Saving Neba

𝐗𝐋𝐈𝐈𝐈: Garnet eyes

The sun was already setting and it was almost time for that training with Tevessa. The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass myself in front of him so I took advantage of the empty house and did a lot of practice. I'd long stopped trying to reach Mum or the second Scother family. Rowan had been right. Perhaps they wanted Nora to forget all about her previous life, the one where she had two messed-up siblings who didn't deserve her.

I missed Nora. I missed everything about her: blue eyes, her smile, her innocence. No, I was envious. I envied her innocence. She did not have to care about the world and its problems. She had an amazing stepbrother, almost her age, who she could relate well to. She was happy.

I hated how life was always so complicated. I hated how things weren't always perfect. I hated how it wasn't even any different with Neba!

I groaned and aimed the fire at one of the bushes and watched as it burned. Dealing with pyrokinesis had to be the hardest thing ever, physically, emotionally, and mentally. It only proved the more how this training with Tevessa was important. Hopefully, one day of training would be enough because I could not see myself doing this constantly with Tevessa.

He would be teaching me to harness a power that would be used to defeat his people. Already, it was bad enough that I had grown so attached to Tujan and Nilsa, to Crypta, to the Royals, and the Zadios. It was bad enough that I cared about Neba when I shouldn't have.

What was it my business that some magical place in the world existed and was currently having some governorship problem? There were a lot of problems in the world, real problems that affected real humans like me. I could have just told Crypta where the Zadios were hiding and then left him to fight his battle.

Giving up on the practice, I decided to head back into the kitchen. I shut the door, grabbed a bottle of water, went up to my room, and slumped to the bed. We had agreed on Saturday night but I had no idea if Tevessa was ready because if he was underground, then Mehjazgeu wouldn't be able to transport me there. Honestly, the underground idea had to be the most intelligent idea a person had ever come up with. They were there but yet they weren't.

The purple Ametrine necklace around my neck suddenly began to glow. Confused, I rubbed my thumb over it, remembering what Tevessa had said about Ametrine stone being able to manifest one's visions. What did that even mean?

"Emery." I thought I heard my name being mentioned. Strangely, it sounded like Tevessa. I turned around, wondering if somehow he'd equally laid his hands on Merwinian stones. Realising that I was the only one in the room, I stood up, my active being now on the alert.

"Emery."

What? Was I dreaming? The voice was unmistakable. It was Tevessa.

"Emery. Can you hear me?"

My mind drew back to the pendant that I still had within my thumb and index finger. Somehow, it felt like the sound came from the stone.

"Tevessa?"

"You can hear me!?" It sounded more like he was surprised. "Come over, I'm free now. I'm just by the banks of Nesylone Waters."

"What? How are you doing this?" I asked, staring at the purple stone attached to the string around my neck.

"Just come. We don't have much time, Emery." And then the stone stopped glowing, just like that.

I'd gotten so used to carrying the bottle everywhere I went that I always wore outfits that had pockets big enough to hold Mehjazgeu in place. Changing from my slippers to a pair of trainers, I sprayed the bottle and jumped in, thinking of Tevessa and his annoying garnet-crystal eyes.