The Forsaken Prophecy

Chapter Thirty

Ayren landed in the camp gently, and carefully put Polly down. She staggered slightly, but then grinned up at him.

People began rushing toward Ayren. "Oh, snap," Polly muttered, and clicked her fingers together.

Everything around the two froze.

Ayren glanced questioningly down at the little girl, not entirely surprised. "Why'd you do that?"

"I need to glamor," Polly explained. "Nobody really knows what I look like, or which reincarnation I am." With a shimmer of sparkles, Polly transformed into the ancient woman Ayren had first met her as. It seemed like forever ago.

Polly snapped her fingers, now shaking and bony, and everything jumped into motion once more. A few people paused and started, gazing at the old woman in the space where a little girl had formerly been standing.

They all stopped as three figures strode toward Ayren.

Maria, Jason, and the king, glowering, strode over to Ayren. Maria stepped forward and sent her palm flying across his cheek in a stinging slap.

Ayren gasped, more out of shock than pain. "What the - "

"We've been waiting for hours," spat the princess. "We've been waiting - waiting - " Her voice broke and she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before opening them and saying in a deadly calm voice, "We've been waiting for you so we can bury Rowen."

Ayren felt dizzy. "No - " he managed and made a weak gesture at Polly. She stepped forward and regarded the king coldly.

"Take me to the body," she ordered.

The king hesitated, but he must have either known or sensed who Polly was, because he soon nodded and began walking.

Jason sidled up to Ayren. "Is that Polly?" he asked with a note of hope in his voice.

"Who?" asked Maria.

The boys quickly explained as they followed Polly and the king from a distance.

"And you think she can raise the dead?" Maria asked disbelievingly.

"No," said Jason. "Um...maybe?"

"If anyone can, she can," Ayren pointed out.

"Okay," Maria said, the bleakness raising from her voice slightly.

They stopped outside of a tiny tent. A boulder sat next to the tent, most likely reinforcing the thin wall. Polly tottered inside.

"This'll take a while," were the last words she called out before the tent flap fluttered shut.

"Now what?" Jason asked after a pause.

"Now we wait," Ayren said grimly.

*

Everything hurts.

"Rowen?"

What is this?

"Rowen, please."

Make the pain stop, please, PLEASE!

"By the gods, just wake UP!"

Rowen's eyes flew open and she bolted upright.

An old woman was hunched in a nearby chair, pulled as close to the bed as she could manage. She was grinning wildly. "Mornin'," she chuckled.

Rowen opened her mouth to speak but clutched at her throat. It felt like someone had scraped sandpaper around her mouth and down her throat.

The old woman handed her a cup of water. "Drink."