A Promised Prophecy

Chapter Fourteen

His phone echoed with the same emergency tone that woke me up earlier. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and opened the notification.

"What the hell is this?" He questioned as he pulled his arm away from me and scrolled through the notification. I stood up and grabbed at James, trying to pull him with me.

Silverleaf had its own method to teleport within the surrounding area called the Crystals of Time. No one could travel, with magic or a travel stone, directly within Silverleaf without using the Crystals. The Crystals themselves were bound by blood magic and only members of the coven could use them. As a simple failsafe, visitors or any form of invader were unable to quickly travel within the borders of Silverleaf. The only downside is that they needed to be within the user's sight to be used. And, from where we stood within the tree line, we couldn't see the Crystals.

The Crystals of Time were five large floating purple crystals in the sky connected in a magnetic field. Each crystal had incantations and spells written on them, interconnected by a thin line of glowing iron. The first crystal was on the top of the structure, connecting downward by the glowing metallic line to three crystals that rotated in a circle. Those three connected to the crystal above, to each other in a round spherical metallic line, and to the final crystal at the bottom. When looking at the crystals and lines, they formed one giant crystal shape.

Given that blood magic was used to connect me to the Crystals of Time, they were usable even without my magic, acting almost like a travel stone they contained the magic rather than relying on the user.

"Who is this person?" He prodded as he rose to his feet and slowly started following as I continued to pull him. I pulled him away from the main pathway that led to a bridge, separating the actual city of Silverleaf to its bordering forest, trying to get a better view of the Crystals. He resisted my choice of direction, wishing to maintain on the path. It made sense, as the leader his first instinct would be to go into the city and protect the people. Our opinions were at odds with each other.

"I don't know. But I need you to follow me. The most important place for you right now is the Vault of Oracles. As the leader of Silverleaf you must remain safe while you determine the next steps," I tried to persuade him. It was the safest place for me—Reserved for only the most important members of Silverleaf, accessible through blood magic, I gained access when Celeste became my guardian and I highly doubted that crazy witch was important enough to gain access through the current, or any former, leaders of Silverleaf.

Despite his earlier confidence, his current expression told a different story. His brows furrowed, and he stared at his phone, almost as if struggling to believe what he was reading. To be honest, I could barely believe it myself. If I hadn't almost died, I wouldn't have believed someone could terrorize the area like she was. Yet here we are, and here I am without any powers to protect myself.

"This article says you're dead. Rhea, I need you to be honest with me." He grabbed my arm, stopping me from moving any further. I looked at him, tears forming in my eyes. I wasn't ready to plead for help, but I sure as hell needed it. If Celeste wasn't around, the leader of the coven would be the next best thing.

"I don't know," I repeated. "But if that emergency alert means she's been spotted nearby, then I recommend you call the most powerful witches you have and form a barrier around Silverleaf with blood magic. Keep her out before she has the chance to get in. Otherwise, if prophecies mean anything to you, she's bound to become the most powerful witch, and I'm sure she wouldn't hesitate to kill us all."