“That’s ridiculous. You would never hurt me. Would you?”
“Of course not. You’re everything to me. You’re my life. Without you, I’m nothing. I know because I’ve been there before and it’s an awful place. A dark place. If I killed you, then I would have no choice but to kill myself as well, because I could never go on without you.”
His words stirred a powerful emotion within me. He’d shared his feelings with me before, but never with so much intensity.
“There is a legend my people have,” Kull said, “about the end times. Some believe that our world will end in fire, and that an ancient goddess wielding flame and ash will ignite our lands and burn everything in her path. They say that only one can stop her, the one wielding the sword of Dracon. He will slay her, and our lands will be saved.
“All Wults are taught this story from a young age in our religious studies, but the legend has been around for hundreds of years, and I was never sure I actually believed the tale. Until now.”
“What made you change your mind?”
“Silvestra. She showed me visions, I guess you could call them, but they weren’t, really. I felt as though she’d transported me to the future. Like I was really there. I saw you, Olive. I saw Theht working through you. I saw you burn our world.”
My heart stopped. I wanted to make a reply, but my mouth grew too dry to speak. I wanted to defend myself and tell him I would never willingly destroy the world, but I’d seen it happen too, and I knew as well as he that it was only a matter of time before it happened.
Theht’s consciousness stirred inside my mind. I felt it there like a cancer waiting to spread.
“There’s more,” he said. “Silvestra’s voice was in my mind. She kept repeating the prophecy over and over. She told it to me so many times that I’ve got it memorized. ‘Only the one who wields the shadow-forged sword will have the power to stop the Deathbringer. His name will bring power. Hate shall flee from his sight, never again to return. Power to wield and power to kill. Legend will follow wherever he goes. His life will bring the death of the chosen one. His destiny shall bring peace. He shall kill the one he loves, for love shall bring her end’.”
Silence filled the cavern. I couldn’t speak. My stomach roiled, and I felt as if I would be sick.
“Do you think it’s true?” I asked.
“Yes. Not only did I hear her words, but I saw it happen. I stabbed you through the heart, and then I held you as you passed. In my mind, it was a mercy killing.”
“I don’t believe it’s true. It couldn’t be.”
“I thought the same thing. For a while.”
“But now you think differently?”
“I believe prophecies happen whether you try to stop them or not.”
“But it’s not true. You would never kill me.”
His face grew grim. “Unless the thing that inhabited your body was no longer you,” he said quietly.
Lapping water filled the silence.
“But the vision I saw showed me killing you. They can’t both be right.”
“I got the feeling that one or the other will happen. If I fail to kill you, then Theht will use you to destroy our world.”
“Then we’ll stop this,” I said. “If Theht takes over my body, we’ll stop her. We’ll do whatever is in our power to make sure it never happens, or we’ll die trying. I can’t give in to accepting it as truth or I’ll lose hope, and if I do that, then I’ll never be able to fight Theht.”
Kull remained silent.
“Don’t you agree?” I asked.
“I agree that we shouldn’t lose hope. But we’re wasting our time trying to fight prophecy. There has to be another way.”
“Like what?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know yet.”
He turned and exited the water, and I did the same. We dressed quickly, though my mind wasn’t on the task. I dried off as best as I could and then put on my clothes, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Kull’s words. There had to be a loophole in the prophecies. There had to be a way to beat them, but I knew so little about prophecies to begin with, and the one person who could tell me more was being held prisoner by the silverwitch.
The steam-filled room muffled the sounds of footsteps, but soon several people entered and gathered by the pool. Jahr’ad, Zariah, Heidel, and Maveryck stood in the room with us.
“Maveryck informs me that you wish to leave,” Jahr’ad said.
“Yes,” I answered, “but we’d like my magic back before we go.”
“That seems awfully demanding, don’t you think? If I let you go, you’ll run straight to the sky king and tell him what I’m doing here. I can’t let that happen.”
I swallowed my panic. I knew Maveryck was too overconfident in thinking he could negotiate our release.
“What if we promise not to tell what we’ve seen?” Kull said.
Jahr’ad laughed. “Not on your life. Contrary to what most believe, Wults are the worst group of liars you’ll find in Faythander. There’s a reason I don’t consider myself part of your people anymore.”
Jahr’ad circled me, his boot steps ringing against the stone floor, his seedy-eyed gaze lingering too long on my body.
“But I will let you go free, and I will give your magic back under one condition.”
“What’s the condition?” I asked, fairly certain I wouldn’t like his answer.
“One night with you.”
“What?” I sputtered.
“Never,” Kull shouted. “Over my dead body.”
Jahr’ad threw back his head and laughed.
“Jahr’ad,” Maveryck interjected, “that wasn’t the bargain.”
“Wasn’t it? Must have slipped my mind. I thought I’d have a bit of fun before she left.”
Maveryck stepped forward. “I am allowing you to pay half price for the items I barter in exchange for letting us go freely and with Olive’s
