My vision came back in blurry, I couldn't understand what I was seeing. Staring down at a room from a bird's eye view. People moving below. I could hear singing….

"Don't get any ideas Alex." Gloria's voice laughed, making my head spin. My vision, losing focus. Blurry with the dizziness. The memory flooding back.

"Careful we don't want to lose our balance." She cautioned. I took deeper breaths. I was crouching in the middle of a beam, some sort of tavern or community house.

"Where are we Gloria?" I asked my question frantically. I couldn't remember how I got here. I didn't know how much time had passed. The last thing I remembered was her kiss…

"It doesn't matter Alex. It's not the 'where' we're interested in, but the 'who'." She steadied my hands on the beam.

"What do you mean who?" My question, answered by the swinging of a door. A short woman in a cloak sent the room to silence. Bright white hair like snow, not a wrinkle on her earthy coloured skin. Her red eyes burned across the room, sweeping across, warning the world like a siren.

Avis, the Prophetess. We both recognized the undeniable force was standing below us.

My hands started shaking, "Gloria you can't be serious." I hissed out loud. She clamped a hand over my mouth. "Quiet, we don't want her to know we're here yet." I nodded, my hand slowly moving back to keep balance.

The people moved to the edges, chairs sliding. Some people walked out of the tavern, the bravest moving to the edges. The bartender cowered in the corner, she sighed, scowling at him. She hopped over the counter, pouring her own drink.

"She'll tear us to shreds." I tightened my fingers on the edge. Gloria laughed, "You're scared of Avis?"

I frowned, pointing at the people below, "They certainly are."

"They don't know what I know." She made me stand, balancing my steps as we walked across the beam. My vision blurred again, my breath short. I watched the prophetess, shivering at her very presence. I wasn't exactly her favorite person.

"And what is it you know?" I asked Gloria.

"Such a lack of trust Alex." Gloria steadied us as we stopped above her. "The Prophetess doesn't handle surprises well." Gloria snickered, hoping off the beam before I could stop the action. My limbs screamed as we fought back and forth for control.

It was too late. I fell, arms flailing, landing on the bar counter right in front of a pair of blazing red eyes.

Avis jumped back, a swipe of her cape. Two daggers in her grip. A strange black metal that reminded me of volcanic rock. I always meant to ask her about it.

She stood, arms close, ready for any attack. "Alexander Wren?" Her eyes went wide before lighting up in a rage. "Of all the snakes to crawl back, you're the last I would've expected." She hissed, coming at me. I stumbled back falling off the counter, the ground stealing the air from my lungs.

"Keep your head Alex." Gloria's voice echoed in my head, my ears ringing. "Don't forget your advantage."

I looked up to Avis who peered down at me over the counter. Her eyes wide with concern. Was she worried about me?

I stood up dusting myself off. Letting out a cough, my laugh rang out. "How about a song Prophetess?"

Her concern faded to rage. She hopped over the counter, aiming her foot for my stomach. I landed, crashing into the back shelf. Bottles falling, crashing on the floor.

"Don't you dare threaten me Wren, not if you ever want to sing again." She growled, pointing her daggers to my neck. I raised my hands defensively, "So aggressive Avis, compensating because you don't have the next few moments in mind?" My smirk, leaking out.

Her eyes grew wide as I whistled out a short tune. Her hands wavered from the notes, I took my chance. I pushed past her, dodging the swipe of her blade. Hopping back up on the counter.

Avis covered her ears as I cleared my throat, "Begin the end, the watchman shouts. Destroy the sun, he sings. Blackout the sky and all the stars. Erase the pain it brings."

The verse sent strange shivers running down my spine. A power that felt intoxicating.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Avis stood, eyes wide, fighting with willful determination. It was scary how much she was able to resist its pull, but It wouldn't save her. The stragglers in the tavern rising to their feet. She couldn't fight both them and the song.

I picked up a piece of a broken bottle, starting the second verse. "Let what's living fade away. Do not cry for souls. Come that day, when mortals die. Immortal life consoles."

I marched after her with the shard of glass. Hands pressed against her ears, she jumped back, running away from my strikes. Trying hard to hide the fear in her eyes. She stumbled around the bar, evading my attack. Stepping back, she walked right into the growing crowd. Surrounding her, already spellbound by my song.

"The watchman calling for our end. For turning things reverse. The fount of life, the gate of death. The scar reveals our curse."

I sang the third verse, hanging back. She ducked around the first punches. Unable to attack with her ears covered. A swift kick from one of the ruffians, she let out a muffled hiss. Instinct kicked in and she reached for her blades.

Her eyes wide in panic as she realized her mistake. The song slowed her motion, caught fighting the pull. She made one slash before the biggest thug sent her flying, crashing into the tables and chairs.

I laughed, "Find the ending written in blood. There the mirror breaks. Each direction, intersection. Desire only takes."

Avis flipped back finding her feet, the crowd surrounding her. She wasn't looking at them though, she was staring at me. A horror fixed across her face.

"That song...what are you singing? Do you even know what you're singing?" Her words were quick, desperate. Fear that terrified me. I frowned, gaping, trying to remember how I knew the song. I couldn't quite place how I knew it. I frowned, shutting my eyes. There was something I was missing.

"Stay focused Alex!" Gloria shouted in my head. I blinked, Avis was charging me. Dodging the wild limbs of the crowd, she raised a dagger aimed for my throat.

I quickly grabbed a cutting board off of the counter, blocking the strike.The knife stuck in the board. I stared at it, shoving her back. One dagger still in her grip, I spat out the last verse,

"Alone we face the ending. Our dying melody. We failed to understand. Forgotten remedy."

Avis tightened her stance, stiff resistance. She glared at me, "Keep it up Wren! Just don't forget how I destroyed you in our last fight." My pride stung at those words. It was a humiliating memory, the legendary hero, beaten by a prophetess.

"Don't feel too bad she didn't exactly fight fair." Gloria's reassurance made it feel worse. I didn't fight fair either.

I rolled my eyes, "Well it seems this time we're even." I reached out my hand, or rather Gloria did. Her actions, blending into mine.

Avis gave a deeper frown, refusing to take my hand. "You expect me to admit defeat?"

I laughed, smirking at her stubbornness. "I could care less about what you will admit. I can always keep singing." The fleeing bar patrons made my threat slightly less intimidating.

She scowled crossing her arms, "What are you up to Wren?"

Ya, what am I up to Gloria? She stayed frustratingly quiet.

I dropped my expression, losing the smugness. "You were right, okay? Is that what you want me to say?"

Her eyes lost some fire, "What?"

"You were right about Carrick… about what he and Gregori were doing. If I listened to you, I could've stopped what happened in Omen." My voice cracked with genuine regret. I meant those words.

Her lips formed into a fine line, she tapped her fingers. "So why ambush me if that's all you wanted to say."

I raised my eyebrows, "Would you have listened?"

"Well...I don't know." She frowned, surveying the mess. "It's still a strange way to offer an apology."

As she looked away, I pulled out the dagger stabbed into the cutting board, slipping it beneath my sleeve. I paused at my action, a strange thing to do. Why did I take it?

"We need it." Gloria stated calmly. My heart started racing with panic. How had she slipped in control without me noticing?

"Wren, where did you hear that song?" Avis's question sent my head turning. She was staring at me again, waiting for an answer. I felt trapped.

The song wasn't mine. The memory of it already fading, I needed to write it down. There was something terrible about it, about all of this.

"Is it too depressing?" I raised an eyebrow, "Maybe I'll reconsider using it. It just seems ironic to sing about cheery things when my listeners usually die."

Avis shook her head, "Very morbid Alexander."

"What can I say? I haven't changed." My laugh, echoing out in the silence.

Avis kept her expression serious. "Are you sure you're okay? You look...almost like...you're on death's door."

The image I saw in the mirror, my dead body, flashed in my mind.

"I'm fine really, just haven't been sleeping much. Things have been dark since...Gloria."

My voice trailed off, but the words felt foreign. Avis dropped her eyes, "Yes, of course." A painful silence hanging in the air. I didn't know what to say.

"Sorry to make such a fuss Avis." I gave a nervous grin, walking past her. Stepping over a broken chair, I headed for the door.

"Wren," Avis's voice stopped me in my tracks, the knife still in my sleeve. I paused, afraid she knew I had it.

I looked back, finding her sympathetic smile, "She would've understood...why you couldn't save her."

I nodded, her words making something in me ache worse. I turned, leaving out the door, running from her pity. I wanted to forget those words. Gloria, silent in my head. I didn't dare ask her if she understood. I couldn't bear the answer.

I wandered away from the tavern, a destination forming in my mind. Each step felt like mine, but it was becoming blatantly obvious that it wasn't.