“Probably the town square. I’ve been to a reflection of this place in the sixth circle, so I know it pretty well.” She nodded toward a clock tower that rose above the tops of the other buildings. “It’s that way.”
Gabriel marched toward the tower. “I’ll recognize my father, but do you know what Roxil looks like?”
“I know what she used to look like, but we can ask around for Jasmine. That’s her name here.”
The ground trembled. A window in a nearby feed store shattered, and a crack split the road between Gabriel and Sapphira. Gabriel leaped over the widening rift and grabbed Sapphira’s arm. “Hurry!”
Running side by side, they followed dusty cobblestones that led to a broader road and then to a city square. In the central garden, a statue of a man riding a horse stood watch over an array of colorful flowers, and a rope lay over his outstretched arm with a hangman’s noose dangling underneath. Several people milled about, and a woman knelt next to a body lying on the road.
Gabriel let go of Sapphira. “I guess they didn’t feel the quake here.”
She ran up to the corpse the body of a petite female. A gash in the front of her dress revealed a gaping wound in her bosom. Sapphira gulped. “Naamah!”
The kneeling woman stood and faced them. Her stern, angular features hadn’t changed in the slightest. “So, you have come to bring our destruction, have you?”
When Gabriel joined them, Sapphira latched on to his wrist and squeaked. “It’s good to see you again . . . uh . . . Jasmine.”
Jasmine glared at Gabriel. “You’re not an oracle of fire, are you? The prophecy said that there would be two oracles, not one.”
Gabriel pointed at her. “Listen, Roxil, or Jasmine, or whatever your name is now, I may not be an oracle of fire, and I don’t know about any prophecy, but this place is about to blow, and I need to find my . . . I mean, your father.”
The ground shook again. Two more windows cracked, and a chimney toppled, spilling broken bricks down an angled roof. Sapphira stooped to keep her balance, and Jasmine dropped to her knees. The people in the streets scrambled in every direction.
When the tremor settled, Jasmine rose slowly to her feet. “You won’t find my father here. He left a long time ago, and he never came back.”
A fountain of fire erupted in the city hall building, spewing wiggling ribbons of flaming debris onto the street. As sparkling ash rained down, the three backed toward the statue to avoid the embers.
“Merlin predicted this,” Sapphira said, swatting at the ash. “We have to get you out of here before it’s too late!”
Jasmine sneered. “I should have known Merlin had something to do with this. He has been plotting to kill dragons all along, and now he has arranged our apocalypse.”
“Merlin set up the way of escape!” Sapphira grabbed a fistful of Jasmine’s sleeve. “This place is about to burn! What’s it going to take to get you to change your mind?”
“Truth!” Jasmine shook away Sapphira’s grip and pointed at Naamah’s body. “She killed that so-called dragon messiah with the same dagger that took her own life. A dead messiah cannot save anyone from this God-forsaken place. It is hopeless. There is no way out.”
“Really?” Sapphira narrowed her eyes. “Then how did your father leave?”
Jasmine nodded at the statue in the garden. “He wandered over there in sort of a daze, saying something about a red glow, but Brogan and I never saw anything. Then, he just vanished.”
“And he became human.” Sapphira clasped her fingers together. “He rejoined your mother, who also took a human form, and they had two children, Gabriel and Ashley, your brother and sister.”
Jasmine’s expression softened, and her voice lost its sharp edge. “So, they’re a happy family now, I suppose.”
Sapphira shook her head. “A slayer killed your father and mother, but Billy risked his life and resurrected your mother from a dragon graveyard.”
Jasmine glanced at the hangman’s noose. “Billy resurrected her?”
“Yes. She’s alive now and is a dragon again, but your father’s spirit is missing.” She nodded at Gabriel. “That’s why your brother is here looking for him, and we were hoping you’d want to help.”
Jasmine’s lip trembled slightly, but she quickly firmed it. “Of course I want to help, but there are a couple of important obstacles.” She extended a finger. “First, I’m dead.” She extended another finger.