Shadows swarm Vespera as she slowly descends onto the platform beneath her. As her feet touched the platform, the shadows vanished from around her. Darkness surrounded the platform, and the only thing in Vespera's line of sight was an empty black throne chair at the edge. Looking around, she couldn't see anything. The air was cold as it whooshed by her, gently caressing her skin. The wind caused her to shiver. Rubbing her arms gently to keep warm, Vespera slowly began to walk towards the empty throne.

     As she walked, she felt as if there were eyes watching her. Quick glances around her kept her point proven that she was all alone in the abyss. Knowing that she was all alone, Vespera couldn't tell if that should bring her ease or concern. The wind still caressing her skin was now getting colder. It felt as if needles were pricking her skin the closer she got to the throne.

     Vespera's journey toward the throne came to an end as she stood in front of what now seemed to be shadows swarming a dark red throne with black detailing. The wind became almost unbearable as it stung her skin even more than before.

"Sit, child." A loud, booming deep voice said to Vespera, causing her to jump at the sudden loud noise.

     Her heart beating fast, Vespera gulped and took a deep breath. The feeling of Vespera's heart pounding heavily in her chest reminded her that she was still alive, but she felt as if she was not. The wind felt as if it was circling around her, almost like how the shadows were when she was descending from the sky. Vespera took her first step onto the three-step staircase that lead to the throne. Her ears rung with a slight vibrating noise. Step two, the ringing became louder. Almost seeming to cause a slight tickle inside of her ears. The wind seemed to be closing in on her. Step three, the ringing became absolutely unbearable. The wind moved closer, causing Vespera to gasp. She felt the air from her lungs escaping her.

     She collapsed to the floor. The throne was in arms reach, but her chest was tightening from the lack of air in her lungs that the wind was still trying to pull out. The wind pierced through her skin causing redness and in some places the skin had already begun to crack from being so dried out. It felt as if barbed wire had been attached to her and it was continuously scratching her skin. Her hair flying all over her face, she could barely see the throne anymore. Vespera reached out one last time and grabbed one of the legs of the throne. Wincing from the pain, she pulled herself closer to the throne. Picking herself up using the throne for leverage, she turned and stared at the darkness that she had once came from, and sat in the throne.

     Once Vespera sat down, the wind pulsated away from her as if it was expelled from her powerfully causing waves in the atmosphere. Her back had instinctively arched for a second as it happened, and then she stared forward. Her head was slightly hanging, and her arms still on the arm rests of the throne chair. The ringing had suddenly stopped. On the ground, hundreds of people were bowing to her with their foreheads placed upon the ground and their arms outstretched in front of them. In front of her stood a tall, shadowy figure that seemed as if it was 10 feet tall. The figure was cloaked, and its red eyes were peering into Vespera's.

"This will be your destiny." The figure said in that loud, booming deep voice that haunted Vespera earlier.

Vespera shook her head weakly, head still hanging. "I don't want it." She said in a raspy whisper, still peering into the figure's eyes.

The figure laughed, causing the platform to shake a bit. "You don't get that choice." It said.

     Suddenly, all of the people who were once bowing now sat up in a back-straight position. Their eye sockets were empty with nothing but darkness inside. Blank faced and decaying, they all stared at Vespera. Her heart rate was speeding back up again. She looked back at the shadowy figure.

"Tell me what my purpose is." She demanded, still trying to get air to fill her lungs.

The shadowy figure just laughed, and then it snapped its fingers underneath its cloak. All of a sudden, everything went dark.

•••

     The smell of food being cooked filled Vespera's nostrils when she finally came to. Slowly opening her eyes so that she could adjust to the bright light entering her bedroom, she glanced around. Everything looked normal. She grabbed at her blankets in her palms. Everything felt real. She released a breath that she had not realized she had been holding.

"It was just that dream again." Vespera said to herself underneath her breath. She let out another deep breath and stared at the ceiling to try and calm herself down.

She looked at her phone on her nightstand. "Eight thirty in the morning on August 20th." She chuckled. "It was only eight hours, but the dream always feels like it lasts for days."

She put her phone down on her chest.

"Vespera!" Fredrick yelled from downstairs. "It is breakfast time!"

"Coming!" Vespera attempted to yell back, but her morning voice caused her to have some voice cracks.

She threw the covers off of her and quickly got changed into some everyday wear. She did her regular morning routine, and then headed down the stairs to meet up with Fredrick.

     Coming down the stairs, the scent of bacon and eggs became stronger. Vespera turned to head toward the kitchen using the stair banister to help swing herself in that direction using her momentum. Walking into the kitchen, she spotted Fredrick putting the finishing touches on her breakfast plate. Vespera sat down at the table.

"Good mornin', sleepy head!" Fredrick said with a happy tone in his voice.

"Good morning, Fred." Vespera replied with a smile on her face. "I bet it's such a beautiful day out today from the looks of all the sunlight pouring into my room."

Fredrick laughs. "It sure is! That is why I'm in such a good mood today! And on top of that..." Fredrick turned from the stove to face Vespera sitting at the table. He put her plate full of bacon and eggs in front of her. "It is a good day to teach you something new."

"You're going to teach me something new today?!" Vespera said in shock, yet full of excitement.

"Yes! It seems that you are ready to learn something new." Fredrick said. He sat down across from Vespera with his own plate of breakfast. "You did say that you were finally able to accomplish scrying, correct?"

Vespera with her mouth full of eggs nodded her head.

"We will definitely have to talk more about that experience when we finish our breakfast." Fredrick said. He began to eat his breakfast while Vespera was already halfway through consuming her own.

     Once they finished their breakfast, they headed into Vespera's bedroom. Sitting in the same positions that they sat in the day before, they began their tutoring session.

"Alright," Fredrick said while opening up his notebook. "Begin the scrying."

Vespera nodded. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the idea of scrying. She tried to reimagine what she had felt while she was hiding in the chief's office to try and replicate that feeling inside of herself again.

"Whenever you are ready." Fredrick said.

Vespera suddenly felt light and as the darkness slowly dissolved, her bedroom came into view as if she were looking down from the ceiling.

"I'm doing it!" Vespera said out loud with excitement in her voice. She kept her concentration so that she could remain scrying.

"Good, good!" Fredrick said with a smile on his face. He clicked his pen and began to make movements behind the notebook. Vespera could only hear the sound of the pen running along the paper. After a minute or two, Fredrick placed his pen behind his ear. "Tell me what I just drew."

Vespera nodded her head. She concentrated again like how she did in the chief's office, and she was able to slowly make her way behind Fredrick. She gently floated above his shoulder. Greeting her inside of the notebook was a very detailed drawing of a hummingbird.

"Wow, Fred." Vespera said in awe. "I didn't know you were that amazing of an artist." She ended her scry and looked at Fredrick. "You drew that hummingbird in two minutes?"

Fredrick smiled. "Practice makes perfect, V." He pushed himself off of Vespera's bed and walked towards her. "Like you experienced just now."

He placed his hand on his shoulder. "I am very proud of you, V. You are learning so much." He patted her shoulder and then sat back down on her bed.

Vespera grew a wide smile. She looked down to try and hide the smile behind her long black hair, but Fredrick had already saw it. With her head hidden behind her hair and all she could see was darkness, it reminded her of how she felt during the dream.

"I...had that dream again..." Vespera said hesitantly.

Fredrick raised one of his eyebrows and leaned forward. "About the throne room?"

Vespera nodded.

Fredrick grew a concerned look on his face. "That's the fourth time this month..."

"I know." She said. A moment of silence passed. "I'm worried about it too." Vespera finally spoke. "I have no idea what it means, and it seems to be on a loop."

"Don't worry, V." Fredrick said confidently. "We will figure it out one at a time."

Fredrick and Vespera sat in silence for a bit longer before Fredrick broke the silence.

"Now is the moment you have been waiting for." He spoke.

He gathered some items that he brought with him and placed them on the floor: one bowl filled with salt, another filled with sugar, another bowl filled with water, and another filled with dirt. He placed them in a circle, and then looked up at Vespera.

"Come," he said while he motioned Vespera his way. "Sit in the center of the circle."

Vespera slowly stood up from her chair and sat cross-legged on the floor facing the bed.

Fredrick sat back down on the bed. "Close your eyes, and tell me what you see."

Vespera did just as he told her and closed her eyes once more. Relaxing and taking deep breaths, she tried to see if she could make anything out that was worthy enough to tell Fredrick about. Nothing except colored dots filled the darkness behind her eyelids. She started to smell something burning.

"...burning sage?" Vespera asked while taking one more big whiff.

"Shh, girl." Fredrick said softly. "Don't break the concentration."

Vespera continued to concentrate, but all she could see was darkness.

"Nothing's coming to me, Fredrick." Vespera said, clearly frustrated.

She opened her eyes and left the circle.

"Girl, what are you doing?!" Fredrick said. His eyes were wide with disappointment and shock.

"I couldn't see anything." Vespera said. As she paced back and forth from one side of her small room to the other, she kept squeezing her own hands. "It's like they don't want me to know the type of magic I wield, and I'm just getting so frustrated trying to work with them when they won't work with me!" Vespera walked over to her bed, flopped onto her back next to Fredrick and stared at the ceiling.

"The Gods work in many ways." Fredrick said calmly. "Maybe they are just busy-."

"Busy?!" Vespera said irritably. "So you're telling me that they have time for all of those students at Whitlock Academy, but not for me?"

The room grew quiet.

"I think it is time for me to go home for the day." Fredrick spoke. He packed up the items on the floor, and began to walk out of Vespera's room.

"Wait Fredrick," she spoke as she sat up on the bed. "I didn't mean to put out that type of negative energy."

Fredrick stopped and turned his head to look at Vespera. "Until that overcast above your noggin has passed, then we can't attempt to learn the truth. I say we take a break and start again tomorrow."

Fredrick turned his head back to the door and left. Vespera stared at the door for a bit as she listened to Fredrick leave her home. Her mind and facial expressions went blank. Her chest felt heavy. She laid back down on her bed and looked at her phone.

"12 o'clock in the afternoon." She sighed deeply and placed her phone beside her. "I couldn't even finish the remaining four hours of my tutoring." She scoffed. "I'm such a failure."

Turning over, Vespera attempted to take a nap. Struggling to find sleep, she opened her eyes and turned to face the wall. Suddenly, a puzzled look crossed her face. The wall she never paid too much attention to looked like there had been a hole in it that had been covered up.

"Huh...that's weird." Vespera said as she began to sit up.

She knocked on the odd part of the wall and it echoed more than the rest of the wall. Curious, she punched the weak spot of the wall. After a couple of tries and her knuckles beginning to get sore, Vespera managed to break through the wall. She peered into the wall and saw something hidden inside. She reached her hand in and pulled out a dusty small polished cherry wood box. She opened it to find a medium sized onyx jewel necklace inside and a note addressed to her. As she pulled the note out, on the front flap it said "Vespera, if anything were to ever happen to us I hope that you are smart enough to discover this..."

"...mom's handwriting?" Vespera said in a disbelief whisper.