A Promised Prophecy

Chapter Eight

After a few moments, I felt my body relax. The witch stepped away from me, and while I tried to move on my own, some form of magic bound me in place. She had once appeared frail and youthful, but as I looked at her now, I realized that I had fallen into her trap, just like every person before me who entered the caverns of Dreadshade Summit. I thought back to Celeste's prophecy and my promise to her. Not once did Celeste say that "Rhea would become the most powerful witch"; the prophecy said "you." Given that Celeste and I were together, I made the obvious assumption that I was the "you."

I found myself replaying that moment in my mind, confused about my fate, as the woman in front of me smiled, as if becoming the most powerful witch was her prophecy...and maybe it was.

The prophecy said, "An ember has ignited; a crucible of trials awaits you. Beneath the shadows of Dreadshade Summit, through the whispers of a trickling flame, a phoenix will rise from the ashes. Thou shalt rise, the strongest witch forged in fire."

I'm an idiot.

Celeste never gave unsolicited prophecies, and she didn't warn me about Dreadshade Summit because she didn't want me to become the most powerful witch. She told me to avoid this place because it wasn't my prophecy. Entering this room sealed my fate and it wasn't a happy one.

"Thank you," the witch repeated as she slowly walked toward me. "You were the most powerful witch to date."

I wanted to ask her questions about who she was and what happened to the others, but I realized I was going to suffer the same fate as them. So, even though I couldn't talk, I'd find out soon enough. She grabbed my arms and shackled me in the same place she was once shackled.

"Don't worry. It'll only take it a few minutes to find you and, once it does, seconds to devour you."

Then she left the room. When she left, I was able to move around again, but since I was shackled, the best I could do was move my feet. I still didn't know what "it" was, and I didn't want to make any unnecessary noise to call attention to myself. I took a deep breath and focused on the lock, attempting to use the same telekinesis on the shackles that I had when I freed her. It didn't work. None of my magic worked.

My first thought was that she stole my powers. It made sense given everything I'd seen. My hope was that she dampened my powers through the shackles and that once I released myself, I'd be able to use magic again. As much as I'm a practical person, giving up on hope when faced in a life-or-death situation only guaranteed my death. I needed to hold out hope that I had my magic still. I needed to hold out hope that I could get out of this mess. I needed to hold out hope that the stupid prophecy was about me.

Just as I resolved to fight for my life, a loud screeching filled the room, indicating that "it" was about to find me.