“We need to tell Alden. See what he says,” Rogue said.
We rushed to the library, finding Alden rearranging shelves near the front.
Alden glanced up and Rogue explained everything we had just learned in detail. With each word Rogue spoke, Alden’s mouth fell farther open and eyes wider. His arms fell to his sides with a book in each hand.
“Did you-Did you say a manipulator? A living, breathing manipulator?”
Doran nodded curtly, and Alden turned his gaze to me.
“And he’s ruling Auryna?”
I nodded, and Alden took a shaky breath, setting the books down on a table. “This is not good.”
“We know. What are we even supposed to do?” Delphia asked, tossing her hands in the air.
Alden shook his head, his face still turned down to the table.
“There has only ever been one bloodline that they descended from, and the last remaining family member died over seventy years ago. This should be impossible,” he rasped. “I need to research their history. Someone had to have been missed.” He chuckled, rubbing his hand down his face. “I don’t know how useful I’ll be, though. I have been researching your dream, Ara, and I have yet to learn anything useful.”
I dropped my eyes at the mention of it, cheeks reddening. I hadn’t told anyone of it besides Alden. He glanced up, noted my reaction, and apologized.
“What dream?” Doran asked.
“It was a nightmare, sort of. It was dark and I could barely see anything besides a storm overhead. The sky was trying to tell me something, I knew it was, but I couldn’t understand and that’s when a bolt of lightning shot from the sky, touching down right in front of me. Instead of it just flashing, it stayed until I reached my hand out to it. When I touched it, a warmth enveloped me and I felt… safe.”
“The odd thing though,” Alden added, “is that Vaelor had the same dream before his magic presented itself. It was exactly the same, every detail. I’ve been trying to research its meaning, to find a connection, but I haven’t found anything.”
“You are chosen.” Delphia whipped her head to me in disbelief. “Dreams are a sign from the Goddess. I guess that explains why her magic is so powerful,” she said to Alden.
“What? Where did you hear that?” Doran gawked.
“That is a well-known understanding.” She rolled her eyes.
“Yes, I figured as much, but I’ve been trying to find more concrete evidence. Perhaps an account of this happening before,” Alden sighed, defeated.
I glimpsed at Rogue and he was staring at me, his face unreadable.
“Back to the situation at hand,” I uttered, “what do we do about King Adon?”
“I don’t think there is anything we can do about him right now,” Doran said. “We need to focus on one problem at a time, and right now, that is the army lying in wait.”
Rogue faced me, sighing as he sat back in a chair.
“After so many years under Adrastus, our people were burnt out with fear and anticipation. And then there was the war, we just… We lost too many. We were overwhelmed and completely outnumbered. After his death and the end of the war—or so we thought—I just wanted to grant my people a respite. A moment to breathe.” He paused, releasing a sad chuckle. “Of course, that didn’t happen. The attacks began shortly after, but we didn’t have the strength to return to war, so we focused on moving people out.”
Doran planted a hand on Rogue’s shoulder. “We were doing what we could, brother.”
“Well, with all of that being said, we don’t have the numbers we need,” Rogue said as he stood again and began pacing.
“First, we need to divide the commanders and assign areas. Doran, I’ll leave it to you to give assignments, but we need to cover as much ground as possible, as soon as possible. For you specifically, however, go to Blackburn. That town is full of pissed off warriors chomping at the bit to return to war, so a good amount of them should join the cause. Ara and I will go to Nautia,” he said as he looked at me and I nodded. “Once we return, you’ll be in charge of honing their fighting skills, Doran. Just make sure they can hold their own when the time comes. We leave at first light tomorrow.”
Doran dipped his head in response and left in search of his men. After we bid farewell to Alden, Rogue, Delphia, and I strolled through the library.
“So where is Thana? I would like to catch up with her after so many years apart,” Delphia asked and her face fell at our hesitation.
“Delphia, she was the one who attempted to assassinate Ara,” Rogue said.
She shook her head, furrowing her eyebrows.