world before. Once Oliver is out, heâll encounter different time states, forces heâs never felt, and we donât want him to be torn apart in the process. Creatures like this centipede have adapted ways to hold their essence together despite the pull of different force parallels.â He slapped Oliver on the back. âItâll keep him whole!â
Oliver wanted to scream. This was not what he needed to make him whole, not by a long shot.
Oliver woke and left the house as quickly as he could Wednesday evening, but only reached the Aurora Bridge before he stopped. He didnât want to go to school, or anywhere else. His arm was still killing him, and a dull ache had spread up through his shoulder to his chest.
Beside him was the giant stone troll sculpture. Oliver climbed up the dirt embankment into the shadows behind its head, listening to see if there were any vampires already in this spot. Bane and his friends Randall and Ty used to hang out here all the time. Run along, Lamb! Bane would have shouted at him. Now the spot was silent, empty.
Oliver fished Baneâs objects from his pocket. He opened the amethyst box and looked at the frozen firefly. âSpeak,â he said softly. âHello? Can you tell me how to be free of all this?â The firefly didnât move.
Oliver closed the box and now examined the other object, the tiny parchment scroll. As he unrolled it, he frowned. It was six inches long and seemed to be full of writing, but most all of the lettering was burned to black and unreadable. It had likely been an enchantment: the kind that could be used only once. Whatever it was, Bane had already done it. Except there was one last line at the bottom of the page that remained unburned. It was written in Skrit, but Oliver wasnât sure of the meaning. He pronounced each symbol aloud, slowly:
âRevelethhâ¦lucenthhâ¦persechhhâ¦â
There was a flash of white light. Oliver squinted, his vision overwhelmed. He heard a faint hiss, like electricity, with soft sparks.
Hey. The apparition had appeared beside him on the dark slope. It was a figure about his height, made of white light edged in silver, and throwing off pale blue sparks. There were impressions of details, like jeans, a sweatshirt, and shaggy hair. It seemed to be a boy, but the face was impossible to see in the blinding bright.
Oliver wanted to shout, Where have you been? but he didnât, because, as had happened before, the apparition made him feel calm. Hey , he thought back at it instead, then asked his question politely, Where have you been?
I have to be summoned , the apparition replied.
Oliver looked down at the scroll. I just did that, didnât I?
Yes.
So, Bane was summoning you? Oliver sifted through his memories and realized that every time heâd seen the apparition, it had been around Bane.
Your brother was the one who brought me here to begin with .
Oliver looked down at the scroll. Youâre part of Baneâs treachery .
Yeah, Iâve heard that. The apparition reached down and touched the amethyst box. And I can help you with this .
Oliver flipped it open.
Watch. The apparition pinched its own forearm with two fingers and pulled a small sphere of swirling white energy free as it had done to give Oliver tears on the night of Baneâs slaying. Oliver thought he felt a sensation of pain from it, as if doing this hurt. It reached over and placed the sphere onto the firefly. The light dissolved into the insect, and suddenly it began to glow pale green, and its wings buzzed to life. The firefly lifted off the felt, and hovered in front of Oliverâs face.
There was a sound of inhaling, like someone struggling to breathe. Hello, Oliver , a female voice said distantly, as if speaking on a distant radio station. But Oliver still knew the voice. Selene.
Say hi back , the apparition urged.
âHi,â Oliver said to the firefly.
Oliver , it whispered faintly, in
Oliver wanted to scream. This was not what he needed to make him whole, not by a long shot.
Oliver woke and left the house as quickly as he could Wednesday evening, but only reached the Aurora Bridge before he stopped. He didnât want to go to school, or anywhere else. His arm was still killing him, and a dull ache had spread up through his shoulder to his chest.
Beside him was the giant stone troll sculpture. Oliver climbed up the dirt embankment into the shadows behind its head, listening to see if there were any vampires already in this spot. Bane and his friends Randall and Ty used to hang out here all the time. Run along, Lamb! Bane would have shouted at him. Now the spot was silent, empty.
Oliver fished Baneâs objects from his pocket. He opened the amethyst box and looked at the frozen firefly. âSpeak,â he said softly. âHello? Can you tell me how to be free of all this?â The firefly didnât move.
Oliver closed the box and now examined the other object, the tiny parchment scroll. As he unrolled it, he frowned. It was six inches long and seemed to be full of writing, but most all of the lettering was burned to black and unreadable. It had likely been an enchantment: the kind that could be used only once. Whatever it was, Bane had already done it. Except there was one last line at the bottom of the page that remained unburned. It was written in Skrit, but Oliver wasnât sure of the meaning. He pronounced each symbol aloud, slowly:
âRevelethhâ¦lucenthhâ¦persechhhâ¦â
There was a flash of white light. Oliver squinted, his vision overwhelmed. He heard a faint hiss, like electricity, with soft sparks.
Hey. The apparition had appeared beside him on the dark slope. It was a figure about his height, made of white light edged in silver, and throwing off pale blue sparks. There were impressions of details, like jeans, a sweatshirt, and shaggy hair. It seemed to be a boy, but the face was impossible to see in the blinding bright.
Oliver wanted to shout, Where have you been? but he didnât, because, as had happened before, the apparition made him feel calm. Hey , he thought back at it instead, then asked his question politely, Where have you been?
I have to be summoned , the apparition replied.
Oliver looked down at the scroll. I just did that, didnât I?
Yes.
So, Bane was summoning you? Oliver sifted through his memories and realized that every time heâd seen the apparition, it had been around Bane.
Your brother was the one who brought me here to begin with .
Oliver looked down at the scroll. Youâre part of Baneâs treachery .
Yeah, Iâve heard that. The apparition reached down and touched the amethyst box. And I can help you with this .
Oliver flipped it open.
Watch. The apparition pinched its own forearm with two fingers and pulled a small sphere of swirling white energy free as it had done to give Oliver tears on the night of Baneâs slaying. Oliver thought he felt a sensation of pain from it, as if doing this hurt. It reached over and placed the sphere onto the firefly. The light dissolved into the insect, and suddenly it began to glow pale green, and its wings buzzed to life. The firefly lifted off the felt, and hovered in front of Oliverâs face.
There was a sound of inhaling, like someone struggling to breathe. Hello, Oliver , a female voice said distantly, as if speaking on a distant radio station. But Oliver still knew the voice. Selene.
Say hi back , the apparition urged.
âHi,â Oliver said to the firefly.
Oliver , it whispered faintly, in
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