Daughter of Azeroth

41 | SHOW ME

Idira woke in the middle of the night, sensing something had changed. Vanessa was gone. Warm and comfortable in her blanket, Idira assumed Vanessa had left to use the outhouse. She dozed for awhile, waiting for her niece to come back, but when she didn't, even after a long wait, Idira sat up, a twinge of worry catching at her heart.

She left the hammock, careful not to disturb Unambi and slipped out of the house. Maybe Vanessa was sick. She approached the outhouse, cautious. Its door drifted back and forth in the night air, unlatched. She knocked. No answer. She peeked inside. Empty. Alarmed, Idira turned, scanning the wide, open plains surrounding the farm. Nothing.

Maybe Vanessa wanted to be alone, to grieve, but Idira couldn't be sure, something felt off. Keeping quiet, she searched the yard and around the house and even went halfway down the cliff path. She took in the clefts, rock pools and grassy sand dunes spread across the beach, lit by the light of the rising moon. The boat still sat where they had left it. Nothing moved, apart from the sea grasses rippling in the ocean breeze. She went back up to the house, hoping she had somehow missed Vanessa, and her little niece had returned while Idira was on the cliff path. She reached the house and knelt to look under the porch, just to be thorough. Only rubble and weeds greeted her. She stood up, brushing the dust from her dress. She closed her eyes. Show me. She waited, hoping her Light would help her.

Her Light filled her, soothing and warm. She opened her eyes, pleased. She was getting good at this. The faint image of a man stood before her, stuttering and flickering, cast in the dim glow of her violet light. He reached his hand out to her, as though saying something. He turned and looked over its shoulder, then back to her urgent. He leaned forward, and the image shimmered, coming into focus, just for a heartbeat.

Idira bit back a cry. Khadgar.

He looked over his shoulder, abrupt. He pulled his staff free and turned to fight an invisible opponent.

She reached out to touch the image, her fingers trembling. She had never seen him outside of the dream state. Was he seeing her right now, like she saw him? Was this how he had seen her that night in her dream, flickering and dim, just on the edge of his vision? Her fingers brushed against his tunic, she could feel the wool. Blood splattered against her fingers, hot. She snatched her hand back with a cry.

He shouted something to her over his shoulder, though she could hear nothing. He turned back to face his enemy once more. He lifted his staff high. A bolt of violet light shot through him and he vanished.

Idira staggered backwards, blinking, temporarily blinded by the sudden burst of bright light.

She heard the creak of the front door. Footsteps crossed the porch.

'Vanessa?' she called, squinting into the shadows.

'What ya be doin' out here, in da dark?' Unambi asked, quiet.

She jumped, startled to hear his voice and not Vanessa's. She turned, shaking, to point at the place where Khadgar had just been, her vision returning slow and steady. 'Did you . . . did you see that?'

Unambi moved down the steps of the porch, eyeing the spot. 'Dere be nothin' Unambi be seein'.'

Idira blinked. Khadgar. She had touched him. She looked down at the blood on her hand. She held it up to Unambi. 'Then, can you see this?'

Unambi looked at her hand then back at her. 'What's Unambi meant ta be seein'?'

She touched the blood. It vanished as though it had never been, the skin on her hand pale and clean once more.

'It's gone,' she whispered. She looked up at Unambi, her eyes filling with tears. What if Khadgar was hurt? What if it had been his blood on her hand? She couldn't bear it. The Light was cruel, only showing her tiny fragments of him, and none of it making any sense.