Free The Mirror of the Moon (Revenant Wyrd Book 2) by Travis Simmons Page A

fabric and melted it.
    The flames did not stop with the hem, and instead raced with mind-boggling speed up the length of the skirts until even the girls’ hair caught fire.
    With outstretched arms Joya and Amber reached for Angelica and Jovian, but the distance separated them. Instinctively Jovian and Angelica extended their hands as well, to pull them from the fire that blackened their skin, but the space between them that moments ago was so small suddenly became just far enough away that the tips of their fingers could not touch the tips of the shriveling gloves clinging in melting strands to their sister’s blistering hands.
    The two of them tried to look away, but the horror of the vision froze them in place. They were helpless as they watched Joya and Amber cling to one another’s hands, not able to rest themselves from the flames that were inevitably killing them.
    Skin cracked and hair withered as they watched, and soon the red-pink moisture of tissue could be seen through the blackened, peeling fissures in their face and arms. Lips cracked and blood oozed down their faces, but one thing remained: the clear blue of Joya’s eyes, and the feral amber of Amber’s.
    Jovian and Angelica’s attention was drawn lower, to their linked hands which were still gloved, still somehow whole, despite the fact that their other hands were in ruin.
    “Don’t leave me!” Joya cried out in anguish. The pain, they realized, was more than that of physical pain, but also emotional. The two of them looked back up to see the identical opposites of Amber and Joya, now both blackened, seemingly the same form, looking at each other. Silent tears evaporated on Joya’s ruined face, and slowly their hands lost their grip.
    Angelica and Jovian felt their hearts breaking in more ways than the loss of their sisters; they could not explain the pain they felt for they had never before felt its likeness.
    As the flames towered higher, Joya finally released Amber, their once untouched gloved hands now withering in the heat as the rest of them had. Amber was instantly engulfed in angry flames, lost to the unyielding fire.

    With a sudden, pain-filled cry, Angelica and Jovian came back to themselves. The drug and the spirits no longer fogged their minds, yet they still could not think clearly. Somehow they could sense one another more strongly than ever before. Angelica and Jovian were not surprised that this was happening, as their bond had only been growing stronger since they had left the plantation. But still, Jovian was stunned when an answer came from his calming thoughts.
    It’s only a vision, Jovian, it’s only a vision, Jovian told himself, closing his eyes against tears that threatened to seep.
    Grace, who had not partaken in the ceremony, stood at the edge of the firelight, watching the two of them like a vulture. The old lady’s arms were wrapped around herself, keeping the chill of air at bay, and she leaned against a tree as white as the wrappings the elves had given her. The long gray hair (normally bound on top of her head) now cascaded in loose spirals around her shoulders, landing at her waist.
    Grace watched them as if she expected something to happen, expected their reactions to the ceremony to reveal a truth she had guessed at.
    It’s only a vision, Jovian , he repeated, not opening his eyes to see his old teacher watching them. Nonetheless he could sense her watching him, as if he could see her image through other eyes that were not his own. Why did she look at him that way? What did she want? Suddenly all the old malice he had felt for her, all the distrust, came back. Why had she not told them sooner? What did she want? It was obvious that Porillon was using Amber to get to the medallion, but what did Grace want from them? Was she looking for the same thing Porillon was: a way to the medallion?
    She admitted to them all it was general consensus that Sylvie’s children could use the medallion, and she had also told