Chapter Ten WITCHING MOON

Chapter Ten

WITCHING MOON

Week Two, Day Three

Year 3000

Somewhat predictably, Sachi was so sated from Ash's attentions that her sleep was dreamless and warm, with all the restful nothingness that came with being truly exhausted. But something tugged at her from within the darkness, kept drawing her back toward consciousness.

I won't let you go through another war, I swear.

There was something she was meant to do, a task she'd taken on with all the fervent sincerity of a vow.

I will find the Phoenix.

Yes, that was her task. Sachi struggled through the darkness until she found the light. She stepped into it, surrounded herself with the unending white expanse of the Dream, and marveled because it was getting easier to find her way. Before long, walking the Dream would be like breathing, so integral to her existence that she wouldn't even have to think about it, much less try.

Unfortunately, it wasn't getting any easier to locate her quarry. Sachi had never met the Phoenix, had only tasted echoes and hints of their essence and power once, at their tower. It had radiated from the blue flames outside their temple, the ones Ash had called the Phoenix's fire.

Sachi had feared it a little at the time, the notion that simply walking through that inferno could reveal the truth that lived at the very heart of her. But now? She longed for that revelatory flame. Perhaps she'd ask Zanya or Ash to take her there again. She could walk through that gauntlet of blue flames and finally, once and for all, know .

The crackle of a fire behind her made Sachi smile, and she turned, fully expecting to once again greet the spirit of Ash's grandmother.

Instead, she faced a wall of fire.

Startled, Sachi stared at it, wondering if she'd somehow conjured the Phoenix's flames from nothing. But this blaze didn't consist of delicate, dancing blue fire. It looked more like the sorts of protective walls that Ash sometimes raised.

Sachi's smile returned, and she stepped forward. Had her heart somehow brought her back through the Dream to him?

And was he dreaming of her?

Stepping through the flames didn't hurt, but it didn't deliver her into Ash's embrace, either. She found herself in a cave, though it looked like nothing she'd ever actually seen before. It wasn't like the dark cavern of salt and stone that she'd shared with Zanya on the edge of Siren's Bay. This was a network of narrow tunnels, seemingly carved from sand.

"Hurry along, now." A soft, low voice echoed through the tunnels like the murmur of a rushing river. "We don't have much time."

It came from Sachi's right, so she turned to follow it, rounding corners mainly by instinct. She had no idea where she was, but she knew she was meant to be here.

"Here, sit. Have some water." The voice was closer this time, so close it could have been right next to Sachi's ear. "Brynja, find some blankets. They're freezing, but we can't risk a fire. Not here."

A fire. The words tugged at Sachi, and she found herself approaching the nearest wall. She placed her hand on the surface, and it vibrated beneath her touch like a struck cymbal. Then the wall rippled slightly, as if it wasn't quite solid.

Sachi walked forward again, through the sandstone.

She emerged in a small cavern lit only by a tiny blue flame. Sachi watched, fascinated, as it floated through the air and alighted on someone's outstretched palm like a bird. The person, whose head and face were mostly wrapped in light-colored cloth, peered into the darkness with eyes that burned blue.

"Phoenix."

Their eyes narrowed, and they yanked the cloth away from their face with a vicious tug, revealing delicate features and a dark mustache and goatee. "Who's there? Identify yourself."

"I ..." The Phoenix had been missing for decades; did they even know that Ash had taken another consort, let alone who Sachi was? She didn't know what to say, so she moved closer. Out of the shadows.

Golden light suffused the cavern, illuminating half a dozen huddled figures in the corner, as well as two more hovering just behind the Phoenix. None of them reacted to the sudden wash of light.

None except the Phoenix. They held up a hand and squinted against the sudden brightness, which seemed to alarm their companions.

"What's happening to them?" one demanded anxiously. "Nyx?"

The other just looked on in reverence. "They're having a vision."

For a moment, everything in the cavern seemed to blur. Sachi blinked, but the wavering veil only intensified. It was like looking through a thin fall of water, a transparent but very tangible barrier, and Sachi sucked in a breath as understanding washed over her.

The Phoenix wasn't in the Dream at all. They were wide awake, going about their business in the actual, physical world. Sachi , on the other hand, was most definitely in the Dream ... and merely peering out of it.

The Phoenix ignored their companions, who continued to fuss and fret, and fixed their gaze on Sachi. "It's you ."

Relieved, Sachi nodded. "Then you know me?"

"Of course I do. Everyone does." The Phoenix stripped away the rest of their head covering, revealing hair that was dark at the roots but almost white at the ends. They ran a hand roughly through their hair, sending it tumbling across their forehead. "But if you're here, that means we're out of time."

"No," Sachi denied, "but everyone has been looking for you. The rest of the High Court, they need to know—"

"Yes." The Phoenix drew near—close enough to touch, save for the shimmering barrier between them and Sachi. "Tell the others it's to be war. They must prepare. I'm coming for them as soon as I can."

"Sachi!"

It was Zanya's voice, echoing all around them, so distressed that the veil between Sachi and the Phoenix thickened, almost solidified.

The Phoenix reached through it to grip Sachi's hand. "Tell them."

"I will," Sachi promised. "Be careful. Stay safe."

"You, as well."

With a violent jerk, Sachi tumbled from the Dream. For a disorienting moment, her body was in Ash's huge, warm bed, but her mind was still leagues away, across a continent, in a cave beneath the Betrayer's Empire. She fought to pull herself back together, to take just one single breath.

"Sachi!"

Finally, she managed a gasp. Ash stirred beside her, but he didn't wake, so she shook his arm. "Ash. Ash , wake up. Hurry."

He blinked up at her, then rose on one elbow, his entire body tense. "What is it?"

"It's Zanya," she choked. "Something's wrong."

Shadows swirled at the foot of the bed, blocking out the dying firelight, then coalesced into a bloody, soot-streaked Zanya.

"You need to come," she rasped. "Both of you."