Katie’s eyes widened, but this time she didn’t speak.
“Fast forward to five years ago, when my daughter thought she could handle the spirits. Serena was a channeler, as you heard, and she talked to many spirits of old inhabitants of the town and relayed the confessions and messages that they had to the living. One day she contacted the traveler who had been killed. He told her that there was only one malevolent spirit, a female who caused the evil. If this is true, I do not know,” he paused.
“Serena then told me she would travel through the woods that night and she would go to the shrine to send the spirit away once and for all. I told her not to go, but the inhabitants of this town wanted her to, so in the dead of night she snuck out. Around four in the morning, a sudden breeze woke me. I saw the blue mist through my window and I went outside. The mist soon spread everywhere and I could barely see a thing.
That’s when I heard my daughter’s screams and her pleas and calls for my help. I ran towards the gates as fast as I could, but the mist made it impossible to see where I was going. I was too late. When I had finally reached the gates, her screams stopped and once again I heard the eerily deadly silence that chilled the night,” his words echoed around the room.
“I’m not sure why, but I held out my hand, and a few strands of her blonde hair fell into my hand. I closed my fingers around it and I knew that I would never see my daughter again.”
Silence followed. Tyson was white with shock, Katie’s eyes swam with tears, but none fell. Cyrus’ eyes were wide with surprise, never having heard this story before.
“That’s why no one talks to me, or about my family,” Hammond said. “Everyone in this town feels guilty about the death of my daughter. They act as if they were responsible.”
“Do you feel like they are?” Katie asked.
Hammond raised an eyebrow and looked at her. “I do not entirely blame them, though their excitement for her to go may have contributed to her decision to not listen to me. But I otherwise feel responsible.” He choked on his last few words.
Tyson and Katie stared at him while Cyrus looked down at his lap. Katie didn’t know what to say. She could feel Hammond’s sorrow, but he never cried.
“I chained her too much, didn’t give her much time to interact with other children. I didn’t let her do that because I was scared she would venture out to the shrine. I knew she was a channeler and figured that the spirits would draw her to it.”
He spoke more firmly now. “It didn’t matter, in the end. My greatest fear had come true,” he said.
Hammond looked at Katie and changed the subject. “You are part of the Palatinii, right? Like your father?”
Katie looked back at him. She could feel Cyrus’ eyes digging into her mind, willing her to say that she was.
“I am,” she answered.
“So you’re going to help save our world, right? You will save us all.” It wasn’t much of a question.
“Of course,” Katie answered.
“Then I will help you by telling you what you came for,” he said. Cyrus made a small movement. Katie and Hammond looked at him.
“Sorry,” Cyrus said, looking down.
“I need you to promise me something,” Hammond said. “But promise me only after I give you the information that you seek.”
Katie hesitated. She didn’t know what was about to come. She didn’t know if she would be doing the right thing, or walking into a trap that she couldn’t see, though it glared right in front of her eyes. But Katie knew that she didn’t have time to worry about that. “Of course,” Katie said.
Tyson made an involuntary gasp which Katie ignored.
Hammond cleared his throat. “Cyrus, listen closely, as I know this is why you came here.” He kept talking before Cyrus could answer. “Queen Nayara intends to get into the City of Oasi and unleash from within it a dark creature that holds the power to destroy the world and build it anew. Eons ago, this creature was trapped and locked deep within the Colinth Mountains so it could be forgotten and lie there forever. This is what Oasi protects, and this is why Oasi houses many of our world leaders. Their job is to protect it, but this is known to but a few.”
Katie glanced at Cyrus and then back at Hammond. She wasn’t sure if that was why Cyrus wanted to come here, or if there was more to be said. Cyrus seemed satisfied, though.
“So we have to go there first,” Katie asked, the question more directed to Cyrus rather than Hammond.
“Yes, because if we don’t stop this, there won’t be a chance to save your father,” Cyrus answered her and then turned to Hammond and said, “Thank you.”
Hammond nodded and then looked at Katie. “Are you ready for my request?”
“Yes.”
“When you have accomplished stopping Nayara and saving our world, I want you to find my daughter so I can see her one more time, and apologize.”
Katie hesitated, but she had already made her promise. When she spoke, she spoke with certainty and sincerity. “I will.”
8
Of Dark Deeds and Fairy Tales
Sabrina sat on one of the thirteen
