ShadowSong [Book 1 & 2: Complete] [NaNoWriMo16/17]

Chapter 14 - What Could Go Wrong

Three days after Banshee and Cryo rescued nearly a hundred civilians from the Serpent's nest, the sound of thunder woke Olivia with a start.

Somewhat annoyed, she rolled over to face her window. The skies were dark with clouds that would later dump the rain across the city. After a few seconds of watching, Olivia caught a flash of lightning in the distance.

Great.

"Good morning!" said Viri, snuggled under the corner of a blanket.

"I disagree," said Olivia, rolling back over and stuffing her face into the pillow.

The day she'd been dreading was here, and it was already worse than any of the scenarios she'd managed to come up with in her worrying last night. It'd all been various ways she'd embarrass herself--she hadn't even considered the weather. There was no way she was going to be able to get to the Cevrael skyshrine before the storm hit but, then again, maybe it'd give her an excuse to miss out on her first day of temple work?

With her luck, probably not.

Olivia fingered the thin, silver chain that kept the amulet hanging at her chest, hidden under her pajama top. She was yet to take it off. It felt right wearing it, like leaving it would be just as bad as leaving an arm or a leg behind for the day.

She pulled it out of her top to look at it. From what she could tell, it was a single, carved piece of silver-white starstone. It caught the light in strange ways, ways that shouldn't have been possible from the light sources in the room. It was like another sky with a million more stars was trapped inside. More than once, Olivia had caught herself trying to figure out their song, only to have it slip away.

She still didn't know how she'd got it. All she knew was that she'd seen... something. She just couldn't remember what, sort of like she had a single thread of melody but couldn't remember how it was supposed to start.

Save Ella Spiritcaller before the festival--the exact six weeks she was stuck with temple work.

After another five or so minutes of laying in bed, Olivia tucked the amulet back in and reluctantly sat up.

She took a long moment to rub her eyes before she looked to Viri, offering the Ascended a hand. "Guess I'd better get my butt moving, hey?"

Viri jumped on her hand, and Olivia placed the Ascended on her shoulder. "Probably wouldn't be good to show up in your pajamas on the first day."

Olivia swung her legs out of bed and stood up. "That was one of the worst scenarios I came up with yesterday, right under the underwear one. So yes, let's avoid that one."

She went through her morning stretch carefully, ensuring the wound that the Shimmer had given her wouldn't be aggravated before she moved onto the slightly more difficult ones that freaked out Ericka. Olivia liked them because they were a challenge, and because they took care of both her strength and flexibility training for the day. She didn't have to--transforming into Banshee made her far stronger and agile than Olivia ever could be--but it made her feel prepared. Like she was putting in the work.

On her last sequence of stretches, Olivia eyed the drawer on her nightstand with a sense of dread.

Without opening it, she knew exactly how many days of medication she had left. Facing it each day wasn't getting any easier. As she finished the stretches and reluctantly put today's pill in her palm, she found herself staring at it for a long moment. Once, she'd told herself that she wouldn't ever take the freedom it gave her for granted, but she had. In the last two months, she'd forgotten to appreciate it. Now, it felt like karma was slapping her in the face.