Cursed Demon Kissed 2 Page 0,9

much. "I can't believe this. I fought next to them...on the same side! They saw me kill Valefar! How could they possibly question my loyalty?" I sighed and leaned back into the cushions. Why was I so shocked? Martis protected humanity and their own kind.

I was neither.

"It doesn't matter how they could think that. The problem is that they do. The Tribunal is the embodiment of Martis law. They are the strongest branch of the Martis. They meet rarely, but when they do," her voice softened, "well, let's just say they deliver justice swiftly. That's why I came. They didn't ask for my testimony, but I'm giving it. And I think it would be worth pushing your visions a little to see if you can control them. You need to know when the hammer will drop."

This was bad. Very bad. "You don't think I'm going to walk out of here, do you?" She shook her head. "Why are you helping me?" All the other Martis were question marks. They would protect themselves, but Al seemed to be carving a different path. She was sticking her neck out for me.

Her wrinkled lips pulled back into a smile. "I ain't stupid enough to throw out a pie just because it didn't look like the others. Sometimes those are the best ones." She winked at me and laughed. "You're not like nothing I expected."

"Right back at ya babe," I laughed. And we jumped straight into more Seyer lessons, trying to refine my skills while we still could.

CHAPTER FIVE

"No, you have to do it like you're sleeping. Otherwise it don't work. Something with rest is tied to your visions, so you gotta try to make it happen. Relax, stop thinking, and it'll come." Al was ready to beat me with a newspaper. I could tell. I just didn't understand how I could possibly summon a vision - or if I wanted to. They were turning into nightmares, showing me things that were terrifying. I groaned and suddenly felt her magazine smack into my arm.

"Al, this is pointless," I said. "Asking me to relax is like trying to talk to a kid jacked up on Pixie Stix - there's no point. I just can't. I'm surrounded by people who want to kill me. It's not exactly a relaxing environment." We'd eaten dinner in the room, and I'd yet to see Shannon. I don't know what I'd expected, but I thought that Shannon would come and tell me what was going on right away. Either she couldn't get away yet, or they weren't letting her. Either way, I was glad Al was with me.

Al sat down on the couch in front of me. I was on the floor with my legs folded in a meditating pose. Her ancient eyes sparkled when she spoke. "I know it's hard, but if you can control your visions here, you can control them in other less than ideal situations too. Seeing visions is a power - a rare power. If you can learn to do this, you'll be able to glean more information from the things you see and I suspect that you can do more than merely see visions. Your powers aren't manifesting like a typical Martis. It's possible that you'll be able to speak to me through your visions, even if I'm not there."

"What are you saying?" I asked. "That I can just dial you up and leave a message, and you'll get it the next time you see a vision?"

She nodded, "Something like that. Visions are complex. While some are of the future, others are warnings, while others are noise. I think you could possibly leave some of that noise I have to sift through to get to the heart of the visions." She shrugged.

"So you think I can leave you a message in the noise that surrounds your visions? I don't have noise around mine. There's only mist. Thick black mist. It seals out the things around me so that I can only focus on whatever it is that the vision is trying to show me."

"Black mist, huh?" Al replied looking perplexed. "You may see things differently altogether then. We might have the same Martis powers, but they sure don't work the same way."

This seemed like grasping at straws, but I wanted to know what I was capable of, and communicating with Al when she wasn't around seemed like a good idea at the time. "Ya know, I'm never sitting up when I have a