XAVIER
Camilla’s here. Can this be real?
Part of me fears that I’m falling deeper into Set’s trap. I should leave. Whether Camilla is an illusion or not, she’s certainly fit and alive. Even if I don’t depart now, I still can’t ignore the possibility that Camilla is an agent of Set. At the very least, I should pull out my dagger or reach for a spell packet.
Yet, I don’t reach for any weapons or magic. It’s all I can do to watch her move closer.
She pauses before me. “Hello, Xavier. I’m Camilla.”
Her voice is a lovely mixture of sweet tones and deep resonance. Normally, it’s easy for me to grin and charm anyone, especially someone with a bit of demonic blood like Camilla. It’s one of the benefits of being an angel.
Not this time.
I simply allow her voice to reverberate through me. A deep part of me awakens. In the place where my magic just felt hollow, I now sense the spark of golden power once more.
“Xavier?” she repeats.
“Yes, it’s me.”
A small smile quirks her mouth. “I’d know you anywhere, even if you do look different.”
I scan myself. My angelic robes are rags and, if anything, my wings are dirtier than ever. It takes me a moment to realize the full meaning of her statement.
“You know me,” I state.
“As you know me.”
Camilla holds her arm out. A silver satchel materializes in her hand—that’s the same way it appeared in my dream. Camilla opens the bag, pulls out an onyx-dark tablet, and runs her fingers across the surface. As she scans the device, it lights up with a series of symbols.
“It worked,” announces Camilla breathlessly. “I’ve actually traveled thousands of years into the past.” She looks at me and smiles.
At the sight of her grin, warmth floods through my soul. I want to bask in this heat, but I force myself to feel the chill of reality instead. Set is about to escape from his prison. Camilla is probably his instrument of escape. Perhaps I saw Camilla in the future, but that doesn’t she isn’t dangerous.
“The transport machine malfunctioned. I could have died.” Camilla steps closer. “You saved me. Of course, you did.”
Somehow, I ignore the adoring light in her eyes. “Why are you here?”
“We think of the past as absolute, but it isn’t. If someone has enough energy, they can change history.”
“Go on.”
“I live far in the future. Something happened in the past—in this very moment, as a matter of fact—and it’s pulling my present apart.”
“It’s Set’s chaos power. His energy is breaking loose here.”
“That’s exactly what we think as well. Chaos power is churning up here and causing a chain reaction through time. Over in my reality, everything is changing. One moment, we’re overrun with monsters. The next second, the world is fine again. The very fabric of reality is becoming unstable.”
“That doesn’t explain why you’re here.”
“I should think that’s obvious. I traveled here to stop Set and control chaos.” She points to the ground beneath her feet. “I must return to this very rendezvous point in five days.”
I try to process this news. Not happening.
Thanks for being on the tour! :)
ReplyDelete