Chapter twenty-seven—Listen to the Rain
Rowan, Sierra, and I took the girl to the Order. There, Alhazred greeted us with mere surprise. He glanced at the girl, and ordered us to lay her on a table by his desk.
“Where did you find this girl?” Alhazred asked, deep in his storage room.
“People had found her unconscious back at mainland.” Sierra replied. I noticed that she was holding Rowan’s hand tightly.
Despite their genetics, they looked nothing alike. It was only their petite shape that gave them resemblance.
Alhazred walked out of the room, and stopped to stare at me. I frowned, and looked at Rowan and Sierra. They noticed it too, but they didn’t know why he was staring so strangely.
“What is it?” My heart was racing with my amulet’s pulsing.
“Sierra, Rowan,” Alhazred nodded to them. “I am not in your assistance anymore. You may go.”
They looked as though they wanted to protest, but they just bowed and reluctantly turned to walk out of the area. I began to follow them, until Alhazred spoke again. “Mary, you must stay here.”
I turned my head to stare at him in wonder. “Why is that, professor?”
“We have something to discuss.”
I frowned, and sat by the table the girl was lying on. She was tall and slender, so out of the ordinary. I watched Alhazred as he began to study the girl. “Why did you want me to stay? What could we possibly discuss?”
Alhazred straightened, and put his clawed hands behind his back. “I knew there was something strange about you. I see it in your appearance, your personality, and your amulet.” He nodded to the necklace. I touched it gently. He glanced at the girl. “And I see the same thing with the girl, as well.”
I stared glumly at her, hoping that it isn’t too late for her to be saved.
“She’s not going to die, Mary. Not yet, anyhow.”
For the first time in ages, I did not cry about something so drastic. I just curled up my hands in a ball. “How long?”
“Until she starves in her sleeping state.”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “How do I save her?”
He bore a disappointed look in his eyes. “I don’t know.”
“Oh, by the Fates, why couldn’t I save her?” I put my face in my hands, and sighed. I treasured the darkness.”
“Mary.” Alhazred leaned forwards towards me. “I don’t know what you’re up to. I don’t know what you’re looking for, or how much trouble you could possibly be in. However, I want you to join the Order of the Fang, so you can find what you’re looking for; so that whatever that is connected with this girl and you, won’t happen again.”
I looked up into his golden-green eyes, with pupils like a cats. “You would do that?”
He nodded. “But you must do one thing, first.”
I stood up. “What is it?”
“I want you to walk twenty miles into the desert, and listen to the wind. Become one with nature, and you will truly know what to do.”
This seemed crazy, but I had no choice. I nodded, picked up my canteen, and touched my amulet. I hoped it would help me from the dangers of porting. If not, I was going to have to go through the pain all over again.
I remembered the words that Cyrus Drake- my uncle, bore me. Then, remarkably, I ported.
I ended up in the Oasis. Looking all directions, I headed off for the part of the desert most flat with sand.
I counted each step as I walked the twenty miles. Each step, the sun burned my back and shot pains through my feet.
After a long amount of time walking, I sat down to rest. The Oasis was just a spot, and I felt relief that I could port back. I knew what the Oasis looked like, unlike the desert. That gave me the ability to port.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt a raindrop. I looked at my wrist in shock, watching as the drop of liquid dripped off it, and onto the ground. I looked up. It was only scorching blue sky, with no clouds. I looked back into my hand, and I felt another drop.
What the hell?
All a sudden, it felt like a huge pail of water was dumped over my head. It was raining so hard, that I couldn’t see outside of it. I couldn’t see the sand, Oasis, or the blue sky that shouldn’t even be bearing rain. This may be magic rain.
Then, I heard this kind of music. This kind of song. It was like beautiful whispers, a chorus of angels singing out of the rain drops. It was so mystical; it took me moments to figure out what the words spoke.
“Listen… Listen… Listen…” The chorus of whispery, beautiful voices spoke the word high and low, making it sound like a symphony.
Then more voices rang out of the rain, except they were deeper, richer, and slower. I wondered if they were Angels that the Fates sent down. Could have Alhazred known about this?
“Listen to each drop of raaiin…”
Memorized by their voices, I listened harder. “Whispering secrets in vaaiin.”
Male voices, soft and gorgeous, sung out their “Ahh’s” like in a chorus. It was a musical never before seen heard, in the middle of a rainstorm with no clouds. How could this be possible?
“Frantically searching for someone to hear… Their story before they hit ground…” I stiffened, surprised. It felt like they were singing about me, all a sudden. In a way, it made sense. That was how I felt. Now afraid, I tried to move- but their voices rang out once again.
“Please don’t let go, let you listen for a while?” I stopped and listened.
Then all of the voices, male, female, angelic, and whispery sang, “Listen to the raaiin… AaAh.”
“Listen, Listen, Listen, to the rain weeping…”
Then I heard it. The sobbing. Each raindrop hitting the ground like a tear, and I felt one of my own on my cheek, hot and wet. However, instead of making me feel weaker, I felt stronger.
I stood alone in this magical storm, and then a sweet voice comes out. It was too familiar, too painful to hear-
How could I hear her voice? My heart was pounding. She’s dead.
“Hurry, you haven’t much time…” She sang. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block it out. I felt something slightly tugging at my clothes and hair.
“Open your eyes to the love-around you…” I reluctantly opened my eyes, and I didn’t regret it. I saw warm, beautiful faces in the rain, but there was something else. There was wind all around me, like I was in the middle of a huge tornado. However, it only tugged at my clothes and hair, too gently and safe.
“You may feel you’re alone,” I nodded, my lip shaking.
“But I’m still here with you.” She sang. “You can do what you dare, just remember to listen to the raaiin”
Her voice went soft, and the chorus died down with the rain. It stopped abruptly, and the wind slowly died down enough to see the oasis. I looked around, and there were no wet spots. No sign of it ever raining.
But that wasn’t what gave me the chills.
I had just heard my mother’s voice.
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