“Have you ever ridden a horse?” Serena asked.

Of course he hadn’t! He was even further out of his element riding a horse than he was playing baseball. But the look in Midnight’s eyes told him otherwise. Those coal-black eyes were intimidating, with the fierce energy of an untamed beast. But there was kindness and understanding in them too, and a startling intelligence. The horse stomped a powerful front hoof three times within inches of Henry’s feet, then circled away and reared high on his hind legs, braying loudly for all the valley and the world to hear.

“He is telling you that he is yours to command,” Serena explained. “And you must trust that he is up to the challenge.”

Henry looked to Coralis and Joseph. What were they expecting from him? How could he help them when he had such little control over his own abilities?

Suddenly Henry felt something. Another presence. The small pool of water began to shimmer, rippling as if from a nonexistent wind. All eyes were drawn to it. Henry tentatively approached the pool and saw his own face reflected in the water. Afraid to get any closer, he touched the surface with his foot.

It was as if someone had cannonballed into the center of the pool. A single wave radiated outward and left in its wake a still, glasslike plane.

Looking through the glassy surface was the face of his father, whose eyes bored into Henry’s. Henry was paralyzed, his feet staked to the ground.

His father shifted his attention to the rest of the group, eyes landing squarely on Coralis. His mouth moved as if he were speaking, but there was no sound. Instead, a bubble formed beneath the surface, growing to the size of a grapefruit before floating up, detaching from the pool, and hovering two feet above the reflection, which was now smiling demonically. A hand, formed completely of water, reached up from the depths of the pool and popped the bubble.

A voice sounded from the bubble: “We meet again, Coralis.”

The voice did not belong to his father. The image in the pool wavered, and another face appeared—one that had not been seen for hundreds of years.

The cannonball effect hit the water again, and the image was gone. Henry’s feet were suddenly free to move again. He stumbled backward and fell roughly on his behind, only then realizing he had been trying to pull away all along.

“Who … ?” he began.

Coralis blanched. His skin was pale, and his eyes wider than Henry had ever seen.

“Malachai.”

Part Three

Chapter Thirty

Malachai always did enjoy a good fight. It seemed only fair to let Coralis know at this point just who he was actually up against. The look of shock on the old man’s face had been almost reward enough for the months of scheming.

But Malachai had more scheming to attend to while Dai She slept.