itself. Pages flipped quickly like it knew where to go. Then it stopped, open on one page.
Nyx leaned over her shoulder. "First, we need to draw a dream circle… with someone's essence."
"Where do we get that?" Yvaine asked.
Everyone turned toward Elyan.
He was crouched by a patch of roses, making them sway in a rhythm with his fingers.
He looked up and caught them all staring.
"What?" he said. "Why's everyone looking at me? Never seen a fae making flowers dance?"
Nyx pulled a line in the dirt, forming a circle. "Come here, Tinkerbell. We need your pixie dust."
Elyan frowned. "It's not pixie dust."
"Sorry. Just—come lend us some."
He walked over and stood at the edge of the circle. Then raised his hand.
The golden sparkles lifted from his fingers, drifting into the circle. The moment the dust touched the lines, the circle lit up.
Yvaine stared. She'd never seen anything like it.
Zully looked at Ed and Veylor. "Now you both sit inside."
They got into the circle and held hands.
"Are you both ready?" Nyx asks..
"Yes." Ed and Veylor said in unison.
"Your turn, Zully."
Zully took a breath, "Alright , here we go." then she began to chant:
"Vision bound, let it show,
Let the truth from shadows glow.
Teneat oculos, teneat somnia,
Revela veritatem…"
The wind stilled. The sky above them grew dark.
Ed and Veylor looked up at the same time. Their eyes had gone white. White light also wrapped their hands held together.
Yvaine stepped forward. "It's happening."
"And we're going to get caught," Nyx muttered, watching the sky.