Anyone’s Crazy Aunt

Book Four of Everyone’s Child

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The world hovers on the brink of change.

With word of the creator goddess’s return spreading like wildfire, every faction on the content gathers to determine who will guide the world’s future. At their head stands Drannor Urilar, the leader of the church and self-proclaimed chosen of the goddess. He brims with ambition and possesses of the tongue of a snake – and he intends to have his way, even if it means twisting Elayith’s message to suit his purpose.

The only faction that can hope to oppose him is the mages, led by Rynwan Samdel. But they have their own desires, including an independent nation that will provide them with self-governance. And they are willing to go to war to win their freedom, if that’s what it takes.

Unbeknownst to the others, a third faction lurks in the shadows. They’ve spent generations observing, but the Watcher order now contemplates stepping into the light to reveal and initiate their ultimate goal. Seri still moves among them – but she must decide if she will at last join the legendary goddess avatar or maintain her stubborn opposition to the goddess’s truth.

The only person with the power to calm and direct this political cascade is Elayith, only daughter of the goddess of creation. For all her life, she’s believed that following the path of her mother’s prophecy would lead to nothing – save the freedom she’s always craved. But now she stands at the end of her journey with more questions than answers and the chilling realization that her pilgrimage was only the beginning.

Because in the midst of all the rest, she must still find a way to fulfill the divine quest her mother set to her!

Seizing control of destiny…
Jaolyn ignored everyone and moved to the central mage tent, which had been erected for Rynwan’s use. Like the monarchs, she was awake late into most nights discussing the looming meeting with her most trusted advisors.

Since he was readily recognized by the sentries set outside, Jaolyn strode into the tent without so much as a request or introduction. He found all the masters of all the schools in attendance, as well as Elayith and Tatrasiel. Crillux was probably curled in a tree branch somewhere above the tent, and Jaolyn suspected he could locate Drungaleth if he looked hard enough.

For the moment, he didn’t bother. Jaolyn strode straight into the center of the circle and set his hands against the wide table around which the gathering hovered. Scrolls had been unrolled and notes had been jotted on parchment scraps – messages that would be run in the morning to other areas of the camp.

Jaolyn noted with some interest the philosophy being discussed, then he offered the Grandmaster a sheepish grin when she narrowed her eyes in his direction.

“What is it, Jaolyn?” she snapped when he offered no response to her glower. “If you hadn’t noticed, we are in the middle of an important discussion.”

For which he could be no use, he read in her tone. He wasn’t, after all, important enough.

Elayith caught Jaolyn’s eyes for a moment and arched her star-studded brows. But Jaolyn offered her no hint of what he was about to do. He simply inhaled slowly and said, “It’s time I confess my sins.”

A sharp gasp escaped Elayith’s lips, but Jaolyn swept on before she could so much as raise a hand to halt him.

“I have performed forbidden magic and communed with a being once sealed by our ancestors,” he declared. And even as he spoke, he felt the shadow awaken within him. It wreathed his face in darkness that spread like a cool blanket down his neck and across his shoulders. He knew his eyes blazed purple because he could see the color shimmer against the parchment lining the table.

“The shadow that graces me now was once an ancient and powerful primordial, designed and summoned by the gods to impart its power to the world. By locking it away in a prison of our own design, we denied the world that power. Now that we stand on the cusp of something greater, we can no longer ignore the harm our ancestors caused when they worked their will upon our world. I offer myself to serve as a liaison to those we have wronged. Only by restoring their power to the world can we weather what’s coming.”

It was a flowery speech – more so than anything Jaolyn had ever said in his life. And by the time he finished speaking, his transformation was complete. He stood before the council wreathed entirely in shadow with tendrils of darkness extending from his back and shoulders – though they faded a few inches beyond his body.

He must have struck an impressive and maybe even imposing figure. He wasn’t sure; for him, this had become shockingly normal.

But for a moment, everyone in the tent stared at him in stunned silence.

It took several minutes before Rynwan could bring her people under control – and only by virtue of the fact that Tatrasiel stepped between Jaolyn and the rest of the gathering with a hand on their sword did he manage to survive those minutes completely unscathed.