Shadows (Book Two of the Royals Trilogy)

Chapter Thirteen

BLAIR

The morning after, I woke up before the alarm and I quickly jumped out of bed and into training gear. Sky was soundlessly sleeping, and I opened the cabin’s curtains to let the sunlight stream in. I heard Sky groan behind me, “Blair? What are you doing?” she asked groggily as she wiped her eyes.

“Well the day has already begun, and you said we were going to go to the Cave of Answers to see if we could find anything,” I said as I rolled my eyes, seriously, she should have been able to remember our conversation from the night before.

“Blair, relax, we have all day,” my friend said as she got up from the bed and too her time stretching. I crossed my arms in front of me and I waited for her to look at me. “What?” she asked once she spotted me.

I shook my head, “I just want to take advantage of today, who knows if we’ll be here tomorrow, besides, I want to know what those memories were and whether or not my father is still alive,” I argued with urgency in my voice and I could see Sky’s face turn to one of understanding.

She sighed and nodded, “fine, let me just get dressed. But we’ll have to get breakfast before we head over to the cave.” I sighed in defeat, but I was able to compromise.

In a few minutes, Sky was ready, and we headed over to the cafeteria for a quick breakfast. Inside, it was almost empty which was kind of unusual considering most Hunters and Huntresses got up early before dawn. I shrugged and took a plate before searching through the buffet for something appealing to me.

When I had my food, Sky was already seated at a table close to the door. She had begun eating and I did so too as soon as I sat down. “So, what’s the plan? Should we head over to question Dalia first or should we go to the cave?” I asked and Sky looked thoughtful about it.

“I think we should go to the Cave of Answers first, I don’t know how long we’ll be there. Remember the last time I took ours in there even though I felt as if it were only a short time,” she stopped for a moment and then continued, “after that I think we should go to the utilities room and the lab to see what the devices preventing Dalia to use her powers are made of, we can never be too careful.” I nodded in agreement, Dalia was someone to be cautious about, even more so considering she and Elda had history together and we still needed to figure out exactly the purpose.

We were silent for a couple of moments before a new tray appeared at our table. I groaned internally as I saw it belonged to Mark and Gideon. I was surprised they were now traveling together, they hadn’t spent much time with each other since Elda chose Gideon as her apprentice. I wasn’t jealous, I was glad Gideon was getting along with his other sibling, it was still something I needed to get used to; Mark’s presence in our little group. “Good morning, ladies,” Gideon said cheerfully, and I smiled slightly, even though we had only left for a couple of days, I had missed Gideon, but I wouldn’t admit it.

“Hey guys,” Skylar said while I just waved. Mark was sitting in front of her and he couldn’t keep his eyes off her, he looked like a lost puppy. It saddened me to think that they liked each other and that yet, they would never be able to be together while the camp rules were strictly in place. Another thing I hated about being a Huntress, there never was any room for a normal life, filled with love and passion.

“What are you going to do today?” asked Mark, noticing that I kept on looking at the exit and then back at Sky who was still eating. I was anxious to leave. Skylar eyed me and then turned back to Mark, “we just wanted to go down to the Cave of Answers for a quick visit and then we’re going to head over to the lab to check out the weapons you guys have that can hurt Dalia.” I tensed, I didn’t want many people knowing about our whereabouts, not even those closest to us. I preferred to avoid the word spreading over to Elda and raising her suspiciousness.

Mark and Gideon looked at each other in confusion and they both shrugged slightly, almost unperceptively. Before either of them could ask anymore questions I got up and looked at Skylar, asking for her to follow my lead, “we are late, we should really get going. Have a nice breakfast,” I said quickly and took Sky’s arm in my grasp and the both of us rushed out of the cafeteria.

“Hey, slow down, we didn’t have to leave so urgently,” she said once we were on the trail that led to the cave.

I sighed and shrugged, “I didn’t like that they were curious to know what we were up to.” It was normal for me to be defensive, Skylar should know that, she was my partner, after all.

“I get it, but we’ll only raise more suspicion if we just rush out like that. I wanted them to think that we were going to take things easy while we searched for more clues.” I sighed, she had a point, but my uncomfortableness had gotten the best of me.

We didn’t say anything else, there was nothing more to be said on the matter. The cave came into view a few steps later and I was glad we were far away from camp. I looked at the cave, mesmerized, the last time I had been there I had only seen it like an old, dirty cave, but now, I saw it through different eyes, there was something mystical and awe worthy about it.

Sky and I reached the entrance and she looked at me confidently, “are you ready?” I only nodded and she led the way inside. It was dark and the smell of dust was familiar, nothing was any different from the first time I had stepped inside the cave. For some reason I had expected something distinctive, but it was still the same, and I started to doubt whether or not this would work.

“I’m guessing you know where we have to go,” I heard Skylar say in the dark.

“Kind of, the last time I had been here was many years ago,” I confessed, and she didn’t reply.

We reached a small pool of water at the end of the cave and a knife I had not seen the first time, was there. When we approached, the knife glowed vibrantly before it floated towards us. Instinctively, I stepped back. The knife reached my friend and she calmly reached out her hand towards the blade. The light of the weapon illuminated her face and she turned to look at me, “don’t worry, this is all part of the process.”

I saw as the blade slashed her palm and I yelped in surprise, on the other hand, Skylar looked calm and she quickly recomposed herself. Her blood dripped into the pool and the blade disappeared inside before coming out once again, clean. This time, it floated towards me and I hesitantly reached out my hand. The cut was quick and clean, and I only grimaced in pain for a moment. My blood also disappeared inside the pool and I was expecting to see some kind of portal or vision on the pool but none of that happened.

Confused, I turned to look at Skylar. Had it not worked?

“It is kind of funny to see you so unsure, you are usually very confident,” my friend teased, and I glared at her. She let out a laugh and then began to lay down on the dark floor, her head on the direction of the pool. “This will work, trust me.”

I only nodded and mimicked her moves. The flor was damp and hard, and I suppressed the feeling of vulnerability, I needed to find the answers I was looking for. After numerous deep breaths, I was able to relax and then, I felt as if I was falling.

I gasped and opened my eyes instantly. I sat up and expected to find myself in the cave, but I was surprised to see I was now in a field, it was dark and warm and unknown to me. I hesitantly got up and scanned my surroundings for any threats. “Where am I?” I asked out loud, not expecting an answer since I was alone.

You are in the Chamber of Light, Blair Swift. Welcome, we have been expecting you.

The wind carried the message and I turned trying to find the source but there was no one else there. “Who said that?” I demanded boldly. A sudden bulb of light appeared at the edge of the clearing, it swiftly flew towards me. I held my breath, I couldn’t understand what was happening.

When the floating orb reached me, it transformed into a big, gorgeous falcon, the same one I had seen in my vision. I gasped and took a step back. The falcon landed on a branch that appeared on a tree next to me. The animal looked down at me with its shinning blue eyes, I had never seen any bird with those eyes. “Are you some kind of shape-shifter?” I asked curiously, I was intrigued to know more about this unknown supernatural.

The bird shook its head, “no child, I am only your spirit guide, your spirit guardian. It is my job to be your guidance through your path and help you overcome the challenges you will face.”

I nodded and looked at the bird, what should I ask first?

“I can see you are troubled and have many questions for me,” the bird said softly, and I nodded. “Well then, I hope this can give you a better understanding of what’s happening and what is predicted to happen.” I looked at the bird with confusion before my surroundings changed and once again, I was falling.

I opened my eyes and found myself in a dark forest, I go up from the ground and took a nearby branch while I scanned the area, you could never be too careful. I heard a distant hum coming from somewhere in front of me, I slowly walked over towards the noise. There was a tree branch blocking my view and I gently moved it aside so that I could see what or whom was in front of me.

I gasped at the sighed, it was the man from my visions, my father. He was searching the trees for his collection of food. He looked thinner than in my visions, and with a beard, but I knew he was the same person. How had my animal spirit been able to transport me here? I walked closer to the man, carefully trying not to make noise since I didn’t want to appear like an intruder.

The sudden noise of a stick snapping into pieces made me freeze and my body stiffened, if I wanted to go through unperceived, I had failed. To my surprise, the man hadn’t seemed to hear me and, confused, I walked closer to him with more confidence. “Hello?” I asked unsurely but the man didn’t even turn my way. “Where are we? Are you a Hunter?” I asked, expecting him to answer me.

Instead I was met with no response, I waved my hand in front of his face and he didn’t seem to notice. I pulled back and sighed, was this all real? Was it the cave playing tricks on me?

You wanted to know whether or not your father was alive, here is your answer. Hunter Liam has been living here for years, in hiding, he faked his death so your mother would finally leave him alone.

My animal spirit appeared on my shoulder as it spoke and I didn’t respond, I didn’t know what to say. I was shocked, I didn’t know what was real or what had ever been real anymore. “Where is he?” I asked without taking my eyes off him.

He’s where your mother believed he’d die, the Death Swap.

I gulped and nodded, I understood why that was such a good place to hide; most Hunters and Huntresses preferred to avoid that place altogether and it was a very dangerous area. Without any warning, the scene changed, and I was now back at camp.

I took in my surroundings, I was in the weapon’s building, standing in a hall. I followed my instincts through the corridor until I was face to face with death, but not my death. My eyes widened as I saw a vampire battling my brother, the vampire was ruthless, and he didn’t think twice before making the final blow. I screamed and ran over to Gideon as he began to fall. The creature had disappeared, and it was just us two on the ground, kneeling on a pool of blood.

Gideon’s eyes found mine and he tried to speak, “y-you were right, sister. She is not who she says she is, I should have believed you.” At first, I thought he was talking about Skylar and I stiffened but then he answered my unspoken question. “Elda, she is not who she says she is.”

The image changed once again and now I was standing in a dark room. I didn’t recognize the room and it was almost bare but from a corner I managed to see something glowing. I pushed all the rubbish aside and found a box with small, bright rays popping out from the edges. Curiously, I opened the box and inside was a small book and a wand-like thing, it had a pointed purple-quartz at the top. “What are you doing here?” I heard her ask venomously.

I turned around and faced Elda. “You shouldn’t have seen that,” was the last thing I heard before she charged towards me and placed a knife through my abdomen. I gasped and fell to the ground, dropping the mystical objects on the ground.