The Turquoise Tower (Revenant Wyrd Book 6) by Travis Simmons Page B

tried to think of what Rosalee had looked like with both legs, walking around just the day before; now she wouldn’t walk without a wooden leg ever again.
    Grace closed her eyes against the wash of tears. At least she’s alive, she thought. Rosalee was a spirited woman, likely this wouldn’t even faze her. She’d probably brush it off as just another sign post on the roadmap of her life.
    Why did you have to go out there? she thought to her friends, prone on cots side by side. Why did you have to go see the city?
    But she knew she was being selfish. If she hadn’t been needed in the meeting she likely would have been right beside them, trapped under all the rubble until the Guardians and their crew were able to rescue her.
    If only I’d gotten here sooner, Grace thought, and then scowled. That was absurd. What would she have done? But there was something inside of her, something that had taken residence in her core since her meeting with the Goddess under the twisted oak tree in the field of flowers. She wasn’t completely convinced that she couldn’t have healed Rosalee in some fashion.
    “Moonchild,” that’s what the Goddess had called her. What did it even mean? Grace rolled her eyes. She wasn’t even completely convinced that she believed the dream. It was just a dream, and she’d never had any kind of prophetic ability in the past. But even still, the name called to some distant recess of her mind, speaking to a lifetime before, and many after.
    “Grace?” Dalah said, coming to on the cot next to Rosalee. “We have to warn the Guardians.”
    “What?” Grace dashed away the tears on her withered cheeks, and went to her plump friend’s side.
    “Were you crying? For me?” Dalah asked, a smile playing across her parched lips. Her face was still streaked with dirt; they hadn’t bothered to wash her up after the accident.
    “Don’t be daft,” Grace snorted. “These lamps are damned smoky.”
    Still Dalah smiled.
    “What do we have to warn the Guardians about?” Grace asked as Dalah’s eyes threatened sleep once more.
    “The fallen, she said we wouldn’t make it to Lytoria in time. What did she mean?”
    But Grace didn’t stick around to explain. Her mind was already on the council room as her legs swiftly carried her out of the infirmary.
     

“A verax-acis?” The color drained from Joya’s face even as the words passed her lips. Absentmindedly she touched her mouth, as if she could still feel the ghost of the spasms her face had endured after her last encounter with a verax-acis. “Do you think it’s Beckindal?”
    “Who knows?” Jovian asked. “It could be, but many others escaped from the Ivory City, right?”
    “They are fierce hunters,” Maeven said, taking a seat beside the fire and carving chunks off the roasting rabbits. Cianna handed him plates and he began dishing out equal portions for everyone. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Beckindal.”
    “It made me see things.” Angelica sunk onto the ground beside Joya. “I saw Amber, but it was a nightmare version of her. She was dead, rotting.” She swallowed hard.
    “And how do we know this print you saw of the black shuck wasn’t a conjuring of the verax-acis?” Shelara asked from where she now leaned against the far wall.
    “We don’t,” Jovian told her. “But there are signs that come with the influence of a verax-acis. Mostly dizziness. I don’t remember being dizzy when I saw the print.”
    “It would be best if we were cautious either way. With any luck it’s just the verax-acis playing tricks on us. But we had better prepare for the possibility that we are being stalked by the verax-acis and the black shuck.”
    “And there could be several of them,” Cianna said, handing a plate to Jovian. “Just because the black shuck went away when Arael did, and it was his favorite shape to shift into, doesn’t mean they aren’t pack animals. They travel in groups normally.”
    Maeven nodded his