Avarice | Sample 10 Chapters

A v a r i c e | T e n

T e n

❝The girl who cried wolf;

She was thrown and engulfed.❞

"I ASKED MOTHER ABOUT THE SEVENTH child thing," I divulged as I took a sip of bitter tea.

Lilith's entire body froze, but I was quick to say, "I didn't mention you at all. It was weird, actually. At first she was reluctant to tell me anything and then she just spewed everything out. I wanted to ask you about that, too, but first I wanted to talk more about the seventh child thing."

Lilith relaxed and sat down in the chair across from her. A languid smile crossed her face.

"She told me in order for a seventh child to be as powerful as you say you are, you have to be either a seer, a prophet, or a witch." I shivered at that last bit. "And she told me a little about each one."

Lilith nodded slowly, her eyes intently on me. "Go on. What did she say?"

I took another quick sip of my tea. "A seer can see everything, basically: past, present, future. Maybe even time travel. Being a prophet is like a lesser version of a seer, and then being a witch..." I shuddered. "I can't even imagine someone having so much power."

Lilith tilted her head thoughtfully. "Indeed. What do you believe me to be?"

I had already come up with that answer earlier while on my way here, but I paused to think it through again. She was too powerful to be a prophet, I knew. And prophets aren't something that are passed down the line, right? It was between a witch and a seer. I at first though she was a witch based on all of the weird things she did. They all screamed witch. But then I remembered that whatever she was, I also was. And I most certainly was not a witch.

I had experienced, however, sort of premonitions and dreams that came true. They were usually very simply things, though. So, maybe I was a seer. And if I was a seer, that made her..."A seer." I nodded in confirmation.

Lilith smiled. "Very good, child. I can see you've thought this through."

I nodded. "I'm positive. But, imagine if you were a witch and the seventh child...You'd be more powerful than anything. Do you know about any witch that was a seventh child?" Lilith nodded and shrugged, standing up from the table.

"A couple," she told me. I heaved a big breath but let it go when she followed up with, "but they're all dead now."

"It must not be common for a witch to be a seventh child, huh?"

Lilith smiled and nodded and brought her big book of mysteries over to the table where she set it down in front of me. She gave me a meaningful look. "It's not supposed to be, no. But it happens every once in a while. I presume your mother told you about the light and dark side, then, yes?"

I nodded. "For witches, yes. But aren't all witches bad?"

Lilith shrugged once again. "Some, not all." She opened up her book and flipped through some of the pages. "Your mother failed to say that seers also face that possibility. Maybe not quite as harshly as witches, but a few bad choices and a seer can turn dark."

I frowned. "But what does that mean exactly? What happens when you're light and when you're dark? Do your powers change or something?" I paused and glanced up at her, away from the book. "Do you have powers?"

Lilith laughed. "Of course. That's another thing your mother didn't talk about. Seers have all sorts of... mind powers, I suppose. Well, the powerful seers, anyways, such as myself." She smiled softly, almost proudly, at me. "In fact, you performed one of the more unheard of powers just earlier while talking to your mother."