A Promised Prophecy

Chapter Twenty-One

I held my palm out and focused on my hand. I hoped that James would help me, but if he didn't, I tried my best to conjure a flame. I had to hope that there was something left in me, even just a flicker, that would support me in a time of need. I wasn't ready to acknowledge that all hope was lost. Having escaped a crazy witch hell-bent on power and without confirming with Celeste, I clung to the hope that it was my prophecy.

Nothing displayed in my hand, and I focused harder. I felt an intense burning sensation in my palm that I'd never felt when creating an elemental orb before. Then my palm began to glow a red-hot color and I couldn't stand the burning sensation any longer. I shook my hand to air out the heat.

Est, who was closest to me, started to laugh. The rest of the room followed suit, some even laughing loudly at the apparent ineptitude of someone who couldn't control their own magic. It was an odd choice for James to burn my hand rather than create the fireball, but it played into the persona I was trying to pull off perfectly. It proved I had magic, even if I sucked at it.

Bravo, James.

"Very well." Cybill raised her voice as she spoke, commanding authority over the people. "As you can see, he is not the one. We have much to be worried about, but this man may stay."

With that sentence the people calmed down; people sat back down, put away their weapons, and began talking amongst themselves again as if I never even entered. Est gave me a wink before she joined James at the table with Cybill. As much as I wanted to join Est and James, I was suddenly very aware that there was something special about Cybill. Something that I didn't know and because of that I chose to stay as far away from her as possible.

Cybill's test wasn't one to find the crazy witch. Everyone knew the crazy witch had power and could hide their magical abilities. I was a great example of that, hiding the fact that I had none. Still, if everyone knew she had powers, wouldn't a better test have been to prove that I had no powers—then, there'd be no way I was the usurper from Veridara. It felt disingenuous, but the people believed her so wholeheartedly that I obviously missed something she said or did to the group of people to prove she was someone to trust in an emergency situation.

I headed over to the bar and sat down in one of the open chairs in front of the bartender. He placed a coaster in front of me while I tried to understand what Cybill's test was meant to prove. The only thing I could think of was to test to see if I was Rhea in disguise. Or, if not myself, then someone else who should've lost their powers and not be able to use them. The crazy witch, or her underlings if she had any, were the type of people who would want that information. I regretted coming out, regardless of the pains in my stomach indicating I needed food.

I grabbed a menu and started looking through it, trying to find something to eat and get out of there as fast as I could. I was either ridiculously paranoid or in more trouble than I originally thought. In either option, I needed to get back to the Vault and make more potent potions to tend to my wounds and get some rest. I was in no shape to be interacting with others and a wave of exhaustion hit me as I realized I'd been on the run since entering Dreadshade Summit.