Sample Sunday: Fire in the Blood

Good Sunday Morning! It's time for the next installment of Fire in the Blood. Last week, Haley learned that her dreams are really messages from the nature gods. Today, she overhears some devastating news about Tuggin...his secrets are starting to come out.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER NINE

The next morning, a tray of fruit and nuts sat on my nightstand untouched. Dinner the night before had sucked, with everyone staring at me and whispering. And then I’d had to apologize to Adrana for ripping her dress. I groaned and shoved my head under my pillow.

I couldn’t breathe, so I lifted a corner to get a little air—not only for my lungs but for my head, too. I felt bad for the people here, but did I care enough to get involved in a war that had nothing to do with me? And those stones of power…I couldn’t stop thinking about them. Couldn’t stop thinking what it would feel like to have power. Couldn’t stop thinking about finding them and using them to go home.

A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. I peeked from my pillow when Adrana poked her head into the room.

Adrana said, “I shall show you our city, would you like?”

“Sure. Is it far?”

Adrana chuckled. “Non.”

“And ‘non’ means…”

“Please my forgiveness. This means ‘no.’”

“Tuggin says ‘net’.”

“Ah, that is true, is it not? All tribes speak their own tongue, but we all use the shared tongue. To understand? As do you.”

“I see.”

Adrana took me along the balcony above the room where Tuggin and I had first come in. She pointed down. “That is the Great Room.”

Instead of heading for the stairs leading up from the Great Room, we turned right. While we walked, Adrana pointed to wall hangings of rivers, lakes, oceans, and waterfalls.

“These hangings represent Lak ‘Neynu, yes?”

“What’s that?”

“Lak ‘Neynu means Region of Water. Given Hall is a border city between two laks, yes? Neynu and Nurr.”

“What region is Nurr?”

“Air. Lak ‘Nurr is your home, yes? Sabina rests in the mountains of Lak ‘Nurr.”

My step faltered at the mention of my home. I hadn’t considered where I might have lived if I’d stayed on Eyidora. “I was born in Sabina?”

“Yes, as was Tuggin.”

“Seriously? We come from the same town?”

“Yes.” Adrana pushed open a thick, wooden door. “There are four laks to represent the Eyids. There is also Heika, meaning land, and Toom, meaning fire, yes?”

Adrana led me down tunnels where we passed rooms with people arguing, women making baskets, and even classrooms. It seemed half the people wore tacky purple robes.

We trudged up a staircase that twisted high into the rock. At the top, I followed Adrana through a narrow passage toward the muffled sound of a crowd. As we neared the end of the hall, it grew wider and the noise got louder. We spilled out onto a balcony, and I gasped. The room below was so big it made the Great Room look dinky.

“Here is the market,” Adrana said.

“This is awesome. Who’d ever know that a whole city was inside this mountain?”

“It is a great stronghold, is it not? I fear that even this sanctuary will not withhold the coming storm.”

I frowned while I checked out the shoppers. Stony faces peered out from stalls of baskets, pottery, clothes, and food. The food baskets were half empty: dried fish, breads, nuts, and wrinkled fruit and vegetables. I watched two old ladies argue over a skinny fish. The fish lady, a leather-faced woman with sunken cheeks, picked at her teeth.

“No one seems very happy,” I said.

“There is drought. Finding food is difficult.”

“It was pouring rain yesterday, and there was a ton of food at dinner.”

“That is so, but we need many moon cycles of rain to fill our water cisterns. The lakes and rivers, they do not rise, yes?” She dipped her head toward me. “Our pantries do not willingly give of their fare.”

I studied the people with their tattered clothes, slumped shoulders, and who looked as skinny as that fish. I murmured, “The Fire Eyid’s descendant really is killing this globe.”

Adrana gasped. “What have the Eyids told you?”

Whoopsy. My conversations with the Eyids were going to be my secret for now. I sucked my lips between my teeth.

Adrana shook her head. “The great ones always know when to stay silent, yes? I understand why you are paired with Tuggin.”

I halted, unable to stop a snort exploding from the back of my throat. “I’m not paired with Tuggin.” I felt a funny twist in my stomach, and part of me—a sick part—wished it was true. I squashed that part down because it was just a random, temporarily insane thought. “He forced me to come here, there was no pairing involved. Why would you even think that?”

“Tuggin is not a typical Eyidoran as well.”

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t help asking, “What’s so special about him?”

Adrana stopped at a fruit stall. She picked some wrinkled apples, and then turned to me while the vendor put them in a bag. “Tuggin has a sister-mate.”

I searched through the apples, trying to find one that wasn’t so wrinkled. Adrana took her bag from the vendor and handed him some dull, yellow coins.

I’d forgotten about the paying part. I set the apple back down. “What are those?”

Adrana handed me a coin. “Eyidoran currency. These yellow coins are heken.”

The coin had a funny marking on it—four little circles in a weird comma-shaped formation. “How much is it worth?” I handed it back.

Adrana held up a blue coin. “Five nenu equal one heken. Five heken equal one toma,” holding up an amber coin, “and five toman equal one nura, yes?” She waved a silver coin and dropped it back in her pouch.

I said, “I see,” and then bounced back to the subject of Tuggin. “What’s a sister-mate?”

Adrana continued to stroll through the market. “Tuggin and his sister were born together, do you understand?”

“Twins?”

“Yes. Tuggin’s sister-mate is called Elana. It is very rare, is it not?”

“I knew someone named Elana on Earth. Elana Sorba. Isn’t that weird?”

“Elana is Tuggin Sorba’s sister-mate.”

I grabbed Adrana’s arm. “No way. She can’t be Tuggin’s sister.”

“Why not?”

Tuggin told me his family was dead. As in not living dead. As in not breathing dead. As in I’m-going-to-kill-him-for-lying dead. “We can’t be talking about the same girl.”

“Tuggin’s sister-mate on Earth. Elana Sorba.”

“What’s she doing there? Does she know she’s Eyidoran?”

“I do not know much. Tuggin does not impart information freely, yes?”

“Tell me about it.”

Adrana giggled. “I only know these things from listening to Tuggin and my o’ma speaking, yes? Through a door.”

I checked out a basket, brushing my fingers over the rough surface. “It doesn’t matter, because Tuggin hates me.”

“Hmm,” Adrana said.

That sick part of me wanted to hear Adrana say that Tuggin liked me. “We’re not together.”

“Hmm.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. What was wrong with me? Tuggin was an ass, I didn’t care whether he liked me or not. I’d wasted enough time following Snarky Boy around. I had to escape so I could get my butt home and find Mom. Adrana was small; I could probably take her out and make a run for it. No, I’d tried running before and failed. I had to be sneaky, check out the place and plan an escape.

“I think I’ll go to my room for a while,” I said. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“You need me to show you the way, do you not?”

Was she supposed to spy on me? “That’s okay. I think I can find it.”

Adrana gave a wave then disappeared into the crowd. I headed up the stairs. At the top, I couldn’t remember if we’d come from the left or right. Most people seemed to be going left, so I picked out a safe-looking person to follow, a woman in a purple robe carrying books.

I followed her until we were the only ones in the hall. She disappeared through a door, and I peeked inside. A library.

I breathed in the smell of dust, books, and leather. This wasn’t like the library at home. The ceiling was at least two stories high, with shelves crammed with books. Intersecting aisles of more books blocked my view of the room. Long, skinny ladders climbed to the highest shelves.

I wandered between the rows, gazing at the titles, but they were written in a language I couldn’t read. I pulled one off a shelf. It had a red leather cover with gold lettering. I ran my fingers over the markings on the top, the same markings that were on the coins: four circles in a comma formation.

“You have permission papers, yes?” croaked someone behind me.

I whirled to face a man with a raisin-shriveled face. He was mostly bald, but that didn’t seem to stop the gray hair in his nose and ears from growing, and it didn’t hide the black bead earring he had in each ear. His arms seemed to be lost inside his purple robe.

I shifted from one foot to the other. “I need to ask before coming in?”

“Yes. This is the Records Room. Permission is required.”

I bit my lip. “Sorry. I’ll go.”

“Wait.” He studied me while he rubbed his chin then grinned. “You are the strange one, yes? The visitor.”

I stiffened. Then I crossed my arms. He glanced at the book in my hand.

“Honest, I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to be in here, and I wasn’t trying to steal it.”

“Permission granted.”

The tension in my shoulders melted.

He took the book from me and stroked the cover. “You know the Tamoorian tongue?”

“No.”

“Ah, Eyidora’s Histories and Legends. Interesting choice. You know of the Legend of Truhaan, yes?”

“No.”

“Old Piel will help, yes? This book speaks of the legendary savior who will bring harmony back to Eyidora.” He flipped through the pages then read out loud:

“Gathering strangers of two globes born,

come together with the truhaan dawn.

Who sees through the dark with many eyes,

To amass Eyids’ force, on truhaan’s rise?”

Piel studied me. I studied him. He raised his eyebrows.

“Wait,” I said, and I instinctively touched my necklace through my shirt. “You don’t think…that I…”

Piel shrugged. “What does old Piel know?”

“Apparently not much, if you think I’m the stuff legends are made of.”

Piel laughed and put the book back on the shelf before shuffling off. “Take care you do not lose what is precious to you, Haley,” he called over his shoulder before vanishing around a corner.

The people on this world were insane. Shaking my head, I made tracks out of the library. I rambled up and down halls, looking for something familiar.

Gathering a massive sigh, I leaned against the wall. Muffled voices echoed from the other end of the hall. Then someone spit out my name like a piece gum that had lost its taste. I crept down the hall and stopped outside a slightly open door. Enja’s voice came from inside.

“The Legend of Truhaan tells us of the one.”

“What would the Eny have me do?” Tuggin asked.

I felt a tickle in my nose. I pushed my tongue against the roof of my mouth.

“You know of our plans, yes? Legend speaks of Quadralune. Quadralune befalls us in two more phases. We must neutralize her.”

Tuggin’s voice drifted back and forth, as if he were pacing. “Who do you mean?”

The tickle grew stronger. I pinched my nose closed and held my breath.

“You are not focused,” Enja snapped.

Silence, and then, “Tenya?”

Hey. I was tenya. He’d better stop calling me that or I’d smack him.

“Yes, Tuggin. She is a Seer.”

Tuggin muttered, “Jahme!” Then let loose a string of words I couldn’t understand, though by his tone it sounded like a lot of swearing.

Enja scolded him like a little kid. “Lanu! Think this through.”

“She is weak. She is Earth-kin.”

I clenched my jaw. What an ass.

“She is Eyidoran.”

Tuggin said, “The Eny should focus on her missing brother. Perhaps he is already dead, which would bode well for the Eny.”

I clapped my hand over my mouth, leaning my cheek against the cold wall. Freaking shit! I had a brother? A brother?! Enja started talking again. I pushed the thought out of the way so I could focus on what they were saying, vowing to kick Tuggin’s lying ass.

“Non, we must focus on her. Your task is well laid. If she is the one, she must be neutralized. You have your assignment. Do not fail.”

“Haley is not the one. The Eny should not waste effort on her.”

There was a drawn out silence, and I wondered what was going on in there.

Enja said, “Do you have emotions for this girl?”

Tuggin laughed, but the sound was dead. “I have no emotion. I have been trained well.”

“Drop your shield.”

I’d never seen Tuggin carry a shield. Were they about to fight?

“The girl is a distraction. It is imperative you meet with the Mavens, today, yes?” said Enja after a very long silence.

“As you wish.” Tuggin sounded as if he were speaking through clenched teeth.

“Very good. You will do as ordered, yes?”

“As always.” Then he murmured so low I had to strain to hear, “Haley is alone, and there is none to mourn her when she does not survive.”

I had to stifle the gag bursting from my throat. I tiptoed down the hall then bolted. I skidded around a corner, falling and scraping my knee. I ignored the pain and jumped down the steps two at a time. When I reached the Great Room I collapsed on the stairs.

I sucked in large amounts of air through my teeth, willing myself not to puke. Yeah, Tuggin could be a tool, and he’d kidnapped me and lied to me and tied me up, but he’d also saved my life…twice. Had he just been ordered to kill me? Why?

            I was jetting this place. Now. I was halfway down the stairs when I stumbled to a halt. The doors to the Great Room were guarded by two guys that were totally jacked, their muscles desperately trying to pop the seams in their purple vests, which were sharply bright against black leggings. The guards’ clothes may have brought on a chuckle; their sharp swords didn’t.

I got Spammed!

Hey my pretties, I have a migraine today, so not doing too much on the computer but...

Yeah, I got spammed. Who knew? A spammer left a comment on one of my posts, from India no less. Selling, oh, I forget, iron or something? While blogger does have a spam-wall, one got through. I'm not complaining though...who knows how many spam comments actually have been blocked from coming through?

So, which begs the question...why would some iron seller spam me? I'm not a manufacturing company, I don't buy iron, I don't work with iron...quite frankly, I could care less about iron. I read books. I write books. And nothing I've read or written has anything to do with iron.

Ah, well, it was easy enough to delete.

Now, back to my migraine.

Cheers!

Book Review: Ghosts of Coronada Bay, by JG Flaherty

Ghosts of Coronada Bay
JG Flaherty

This book is a more edgy YA paranormal. 16 year-old Maya is living a pretty ordinary teen-age life: she has a horny best friend with an over-active libido, deals with the sterotypical mean cheerleaders, and has an over-possessive ex-boyfriend who can't seem to take 'no' for an answer. But there's more to Maya than meets the eye, because not only can she can see ghosts, but her close proximity makes them solid. When a 100 year-old ship is dredged from the bottom of the bay, the explorers bring up more than a ship. They bring up a band of ghosts, an evil sorcerer, and a dark secret that's been hidden underwater that can destroy the world.

I liked the premise of this story, though the edgy nature is not for younger readers. There's not only the constant references to sex and teenage libidos, but a couple of death scenes that while not overly graphic, might cause some younger readers a few tense moments.

Maya and her best friend, Lucy, are fairly memorable characters and seem to be natural best friends. The cheerleaders are sterotypical in their cruelty, though the basis for their cruelty is never really defined, except the state of Maya's virginity seem to be their main focus. The description of Stuart, Maya's ex-boyfriend, is almost scary in its real-life portrayal.

I had a couple of problems with this book. Maya has known she can see ghosts since an early age, yet she doesn't seem to realize when she's talking to one until it's laid out for her in black and white. It would seem to me that someone who knows about ghosts and who can talk to ghosts, would at least recognize ghosts when she meets them.

The other problem I had with the novel is that, while expertly portrayed, for the first 2/3 of the book, Stuart is a total dick. There's not one redeeming quality to this guy. And because the author uses multiple points of view, you know what he's thinking in his head, and his thoughts aren't redeeming either. Then, suddenly, within a page or 2 toward the end, he changes his ways, helps to save the day, and becomes great friends with Lucy, Maya, and her new ghost friend that, up until then, Stuart has despised. No one changes that fast, especially if the character is not set up for change earlier on. It's just not believable.

I also would have rather seen this book in one point of view. While there were some surprising twists, due to the multiple points of view, the elements of mystery and suspense were missing, and I like to have a little guesswork going when I'm reading a book.

Overall a nice read.

Work, work and more work!

So, now that Fire in the Blood is up and running, I *guess* it's time to start marketing my baby. Currently, I'm working on a book trailer. I never would have thought to do a book trailer 10 years ago, but now it almost seems like a necessity. We'll see how it goes, but let me tell you, it is *not* easy. I haven't had to be this creative since I wrote the damn book. :) I figure once I get that done, creating a poster and some bookmarks will be cake.

I'm readying Racing the Nightmares, my mid-grade novel, for print. I'm on much more solid ground in that department, so that's going fairly well. The cover is finished, but there is a little formatting kink that I didn't have with Fire in the Blood. My lack of techie prowess is showing, but I always figure out these things in the end. Will it take a day or 2? Yup. Will I lose a few more hairs? Yup. Will it get done? Yup.

And I'm finalizing my draft on my new work in progress, Kiss Me Dead, before its transformation into a real novel: first my fabulous critique group will have its way with it, then my new editor (who insists she doesn't mind sloppy seconds) will take a stab (or several stabs) at it in November. A shout out to Katy! I have every hope that we'll like each other and work well together. (titter titter)

But, before I finish all those wonderful projects, it is Monday after all, and now I am off to my day job.

Cheers!

Sample Sunday: Fire in the Blood

Good morning, my pretties! Let's pick up where we left off, shall we? Haley and Tuggin have arrived at Given Hall, where she meets a pretty snarky lady who all but snubs her. Of course, Tuggin is always snubbing Haley so that's no surprise when he continues to ignore her. Things start to ratchet up as Haley discovers something...odd...about herself at Given Hall.

Read on!

CHAPTER EIGHT

I leaned against the railing when I reached the top of the stairs. The muscles in my thighs burned, so I took a minute to catch my breath. Cobwebs wove through the iron chandeliers dangling from the ceiling, with maybe a couple dozen little candles sputtering in each one. I pulled away from the railing and looked down the hall. One of the girls waved to me, so I hurried toward her.

Giggling, the girl led me into a large room. Quilts covered the stone walls and a glass door opened up to a balcony behind a waterfall. I crossed the room to the fireplace and stuck my hands toward the fire. 

“You may wash over there, do you wish?” The girl pointed to a steaming tub.

“Okay.” I glanced around, my teeth chattering. “Where’d Tuggin go?”

She pulled a gold robe from a drawer in a spotted dresser. She dipped her head and hid behind her curtain of dark hair, but not before I saw her blush. “You have known Tuggin long, yes?”

Oh, for crying out loud, was she into Tuggin? “No, we just have this kidnapper-kidnappee kind of thing going on. He’s not much fun, let me tell you.”

The girl giggled, and then laid the robe on the bed and sped from the room without saying another word. I studied the closed door then the bed then the tub. What did I want more? A hot bath, a nap in a real bed, or escape? I debated another minute then grabbed my pack and crept into the hall.

“Going somewhere?” Tuggin leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

“Looking for a bathroom?” My lie turned into a question.

“With your pack?”

“You never know what you might need.”

“Indeed.”

“Yeah, indeed.”

Tuggin approached me the way a tiger closes in on its wounded prey. I backed against the wall, Tuggin stopping only inches from me so that our personal space clashed with a surge of intense heat.

“There is no escape from me.” He raised an eyebrow. “Do you prefer being tied?”

I swallowed, loudly.

“Take your bath and behave like a proper tenya,” he said.

I ground my teeth, but then dashed into my room.

“You suck!”  I blurted, and had the satisfaction of seeing Tuggin’s blank stare before slamming the door in his face.

I heard Tuggin growl on the other side and I flung my backpack at the door. Fine. I’d really wanted a bath anyway. I wiggled out of my dirty clothes and folded myself into the tub. I laid my head back against the rim. My bones soaked up the heat from the water, and my muscles melted. I’d had no idea my body had been so clenched.

I lifted a foot out of the water and pointed my toes. What a mess of broken toenails and red callouses. My pedicure was shot, but at least it matched my disintegrated manicure. I plunked my leg back into the water. Enja seemed like a witch on a queen hall goddess level, and obviously didn’t like me much. The girl seemed a little naïve if she had a thing for snarky Tuggin. Something gnawed my stomach at the thought of them together. It didn’t matter. I didn’t care.

When the water turned cold, I left the tub and slipped on the robe; it felt silky smooth, gliding over my skin, and smelling faintly of flowers. Yawning, I lay on the bed, stretching my arms as though to hug it. My God, a bed! All I girl needed was some bitchin’ clothes and a soft bed and she could be happy.

Watching the dancing flame from the candle on the dresser, I let the sound of the rumbling falls outside sing me to sleep.

*********************

“Haley.”

I stretched. “What?”

“Get up. I want to talk to you.”

My head ached, feeling like I’d eaten a bowl of ice cream too fast. I peered around the room. It was damp, and shadows crept from the walls. Too dark, too cold. I snuggled deeper into my pillow.

“Haley,” the pouty voice insisted. “Come on!”

Groaning, I lifted my head. A woman stood in the waterfall and waved to me. I checked the room then tumbled out of bed and opened the balcony doors.

Her long, blonde hair drifted like silk around her pale face. Her iridescent blue gown merged with the water, so that I couldn’t see where her gown ended and the water started.

“I’m Nala.” Her low voice wavered as though she spoke under water. She smoothed her dress. “Do you like my dress?”

“Uh huh.”

“I like your robe. It’s very pretty.” Nala inspected her image in the glass door. “The waters are disappearing. Did you know?"

I wiped water from my eyes. “I heard something about it.”

Nala smoothed her hair, and then turned her head to study her profile. “The Eyids need harmony for the globes in the planetary chain to survive. When the Eyids fight, it affects nature on all the globes.” She turned to study the other side of her face. “Was nature on Earth affected by us?”

Crazy things were happening on Earth, like ravaging tornado outbreaks, one devastating hurricane after another, out of control wild fires, tsunamis, earth quakes, and global warming.

Nala smiled as if she could read my thoughts. “The Eyids have been at war for thirteen generations, when some of our power-hungry descendants broke the Web and shattered the harmony amongst us. Greedy, vain little brats.” She patted the moss crown on her head. “Do you like my crown?”

I nodded.

“It is pretty, isn’t it?” Nala shifted her crown. “It’s bad enough that Soltar is making life for the rest of us so difficult, but now his descendant wants to take away all the water! Can you believe it? The planetary chain will burn.”

“What about Earth?” I shivered. So much for my warm bath.

Nala stuck out her lower lip. “Well, of course! Earth’s part of the planetary chain. Anyway, everything will be destroyed if the Eyid descendant isn’t stopped. I know Nomer told you about him.”

Cold fear cramped my stomach. I bent over, wrapping my arms around my waist. “I thought that was a dream.”

“It was a dream, silly. How else are we Eyids supposed to talk to you mortals?”

“I’d like to wake up now.”

“It doesn’t matter what you want. How can you be so selfish?” Drops collected on Nala’s lashes. She blinked, and they swept into the mist. “Many generations ago the Eyids had mates and babies.”

Nomer had mentioned something about them having families, but I hadn’t really thought about it. What would the kid of an Eyid be like? A demi-Eyid, like the demi-gods in Greek mythology?

“Eyid descendants have more power and longer life than other Eyidorans, even more than the Mentas.” She slid a glance at me then back to her reflection. “Not as much power as the Eyids, of course.”

“What are Mentas?”

Nala clucked her tongue. “They’re supposed to be protectors, but they’ve become twisted with power and greed. They can persuade your thoughts, and…” She hesitated, sliding a look my way. “There’s more they can do, but they’re not allowed, because being mortal they become addicted to the power.”

“What’s that?”

“I will not talk about it. It’s bad.” She touched my arm, leaving my skin cold and clammy. “Oh! And they can sense emotions, so don’t bother lying to Tuggin.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

Nala rolled her eyes. “Are you even listening to me?” She fiddled with her crown again. “A firestorm is coming, and Eyidora’s growing weak. Something has to be done, before the whole chain falls. Descendants of the Eyids need to rise together and restore harmony to Eyidora.” She splashed her hand through the waterfall. “Did you know?”

“Seriously, I don’t know what you expect me to do about all that.”

Nala pouted then pressed her lips together. Lifting her chin, she placed her fingertips against my temples.

Images burned into my head like a wild slide-show that I couldn’t stop: Eyidora engulfed in a roaring blaze; trees burning like matchsticks; flowers crisped; Mom screaming with her clothes on fire; Elana shriveled like a corpse, her face purple and wrinkled and her eyes bulging. I gagged, and Nala released me.

I sagged against the balcony door. “What the hell was that?”

“A glimpse of your future if you don’t fight to save this globe.”

“I can’t fight this war.”

“Neither can the Eyids. We live in the spirit world, not the mortal world, so you have to do it.”

“But…”

Nala interrupted. “It centers on the fourth truhaan phase, so you must hurry.”

“You mean, like, four moons?”

“Four truhaan. You already have one stone; you must find the others before he does. You must take them to the Caves of Xenia. That’s where harmony is found.”

“Are you out of your freaking mind?”

Nala pursed her lips. “Are you ever rude. I haven’t spoken to a mortal in ages. I’d forgotten how difficult it is. We should’ve known you were too immature to handle this.”

Nausea clenched my gut and my head reeled, but I sputtered, “Hey, watch who you’re calling immature.”

“You don’t have to use that tone with me.”

I leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. Clutching my stomach, I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my forehead on them. “I’m going to puke.”

“Gross. I have much more fun things to do than argue with you anyway.” Nala’s shape shimmered, melting into the falls. Then she evaporated into the mist, her final words trailing after her. “Did you know?”

********************

A rapping noise filled my head. I tried to tell whoever was making the racket to shut the hell up, but my lips felt too heavy to move.

“Haley?”

Someone was knocking on my door. Groaning, I rolled out of bed, landed on the floor, rested on my hands and knees for a minute, and then stumbled across the room to open the door. The same, nameless girl held a green dress.

“It is time for raha. I have brought you clothing.”

“What’s a raha?” I asked, yawning and checking out the girl. She wore a silvery gray dress that draped to the floor. She looked pretty cute.

“The evening fare. Eyids be!” The girl dropped the dress in order to clap her hands over her mouth, looking at me as if she’d just found out I was a serial kitten killer.

“What’s wrong?” I stooped to pick the dress up, an excuse to look away from the girl’s horror-struck face and secretly sniff my arm pit.

“Your eyes.” Her hand muffled her answer. “They are strange, dilated with blue sprinkles. I do not understand.”

I lurched to the mirror and confirmed her words. What the hell? Did I get some freaky Eyidoran disease? Was I going blind?

The girl edged toward me. “It is peculiar, is it not?”

I gripped the dress, wrinkling it in my sweaty hands. “Maybe I’m contagious. I probably shouldn’t go to this raha thing.”

The girl slipped her face behind her hair. “Non, O’ma has ordered your presence. I shall wait for you in the corridor, yes?”

She slipped out of the room. I fumbled with the dress, trying to figure out how the straps were supposed to cross my shoulders and back, and then had to undress to take off my bra because the straps were showing. I hid the herb in my backpack.

Time and again I checked myself in the mirror. My eyes were still dilated with those bluish specs around the edges, but the effect seemed to be fading a bit. I tried to smooth the wrinkles out of my dress, finally gave up, and opened the door.

“Oh,” the girl said.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, looking down. Maybe I had the dress on backwards.

“I will help you, yes?” She pushed me onto the stool in front of the dresser, picking up a black stick.

“What’s your name?” I asked, while she ran the stick over my eyelids.

“Adrana.” Adrana did a bunch of stuff with my face and hair, and then made a clucking noise when she spied my ragged, dirty fingernails. She cleaned and buffed them, and then stepped back and grinned. “There.”

My rain-kinked hair was glossy smooth and pushed back with hair combs with embedded green stones. My eyes looked rounder from the dilation and eyeliner, and my cheeks flushed rose to match my lips.

“Wow. Thanks.”

Adrana nodded, looking pleased. “You look pretty.”

I snort-giggled. “Thanks.”

Adrana swept her hair over her face. “Come. We do not wish to be late.”

When we reached the dining room, I searched the men and women seated in high-backed chairs around a long wooden table. Thin candles flickered in iron chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, casting long shadows that crept into dark corners.

I tripped when I saw Tuggin. His deep blue jacket intensified the blue of his eyes, which were even more noticeable now that he’d tied his hair into a pony tail with a black cord. Gold buttons trailed up his chest to disappear into the soft folds of some kind of white collar-scarf wrapped around his neck.

Wow. I’d never be able to hold a coherent thought when he looked like that. Half of me hoped I could sit next to him; the other half was petrified at the thought.

Adrana pointed to the empty chair next to Tuggin. I stepped carefully so I wouldn’t trip again. I skooched my chair closer to the table then tried sitting up, but the hem of my dress was pinned under a chair leg. Hopping in my seat, I used both hands to lift the chair while I kicked my dress clear. I was pretty sure I heard a faint tearing sound.

“Are you all right, dear?” asked the woman sitting on my other side.

“I’m good.”

I pretended to be interested in my silverware, not relaxing until Tuggin wrenched his gaze from me to talk to Enja, seated at the head of the table. I let myself drop into a daydream. One where Tuggin’s hand grabbed mine under the table; his thumb lightly traced a pattern on my palm; the tickling sensation chased goose bumps up my arm to my neck; he leaned close and whispered, “You are so beautiful”; his warm breath skimmed my ear; trembling waves of heat exploded in my chest, dripping into my stomach, lingering there before traveling further down, melting me…

“Haley?” Tuggin said.

I snapped my head toward him. He looked as if he was waiting for an answer to a question. I stared, wishing I could stop the heat spreading from my neck into my face, and his eyes widened.

“What?” I asked, my face getting even hotter.

“Greetings, Haley,” Enja said. She glanced sharply at Tuggin, who lowered his gaze to his plate.

“Hi,” I said. I had the feeling that I’d made Enja repeat her greeting. I had the feeling that Tuggin, as well as Enja, could read my mind. Was Nala right about that sensory-reading trick?

“You are rested, yes?” Enja asked.

“Yeah, thanks.”

“You have met my daughter, Adrana? Tomorrow she will show you our city.”

“Sure, okay,” I answered.

I pushed around my pale pink shrimp and flaky fish wrapped in wide green leaves. I was sure everything tasted great, but I had that groggy feeling again and wasn’t hungry. The fires blazed, and each time Tuggin brushed against my arm I almost choked. How’d it get so hot? My head started to spin. I felt as though I’d been drugged.

I couldn’t get the images from the dream out of my head, the burning, and the screaming…it had seemed so real. Were my dreams real, on some kind of level? Like when I dreamt about that Nomer guy, and woken up with a scratched face.

I touched my necklace through my shirt. Both Nomer and Nala had talked about those power stones…how many were there? If I found them all, maybe I’d have enough power to jet this insane world and go home.  I rubbed my neck and shifted in my chair.

“Haley, you are well, yes?” asked Enja.

“Yeah, I’m good.” I forced a laugh, searching for something to say, and latched on to the one thought in my head. “I was just thinking about a strange dream I had.”

I was answered by silence. The kind of silence you hear right before a witness screams, “She did it!” in a trial for murder. Whispered rustling broke the silence as everyone shifted in my direction.

Tuggin ran a hand through his hair. “Jahme.”

“You had a dream?” Enja asked.

“Uh huh. I mean, yeah.” I wiped my sweaty palms on my dress.

I flinched when Adrana dropped her fork with a clang. Her eyes looked as though they’d pop out of her head, shoot across the table, and use my face for target practice.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her.

Adrana blurted, “Eyidorans do not dream.”

I leaned back in my chair. “Seriously?”

“Tell me of this dream,” Enja commanded.

“Well, hmm, it was…” My throat was so dry that my voice cracked. I sipped my drink, not sure I should say anything, but not knowing what else to do but answer. “I dreamt that there was a lady in the waterfall, and she, you know, talked to me. No biggy.”

Enja leaned her elbows on the table. “What message did she bring to you?”

I shifted from one butt cheek to the other. “She said something about a firestorm, and four moons. And we, you know, talked about the whole global warming thing.”

“Four moons?” Enja asked, tilting her head.

“I have told you. They are truhaan,” Tuggin murmured.

Enja asked slowly, “You are speaking of the fourth truhaan phase?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I think that’s what she said.”

A serving girl flung a platter of roasted potatoes onto the table and ran out of the room. One potato bounced off the platter and rolled to a stop against Enja’s plate. 

“You’re sure about this no dreaming thing?” I asked.

“There have been dreamers, yes? Seers from ancient days.” Adrana’s gaze swung from me to her mother. “Haley is a Seer.”

“That is absurd.” Tuggin spoke softly, but his face could have been chiseled from granite. “She is tenya.”

I ignored Tuggin, and asked Adrana, “What’s a Seer?”

Enja spoke. “Tales speak of Seers communicating with Eyids in a dreamstate. They were rare, yes? A Seer has not lived on Eyidora in many generations.”

“What does a Seer do?” I wanted to know.

Enja folded her hands in her lap. “A Seer heeds the call of the Eyids. Whether the message is conveyed, and to whom, is a path chosen by the Seer, yes? The entire path of Eyidora depends on what the Seer does.”

There was a ton of stuff I’d been told. There were stones of power that would stop the war, and Nala wanted me to find them and bring them to those caves. Nomer said my necklace was one of them. There was a guy who wanted to steal the water, and he had to be stopped. I didn’t like Enja’s attitude, but she seemed like she was in charge. Then again, knowing something Enja didn’t gave me a twisted sense of satisfaction.

Enja bowed her head when I didn’t say anything. “Have you come to save our globe, Haley Allaire?”

My scalp tingled when Enja lifted her gaze. I had the feeling her next words were meant for me…some kind of warning, or omen.

           “Will you save it…or destroy it?”