A burst of white light glowed from the tree. Beside me, I watched Uli transform. Her dirty rags disappeared, replaced with a flowing white gown. Her tangled hair was replaced with long, silver strands. She looked ethereal, as beautiful as the tree. When she smiled, I felt calmness in her expression.
“You have found me,” she said.
It took a moment to find my voice. “Who are you?”
“I speak for the tree. Whatever you desire, let it be known.”
Asking for pure magic seemed so trite now, but I knew that my godson would die without it. “Pure magic,” I spoke. “I must break through the goblin’s wall.”
Ulizet’s eyes were like twin solar systems. I couldn’t think of a better way to describe them. It was as though the mysteries of the universe—all the knowledge, all the secrets—were stored within those two eyes.
“You shall have what you desire. But know this, for every gift given, a price must be paid. Are you prepared to pay the price?”
I swallowed. For the first time since I’d seen the tree, I felt uneasy. “What is the price?”
“You are to see three visions—the most harrowing memory of your past, a happening of the present, and a vision of Faythander’s future.”
“That’s all?”
She nodded.
This wasn’t so bad. I thought I’d have to sacrifice my mind or something. I could deal with this. It seemed a little similar to what Scrooge went through, but luckily, I wasn’t a penny-pinching hoarder who screwed over kids with disabilities. If I had to see something awful from my past, I knew I could handle it. The other two visions I worried about more. “Very well,” I answered. “I agree to pay the price.”
Ulizet didn’t answer at first. She only stared at me with those twin universe eyes, as if looking into my thoughts and finding my worst one. “Do not answer so quickly. The price will not be as you expect.”
Her words made me pause but weren’t enough to make me reconsider. “I am prepared to pay.”
“Very well. Hold out your hand.”
I did as she asked. Ulizet held a small sachet that glowed the same color as the tree. The pure magic. As soon as the package touched my palm, the world disappeared.
“You have been warned.” I heard Ulizet’s voice as if she spoke from a million miles away.
Chapter 38
My vision blurred. I no longer stood beneath the sacred tree. Instead, I stood in the Wult caves, the same caves I had crossed through to find the tombs. Strange, as I didn’t remember any harrowing memories happening here. I stood on the edge of the underground lake.
The altar sat on the shore. I’d seen the apparition here. My stomach turned as I remembered it, though I wasn’t sure why.
People stood around the altar. They wore dark robes with cowls that hid their faces.
Goblins were also in the room. They stalked around the altar with their knuckles dragging the ground. Red eyes glowed from hungry, lean faces.
Chanting came from the group gathered around the altar. It started softly at first, and then rose. It sounded like the beating of a drum. Each word pounded with harsh syllables. I didn’t recognize the language, but with goose bumps prickling my skin, I knew it must have been a spell. A very bad one.
I concentrated on the sound of their voices, trying to recognize the words. As I listened, I heard a phrase repeated over and over. I used my magic to enhance my hearing, and that’s when I understood it.
We summon Theht.
Two thoughts struck me: This wasn’t a memory. And I’d been tricked.
I tried to run but found I couldn’t move. I wanted to scream, to do something—to do anything—but I was trapped. My soul had entered this place. I had no control over it.
We summon Theht. We summon Theht.
A figure emerged from the corner of the room. She carried something, though in the dim light I couldn’t tell what was inside the bundle.
She walked closer, but not close enough for me to see inside the wrapped cloth. Something stirred inside the bundle, an animal perhaps?
A silver strand of hair peeked from her cowl as she approached the altar. I watched as she unfolded the blanket. A newborn baby lay inside. With its slightly damp hair and protruding umbilical stump, the baby looked minutes old. The woman placed the baby on the altar and stepped away.
The infant didn’t wake as the robed figures surrounded it.
My heart raced. I had to stop this.
We call Theht. The blood of an innocent will be our price.
One of the robed figures raised a knife.
They were using the blood of an innocent to summon Theht. You didn’t get much more innocent than a newborn. What kind of sick, depraved people were they?
I wanted to shout as the chanting grew louder and louder. The woman who had carried the baby joined in. I focused on her, and though I couldn’t see her face, I got the impression that I knew her. Was she the Dreamthief? If so, what was her true identity? The elves had been involved from the beginning. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that this could be the princess.
Their chanting resonated with an eerie echo. Tears leaked from my eyes with a phantom warmth that seeped over my bone-cold cheeks. I had to stop this. Surely there was something I could do.
Ulizet, I called. Please, hear me!
But I was alone. I had been abandoned in my dreamstate to watch something so horrific I knew I would never be the same.
We summon Theht. We summon Theht.
But where were all the other children? Where was Jeremiah? Had they already been sacrificed? Or would they be next? And why were we in the caves and not in the goblin tower?
My questions fled my mind as I watched the knife hover over the baby’s chest.
“No!” I heard the words as if I’d spoken them myself. A woman rushed into the room. Her red hair looked mussed, her brown robes
