Bleeding Ink

Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Cleo couldn't help but feel...off. Something was nagging her at the back of her mind, but she couldn't put her finger on it. It wasn't because she'd spent two weeks more than anticipated in Ayveri. Not because she was missing her grandmother, Janan, Urell, and everyone else back home. Not even because she wanted to see Kav again or even Malik.

Having been away from Arloerin for so long, she knew it was time to head back. Those weeks she'd spent with Lyv, Jai, Dessa, Elys, and the rest of her family had done so much good for her, even if the questions that made her come hadn't been answered.

"I'm sorry," Elys told her just a few night before as the two of them sat out on the patio just outside the kitchen doors. He'd brought out two tankards of Torrent, one for each of them.

"For what?" Cleo had asked, mostly because he hadn't said anything to apologize for.

Everyone was finishing up with dinner, the conversation and laughter floating outside. Even though she loved being with her family, she was starting to miss Arloerin more and more with each passing day. She could only hide away from her problems back home for so long and it was past time for her to face them head on.

Elys took a sip from his tankard before going on. "For not giving you answers you were wanting, which was the main reason you came."

She shrugged one shoulder, giving him a small smile. "For not getting my answers, my other reasons were well worth the trip. I've been away longer than I intended and yet now..."

"Now, you're being pulled home."

Something...no, someone was pulling her back. The very someone Elys couldn't give her any information on because he couldn't see her properly – the Lady in White. Maybe Kav had better luck trying to get information out of Malik and she'd have a letter waiting for her at home when she returned. Maybe it'd even have her true name and identity.

Cleo took a long sip from her tankard before looking back at him, knowing he hated not having answers without him saying as much. "You're not used to being blind, are you?"

He scoffed, grimacing. "No, I'm not."

"Do you have any idea as to why?"

"None. But all those years ago when it came to you and your existence, I couldn't see much then either. This is kind of the same. It's not only the matter of the Lady in White and what Sophea's planning, but it was also with Des's magic and what would happen."

Gods, was she happy she'd been here when it finally did. Not just because she wanted to see it for herself, but she knew she would need to be there for her in helping to learn it. Lyv and Jai could only do so much, having known the darkness also, but Dessa's was different than theirs had been. That was something only Cleo alone could teach her.

"And then there's that nightmare she's had since she was little..."

That was the first she'd heard of it. "Nightmare?"

He gulped down the rest of his tankard, wiping the back of his hand across his lips when he finished. "Nightmare. The three of us are in it, along with another female I can't seem to see clearly either. The way my visions are all but blocking her out, I'm starting to wonder if she's the Lady."

But that would mean... "You think she's a friend and not a foe?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "Right now? I have no clue. Maybe once we know who she is and her past, present, and future isn't shrouded in darkness like it is for me right now." He paused, staring ahead of him at nothing at all before continuing. "We're fighting some unknown entity, a male who is nothing but shadows and darkness. Different than what happened with Lyv and Jai and the Dark Wars two decades ago. Because we're not here. Not in this world or in Laria. Not in any world I've ever had a vision about and I know of quite a few from focusing and just watching Dessa."