➳ Camille

I woke up standing on a bloody battlefield. I looked at my hands. No surprise, they were covered in blood. I had never been in my dreams before. I always watched them like a movie. Now, I was the main character.

I stood up and scanned the scene with smoke stinging my eyes. Lifeless bodies covered the ground. The sky was red and dusty from explosions and blasts of magic. A giant building bore the brunt of the onslaught, metal walls bombarded with flames.

My eyes stopped drifting as they focused on a painfully familiar face. I shivered in fear. My eyes were blurred by tears, but I still could see the face of Anemone's dad. In a state of terrified curiosity, I rushed closer.

Bloody and bruised, his lifeless body laid with sticky black liquid piled on his chest. A shattered bottle beside him.

Petrified, I rushed away, tears streamed down my face. My legs ached as I rushed away from the battlefield, jumping over pieces of rubble. Glass shattered behind me as I rushed away. I whipped my head back to find an ugly goblin throwing vials of dark potions at me with his grubby hands.

I let out a petrified shriek as I felt glass shattered on my back. The potion began to seep into my skin. My movements slowed and I fell to the ground.

"Help!" I cried weakly. An elven soldier looked over at me, but after seeing the damage, he turned away. It was then that I realized the situation was hopeless.

I was going to die and there was nothing I could do.

As I took my final breath, the sound of sobbing filled my head. A moment later, I sat up in my bed to find Anemone on the corner of my bed, crying her eyes out.

"Anemone?" I asked with a yawn. I sighed with relief, pushing back the panic from the dream.

"Father is gone! And William too!" Anemone sobbed. "Mother has already gone to the office, though she made breakfast..."

William was gone? I had only seen his dad leave, but I guess it made sense. He was sixteen and his father was an important figure.

"Let's go eat then," I said after a moment of thought. It would be much easier to talk over a nice, warm bowl of food.

"Shouldn't you get dressed?" Anemone asked, her tears beginning to finally dry. I looked down at my light blue nightgown.

"I'll be fine. Back in Cerevaux I ate breakfast in pajamas all the time."

"Really? Alright then!" Anemone chuckled, earlier worries forgotten. "Let's go."

We walked down a few floors to get to the kitchen. This time, my legs didn't ache. I could already feel them getting a bit more toned.

Anemone quickly told me she hadn't had time to bring it to the dining room. I told her I didn't mind eating it in the kitchen. I left out the fact that I usually always ate in my kitchen back in Cerevaux.

The kitchen was three-fourths the size of my schools' gym. It had finely polished appliances and stain-glass windows depicting a grand feast at the back of the room.

In the center, two small tables stood. Each had two seats. A breakfast of pastries had been placed and fresh fruits had been set in a basket. Sugarsnaps, cherries, winterberries, and frozen strawberries were all available. I took a croissant and a few strawberries.

Anemone plucked a cherry and popped it into her mouth. Her glossed lips moved slowly as she chewed. Once she was finished she politely took another.

I thought about my dream. I wondered if I should tell Anemone. She was already upset... but she could use her psychic abilities to help me. I knew that, if the war really started, it would affect everyone. Especially Anemone and William, who were both people I consider my friends.

"I had another dream," I started hesitantly. I decided to tell her about the dream, but leave out certain details.

"I don't want to talk about it. If your dreams are coming true, then the world will soon be an awful place."

"Exactly. We need to stop that from happening."

"I won't be any help. All I can do is predict the future. And I predict war!" Anemone relapsed into soft sobs, her voice hitching on every other word. "There is nothing we can do to save them. They have to save themselves!"

I wanted to tell her about her dad but I knew she wouldn't want to hear. It would tear her apart. I didn't know what to say, so I stayed silent.

"I'm never going to predict the future again," Anemone mumbled. "I don't want to feel this heavy dread that I do now."

I know she would hate me for it, but I had to tell her. If I didn't, there was no way I could save her dad.

"Your dad is going to die!" I exclaimed quickly. I knew she wouldn't listen if I drew up the fact, so I resolved to say it quickly.

Anemone's eyes widened with shock. "No... He can't..." Anemone mumbled with tears in her eyes. Soon, she became completely still, her eyes closed. Then she began to glow.

She glowed a light purple-blue color and began to float upward. Her eyes flashed open to reveal empty sockets that glowed with the same blue she glowed with.

A moment later, she fell down to her chair, sobbing uncontrollably.

"You were right! Oh, council! Oh, war!" she sobbed. "How could you kill my father? And you!" Anemone turned on me. "How could you tell me! How could you make me suffer like this?"

"You don't have to suffer," I said softly. "And he doesn't have to die. We can save him." I smiled with hope. Anemone, on the other hand, didn't look convinced.

"How? The future is unchangeable!"

"We'll help him escape the council. William too."

Anemone appeared deep in thought for a moment. Her tears ceased and her face turned to hard determination. "We'll need to be much stronger... Follow me." Anemone stood up and walked out of the kitchen, leading me up the stairs.

We walked past my room, past the office, past many many floors. Finally, Anemone stopped at a door on the second to last floor.

"This is the training room," she said, opening the door with valor.

My jaw went slack as I looked around the giant room. The floor was hardwood, with mats in some areas. A closet of armour, weapons, and equipment lined one of the walls. A mirror lined the opposite wall. Combat dummies, rings that hung from the ceiling, a climbing rope, some targets, a balance beam, and much more was scattered around the room.

"You can use any of the weapons. I have never touched more than a bow and arrow, and William only ever used a sword. Father used his magic to destroy his enemies, if you didn't know. Basically, all the weapons are new," Anemone said. Tears still pooled in her eyes, but she managed to hold them at bay.

"I'll use a sword and dagger," I said. There was something about blades that made me feel quick and powerful.

"You'll find them in that closet." Anemone pointed to a nearby closet. "But first, you have to put on some armour. Or, at the very least, an outfit you can work out in. There is a closet over there." She pointed to a different closet.

"Okay." I moved to the closet and swung open the doors. I found three green dresses with leather armour needled to the breast, one green wetsuit, three black bodysuits, a green chestplate with golden swirls, a black leather skirt, and a black cape with a cap. At the bottom of the closet there was a collection of identical black boots. On the other side of the room was another closet which I assumed to be men's armor.

"The green dress with leather armour top is used for training. There are socks in the boots," Anemone said. "You can change in here. I won't look."

I turned and said a quick thanks before grabbing the outfit. I quickly changed and pulled on the boots. Then I remembered there was a mirror facing me. She could see me changing.

I turned around in panic to find Anemone in a small outfit that she must have taken from another closet or something. She was fishing around in a closet on the other side.

I sighed with relief. She wasn't watching at all. Why was I so paranoid about these things?

"Where is my bow..." I heard her mumble as I drew closer. "Oh! Here it is!" She grabbed it and turned to me. Her bow was smaller than most, but the tip was sharp and long. I knew it could cut through flesh.

"There is a sword for you too! Somewhere in there..." Anemone chuckled. "I'm going to the targets. You can try the dummies."

"Okay, but who is supposed to teach me?"

Anemone handed me a steel sword with a leather-wrapped gold hilt. "The sword, of course." She turned on her heel and walked away to the targets. Leaving me both confused and curious.

I walked to the dummies and began to swing my sword. Everytime I did, something jolted through me that made me do something different. Everytime, my posture becomes a bit better or my strikes become more powerful. Soon, the jolts became less frequent; I was learning.

By lunch time, I could decapitate a dummy with a single slice.

Anemone didn't lie: the sword had taught me.