Falling for the Enemy (Sun and Moon Book 1)

Chapter 13 - Portents

I clench Lee's arm, staring straight ahead, praying with all my might that they won't recognize us. That they'll go away, and then we can leave. At first I'd wondered what the old man was doing, but I no longer even see him standing in front of me.

All of my attention is focused on the soldiers behind us, trying to figure out what they're doing, if they're leaving, if they're coming near us, what is happening?

Lee clenches my hand, his shoulders tense. The old man hasn't noticed the soliders, and they're quiet now, though I know they're still there.

A part of me wants to run away; away from the soldiers and the firebender beside me and the strangely lilting words that the old man mumbles at us. What is he doing? It doesn't matter- all that matters is that the soldiers don't recognize us, that they go away!

The old man takes my hand and Lee's and ties a ribbon around our wrists. I stare at it, at the pure whiteness of it, noting the way the fabric slides against my skin, warming quickly from the heat of Lee's touch.

What...?

I'm pulled from my wondering at a sound from behind me. A door closing- are they gone?

I want to whirl around and check, but I'm tied to Lee, and he is rigid as a post, staring up at the spirit- suddenly the old man twitches violently and I gasp, hoping that he isn't dying. That would be bad, and it would make the soldie-

Suddenly, the spirit on the dais begins to glow brightly. She shimmers and I sheild my eyes, glad of the veil that gives me some protection. When I open them again, the spirit floats before us, much more beautiful that the statue that can be seen through her near-transparent figure.

Her dress billows about us, and she reaches out her cool, soft fingers, touching the white ribbon that binds Lee and I, turning it a vibrant blue, then a deep scarlet. I am entranced by the sight of it- the two colors war on the ribbon, flitting around our bound wrists like dervishes, until, finally, they mesh together, forming intricate swirls and designs, turning the simple ribon into a masterpiece of color.

The two colors compliment each other, though it seems that they shouldn't, and then suddenly they cease their roving and melt right off the white ribbon, sizzling on the floorboards and then fading into mist that fills the room.

The spirit gasps, and her pale hands go to her mouth, covering her shock. She eyes Lee and I for a full minute, her white eyes seeming to crackle with... something. I can't put my finger on what it is, only that she seems almost afraid.

But I don't understand any of what is happening, I'm so confused... and always in the back of my mind is the fear of the soldiers, where are the soldiers? Have they recognzied us? Am I going to die?

Then, as suddenly as she came, the spirit is gone, her statue once more just wood and paint. The old man has fainted dead away, and I know without looking that the soldiers are gone. I will not die today.

The thought makes me smile, and I open my mouth to comment on the oddness of what just transpired, anything to break the awkwardness that hangs in the air, but Lee lets out a low moan, almost a sound of intense pain, and I stare at him in shock.

But his deep amber eyes are not on me- they rest on our wrists, bound together now not with a pure white ribbon, but with ash. I gasp in shock, then horror, as I see that the floorboards beneath our feet are charred and smoking, though curiously the air smells of the sea; salt and brine and fresh air.

And in the midst of the charred remains of the shack's floor, right beneath our bound wrists, is a symbol wreathed in blue flames:

A raindrop, dancing in the light like a flame.

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