Light in the Shadows

Revelations

My father entered the room before Peter returned. It was clear he had been crying. I still had no idea what was going on. One minute I had been riding Sunflower and the next memory I was sitting up in the forest, without a shirt on, and David was asleep beside me. I glanced at David. Peter had teleported us back to this room. That meant that magic was real! That thought made me remember the wave of power I had felt in the forest.

My father walked around David's bed, and sat on the edge its edge. He bent down and kissed my forehead. I sat up and looked at him. "What happened?" I asked.

"A tree fell on you..."

"Is Sunflower okay?" I demanded before he could continue.

My father chuckled. "Yes, the beast is fine. It's you I'm worried about. How do you feel?" He asked.

I looked down at myself. I didn't have a single bruise or scratch. "I feel fine. Are you sure a tree fell on me?"

My father looked at David. "You were hurt bad. When you fell, a stob on a stump went through your head, and when the tree hit you, one of its branches went through your chest. The boy healed you." He said as the door to the room opened and Peter walked in with Vivian at his side.

Peter handed me a plate of food. He muttered something as his hand made a glyph in the air over David. He grunted. "He isn't asleep, he is fully in the spirit realm."

"Should I fetch him?" My father asked.

I glanced at father as Peter shook his head. "He seems calm enough and he is quite shielded. Give him a few more minutes." Peter replied, as I grabbed the sandwich that Peter had made me and took a bite. I needed to think. My father kissed my head again.

"Don't get used to eating in the rooms." He whispered.

I nodded. So much was happening, it seemed odd to worry about where I could and couldn't eat when I now knew that everything I had been studying in theory was true. I had so many questions, but at the moment David seemed to be on everyones mind. I occupied myself by eating the sandwich Peter had made.

As I took the last bite of my sandwich David opened his eyes then sat up. He turned to me and opened his hand. A silver neclace with a bronze pendant fell out. "A gift from Allani. She oppologizes that she used you to test me." He paused and looked down. "It was unfair of her to play with your life, but she is a goddess of fate and death. The most I could do was give her a piece of my mind."

David looked at Peter. "This is your fault...If you had warded her, or set a spell to take care of your forest, this would not have happened. She died, now she will never be the same."

Peter steppled his hands and studied David. "She is safe now. That is what matters."

"Safe..." David barked a sardonic laugh. "What I had to do to save her placed a target on her back and mine. I'm not worried about myself, I may diserve death."

"You don't diserve death and whatever you had to do to save Jayla is appriciated. You don't have to stand alone. I am here." Peter stated.

"You don't understand, in order to save her life I had to claim her soul then free it. She is tainted with my power. I don't know how it will affect her." He said.

"What do you mean? How do you claim a soul?" I whispered.

"It is an ability of a warlock, we eat souls to gain power, but I don't simply absorb souls. I free them at the last moment merging their power with mine. You were dead when you hit the ground, I had to act quickly so I implusively attacked your soul in order to save you. I had no right, but I did it without thinking." He said.

"Well at least I'm alive to complain about it." I said pointedly.

Peter sighed. "Let's get something to eat. We can deal with the consequences of your actions later. Jayla is correct, she is alive. That is what matters. We will assess the sideaffects of your actions later."