Page 13 of Obsidian Dream

“How complicated?”

“It doesn’t always work.”Talik answered.He had seen Rieka try to call forth the flame, a power that had only been recently activated, but so far it had only worked once.When they had faced the serpopards and the wayfarers.

Sypha stared off into the distance before they turned back to face him.A smile etched on their lips.“Do you remember when we met?”

Talik scoffed.He hadn’t thought about it in centuries.“You threw a bucket of water on me, then proceeded to follow it with a second one because, I quote, ‘The first one didn’t work,’ if I remember correctly.”

“You stunk.”

It had not been a great moment in his life.Reaching rock bottom, not wanting to crawl out of the self-imposed hell but to dig deeper and wallow further within—it had been all he wanted to do.His entire world had fallen apart, disintegrated into atoms, until he hadn’t known why he was alive anymore.Every breath had been agony, a knife to his beating heart, and a reminder of what he had lost.Trying to drink himself into oblivion hadn’t worked out how he had wanted.He would have welcomed death with open arms, except Sypha had shown up.They had been half gone themselves.Both of them had been a sorry sight to behold, but somehow, they had dragged each other up to some semblance of normalcy.“I hadn’t bathed in months.”

Sypha wrinkled their nose.“It was apparent.”

He waited.Sypha was not nostalgic unless it suited them, or if they had a point to prove.

“You can go.Find Khalida,” Sypha ordered.“Dante and Rieka will be here soon.”

Talik paused.

“Go,” Sypha repeated.“The past does not define our future.There are endless possibilities.

“You are not being helpful.”

Sypha snorted.“I’m not supposed to be.”

Great.Sypha was back to being cryptic.Sometimes, he was pretty sure they purposefully spoke like a fortune cookie because they knew it drove him bonkers.

“And the relic?”

Sypha shrugged.“I don’t know what it is.The image was distorted, as if it was underwater, and I was looking through ice.”

“Is there anything else I should be aware of?”Talik asked cautiously, aware that he shouldn’t push Sypha.The seer was in a fragile position and highly vulnerable.In Sypha’s current mental state, they likely were still trying to distinguish between what was their reality and what memories belonged to Idris.Pushing too hard could break them.And if that occurred, he would never forgive himself.He didn’t want to be responsible for another life.

“Wear body armor.”

Talik was taken aback.“Is Khalida going to stab me?”He looked up at the sterile white ceiling and counted to ten.“Getting blood out of my clothing is an expensive endeavor.”

And time-consuming.His tailor would have a panic attack if he requested an entire new wardrobe.Damn Italians.

Sypha smiled at him as they closed their eyes, settling back into the bed.“When you search the catacombs, make sure you have something that is made from iron.”

For what?He wanted to demand, but Sypha was already asleep.Damn seers!

Forgotten tongues.Ancient gods.And a potential stabbing.The hits just kept coming this week, and he hadn’t had a drink in over twenty hours.

He did not get paid enough for this.

***

KHALIDA

Khalida waited forTalik outside of the room.

Giving him space to talk to Sypha allowed her to have time to compose herself.She smoothed her sleeve, pulling the material until it covered the mark on her wrist.Not that she would ever forget it existed.In the silence, she could remind herself that she was supposed to be apathetic toward Talik.Hate was far too strong a word to describe the way her heart raced when he was near, or the stupid fluttering she felt when he smiled.

She turned her focus to Sypha, not entirely trusting them.The seer may have been in a comatose state for the last twenty-four hours, but Khalida wasn’t naïve enough to think that would stop them from scheming.

Being a pawn in a game she didn’t know the rules to or have any inkling on how to play was not something she took kindly to.Khalida had observed it over the centuries as an outsider.Sypha casually manipulated the situation around them until certain plays were seemingly guaranteed to happen, often when Dante could take full advantage of the situation.