I watched Azazel as he vanished below the platform, followed by his two slithering lapdogs. I couldn’t do anything to stop them from inside this sphere, but I did have the Telluris blood oath on my side. I needed a few moments to regain my calm, as rage had made me see red in Azazel’s presence.

I took deep breaths. The liquid filled my lungs without drowning me—a peculiar sensation to say the least, but at least I was conscious for now.

“Telluris Serena,” I muttered, gritting my teeth and looking at Aida and Vita.

Aida briefly explained to Vita what the spell was about, while I began to hear Serena’s hopeful voice in my head.

“Phoenix?”

“Hey, Sis,” I said. “I’m alive. So is Aida. We’re on the platform, bubbled up with Vita.”

“Oh, God,” I heard her gasp. “Are you okay?”

“We’re okay, mostly. Azazel has us locked in these glass spheres like the other Oracles. The liquid lets us breathe. It’s pretty weird. He said it can also drown us if he chooses. He’s holding that over our heads in case we don’t comply.”

“What happened to Vita and Bijarki?” she asked.

I filled her in on how they had gotten caught by Azazel, before Vita interjected, “But we did manage to warn Nova about Azazel’s intentions!”

“Vita says the little Daughter knows about Azazel’s intentions,” I repeated to Serena. “Chances are she’s not that willing to stay anymore.”

I looked at Vita, and she nodded her confirmation.

“He probably has to sedate her or something, and he won’t be keeping her in the same room again, either,” Vita added.

I relayed Vita’s message to Serena.

“How about you? How are you guys holding up? What about Bijarki? Do you remember what happened?” My sister bombarded me with questions, as was expected.

“Well, we definitely remember what happened, and we’re stuck here. We can’t get out,” I explained briefly. “Azazel’s holding Bijarki in the dungeons, has promised to punish him, and is threatening to torture him to death unless we tell him what our visions show. And I’m pretty sure two of our shifters followed us here, but I don’t know where they are right now. Not sure how they could help us, either. The spheres have been sealed by Azazel.”

It took Serena a few moments to digest the information.

“Listen, at least you’re all together, despite these horrible circumstances. I need you all to hang in there. We’re coming for you tomorrow,” she said, making my heart pump faster. “Draven and the Druids are getting ready, and the allies are in position and waiting for our signal. Jovi will be the first one to land in Luceria as per our plan B, provided the shifters he takes with him play their parts. Our first objective is to get the Daughter out of there. Then Field will send the signal out. The Dearghs will proceed as planned and put the volcanoes to sleep. And then the siege will begin. We’ll come in separately and head straight for you guys!”

“You make it sound so easy.” I couldn’t help but chuckle.

My inability to fight my way out of there gave me the pause I needed to just look at the bigger picture. We had an impressive amount of work cut out for us, and none of us Shadians had ever experienced anything like this before, not even during GASP training simulations.

“Well, it beats stressing over it from top to bottom, don’t you think, Bro?” she quipped.

I heard her voice tremble. She was worried, and I knew it, but she did a fine job of keeping herself together. My sister was capable of moving mountains with a straight face if she had to—except that sometimes, even she wasn’t aware of it. I hated to admit it, but this strange land of Eritopia had changed her for the better in more ways than one.

“So, I’ll see you in the morning, then?” I asked with a half-smile, looking at Vita and Aida’s hopeful expressions.

“Yeah, just don’t bother with coffee and croissants,” she replied. “We’re skipping breakfast.”

I stifled a chuckle, feeling energized by her wit and ability to make light of what was, without a doubt, our worst predicament to date. We couldn’t afford to despair, anyway. It was exactly what Azazel would want.

And I was in no way ready to give that bastard anything he wanted, not even my grief.