“Thom!” Dramin yelled after him, but Thom only waved his hand in farewell.
“Thom!” Dramin tried again, but Thom didn’t even turn to look back. “You great lazy oaf! Get back here!” Dramin yelled loudly but Thom had already disappeared back into the main room where I was sure he was going to take a nap by the fire.
I smiled a bit and Dramin turned to me, joining in before returning my now filled mug back to me.
“Well, what are we going to do now?” I asked, before taking a nice long sip of the Black Water. Yep, I was definitely becoming an alcoholic.
“How about we test your sight?” I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. I knew what he was talking about and honestly I wasn’t interested.
“It’s twenty-twenty thank you very much.” I spoke as brightly as I could before smiling and strolling away, following after Thom. I may have Drak blood, but I did not want to see any of the things the sight could give me.
“What’s twenty-twenty?” Dramin asked obviously not getting the reference.
“My vision.” I provided, but Dramin sighed, his regular smile disappearing a bit.
“I am talking about your sight, Siln?. Not your vision. There is no reason to be scared.”
I froze, but did not turn to face him. I looked up to the large gash I had placed in the stone dome the day before, not wanting to give him an answer. Of course I was scared. I had no interest in reliving my past, let alone seeing the future.
“There is no reason to be scared,” Dramin repeated. “This is simply another step in the process. Without using your sight, you will not be able to summon the Black Water for yourself, and I will not be able to show you the sight that told of your true purpose.”
“That’s not a problem,” I said, turning toward him. “You can come with me and Ilyan, and you can tell me what was said rather than show me.” I smiled brightly, happy when he chuckled – only to have my thoughts of compromise dashed when he began to shake his head.
“I cannot follow you all around the earth while you fight Edmund, Siln?. I am also not going to travel with you on your honeymoon, or always be there when you are injured.”
“Honeymoon?” I said, interrupting him. “Who said anything about a honeymoon?”
“You must call the Black Water on your own,” Dramin continued as if I hadn’t said anything. “And as for the sight, I have to show you.”
“You don’t have to,” I countered, folding my arms and bringing the fur cloak closer around me. I still missed my hoodie.
“I do. I have seen it, Siln?.”
I knew he had me, and I hated it. I needed the Black Water. I could already feel my body calling for more. And as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I did need to know what had been said about me. I turned toward him, keeping the cloak around me tightly.
“Fine,” I said grumpily. “Show me the way.”
Dramin bounced once before turning and walking toward the large opening he had shown me the day before. I followed after him, my body hurting the more I moved. I took a drink as I walked, the Black Water taking away the ache for the moment.
I followed Dramin into the adjoining chamber, this one different from the others. It was the same dome shape, the same raised stone work circling the walls, but no bunks or benches lined the platform. There were odd rune shapes carved into the stone and a portion of the circular room was sunken, but you wouldn’t be able to tell without looking closely. The sunken area was filled right to the top with an unmoving liquid that I could easily recognize as Black Water. Somehow, even though the water did not move, the room was filled with the rippling reflections of waves on a pond.
The rippling light hit against the far wall revealing more carvings, more runes, and delicate glass work that revealed the outside where the blizzard still reigned. The light of day that made it through the blizzard filtered into the space, mixing with the magical shimmers.
I stepped around Dramin to walk around the large cavern. The light ran over my face as I traced the rough carvings with my fingers. I didn’t feel any peaks of my magic or strong sensations of what was going to happen, but I felt comfortable. The terror at seeing into the past or future had ebbed, leaving me with a jittery excitement.
I continued to walk, letting my fingers trace the shapes. I had all but forgotten that Dramin still stood behind me until he spoke.
“The Hall of Sight. This was the last one built and one of the only ones that remain. They can only be built in select places on earth where the magic seeps to the surface, the Black Water bubbling up for our use. While we can use the Black Water at any time, because the Water resides within us, the larger, more important queries always require our sight to be used within this hall. And, many times, more than one Drak must be present.”