“What does the gemstone have to do with me?” Addison asked.
“Everything,” Sayuri said. “I want to show you something.”
Addison followed Sayuri inside a stone building. Down the marble hallway was a room with floor-to-ceiling bookcases, but the shelves didn’t contain books. They contained objects, artifacts brought to Gaia to preserve and protect.
“If this room exists to protect sacred relics, why not keep the book of black arts here?” Addison asked.
“The power of the book is too dark, even for a place as sacred as Gaia. Long ago, the rulers of Gaia decided the best place for the book was with necromancers, who promised to hide it, keeping it safe.”
“Why couldn’t it be kept with a sorcerer?”
“Even if the sorcerer had good intentions, the book is powerful enough to bend even the strongest among us to its will, turning good to evil. I imagine my father is under its influence now.”
“Your father is under its influence because he wants to be.”
“And that is when the book is most dangerous. Combining evil with an even higher evil creates a force so strong it’s almost impossible to destroy.”
Sayuri walked to the other side of the room and grabbed a sealed glass box off one of the shelves. Inside the box was a gold necklace and dangling from its chain was a black stone.
“Is that what I think it is?” Addison asked.
Sayuri nodded.
“The gemstone … it’s a lot smaller than I thought it would be,” Addison said. “No bigger than a dime.”
“My mother thought the stone itself kept her from using her magic, but she was wrong. When my ancestors handed the necklace over to Aryanna, she discovered it wasn’t the gemstone that held power. What’s inside of it does.”
“What are you saying?”
“Think of it as a small part of Aamon’s essence, what makes him who he is. The curse he placed on it was a death curse.”
“Which is why she burst into flames when she separated herself from the necklace and tried to flee,” Addison said. “Does Aamon know you’re here? Does he know the necklace is here too?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never had any contact with him.”
“I was told he is unable to enter Gaia, but what if he can now that he has the book?”
“I suppose it might be possible. It’s something you need to talk to Aryanna about.” Sayuri held the box in front of her, eyeing it through the glass. “This will help you in your efforts to defeat him.”
“How?”
“The essence within the stone can be altered.”
“In what way?”
“If you replace the curse with an enchantment, it could turn from an object of evil to an object of protection.”
“That’s possible?”
“I’ve been led to believe it is. I suppose it’s my way of getting back at him, settling the score. Aamon took everything from me when he murdered my mother. He robbed me of a life with her. I have waited for this day all my life—the day he pays for all he’s done.”
The sound of footsteps fast approaching prompted Addison to turn.
“Ah, the very women I was hoping to find.” Aryanna turned toward Sayuri. “Have the two of you had proper introductions? Have you explained who you are?”
“I have.”
“And does she know the significance of the stone?”
“I do,” Addison said.
Aryanna pressed her hands together. “Well done. I’ll take it from here.”
Sayuri slipped the glass box back onto the shelf, nodded, and exited the room.
“Let’s take a walk, shall we?” Aryanna said.
Together they strolled the gardens of Gaia, stopping here and there as Aryanna gave brief descriptions of different things around the area. Their final stop was at a sparkling stream which boasted a breathtaking, cascading waterfall. Aryanna took a seat on a large boulder and invited Addison to join her. For a moment, neither spoke, focusing instead on the ambiance of the surroundings.
“When I came here, I thought my training would be of a physical nature,” Addison said. “Now it seems my coming here was more about a personal journey … a journey of the mind.”
“The mind is a powerful thing. The hand wields the blade, but it is the mind that tells it to do so. While the blade of the knife is sharp, the mind in full clarity is sharper.”
“I believe I understand what you’ve been trying to teach me.”
Aryanna patted Addison’s hand. “Yes, I sense that you do. Yesterday your troubles were many, your hesitancy still bubbling beneath the surface. You were caught up in the present and the past. Today you’re looking toward the future, the future you will bring to all mankind.”
Aryanna was right.
The final layer of skin holding her back had been shed. She felt different, thought in a different way. Where mental walls had been forged, doors now existed, all of them open.
“How does me being in Gaia tie into Sayuri’s future in this place?” Addison asked.
“I was wondering when you’d ask that. Sayuri will take my place after I’m gone.”
“After you’re … gone? Are you leaving?”
“I will go when the time is right, a time when everything will change. The future will return to the past, to the old ways, as necromancers and sorcerers live and rule together again as one.” Aryanna leaned over the boulder, staring into the reflective water below. “Have a look, child, and tell me … tell me what you see.”
Addison bent down. The mirror image in the water’s surface depicted Addison as she was now. On her head she wore a crown laden with red jewels, the stones an exact match to the precious jewel in Addison’s ring.
“I see myself,” Addison said. “There’s a crown on my head. It looks like the one you were wearing when I first saw you, except the jewels are a different color. They’re red. What does it mean?”
“If you succeed, if you destroy Aamon—I believe you will—you shall remain on earth for a time, reigning over it as Sayuri reigns over Gaia. Once Amara Jane is grown, that responsibility will pass to her, and when you’re ready, you’ll return to Gaia to rule.”
“As a member of the council?”
“As queen of Gaia.”
“And Sayuri?”
“She will step down, becoming your second hand, an advisor on the—”
Before she could finish, Aryanna pressed a hand to her chest, her eyes closing as she winced in pain.
“What is it?” Addison asked. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Aamon. He’s trying to open a channel. He wishes to speak with me. He’s using the book to try to find a way in, a way into Gaia.”
“What can I do to help?”
A look of worry swept across Aryanna’s face. She stood and turned. “I must leave you now.”
“I’ll come with you. Please, let me help.”
“I will deal with him. When all is well, I will find you.”