This is my new chapter. :) Please hit that vote button on the side. Please! :) Sorry about it being so short but that's the way this chapter is. This chapter is really short, sorry. Picture of Helen as a ghost on the side. :)

Chapter 30

           For the first time in a long time, Dahlia had a vivid dream. In her dream, she saw a bunch of flickering black shadows. And then a figure formed of mist appeared out of the shadows.

           The person looked almost exactly the same as she had in real life. Long black hair fell to her waist, held back with a head band. She wore a white prom dress but altogether looked the same as she had in life.

           Blood stained her dress but it didn't look that gruesome, compared to what Dahlia had feared.

           Helen Flarehill smiled at Dahlia, her misty image flickering faintly. Dahlia felt her heart leap into her throat. She still felt guilty about Helen’s death but seeing her like this was twice as bad.

           “Helen,” Dahlia said, thickly.

            Helen smiled. “Hello, Dahlia.”

            “Are... are you alive?” Dahlia asked, studying Helen’s new form.

            Helen shook her head. “I’m a spirit. Kayla summoned me to speak to you. You need to escape while you can.”

           “How can I?” Dahlia asked. “No human will pass my cell with the exception of Ellie and maybe Leo. After what I did to my prison guard, Varmer won’t trust me to send anyone else here. How in the wide world can I escape?”

           “True,” Helen admitted. “But Varmer will be sending them here soon. We need to talk.”

           “About what?” Dahlia asked.

           “About the fact that Varmer is about to claim Troy,” Helen replied. “His powers will increase tenfold but he is under Varmer’s charm. You must break free and save him, Luna, Cedric and Kayla. If you can, rescue the other four as well. You know of whom I mean. Ella, Olive, Verne and August. They need your help too.”

            “Is that all?” Dahlia asked, sarcastically, for the task was sounding impossible.

            “No,” Helen said, shaking her head. “If you fail to save Kayla, at least follow her advice. Go and seek out the help from Sapphire, the Magician of Water. She lives in Paris with a Magician of Air, Tamarak.”

            Dahlia grimaced. “How will she know who I am if I go?”

            Helen smiled. “Here. Give her this. ”

            She placed something in Dahlia’s left hand. It was a silver pendant on a chain. The pendant had a silver sword stabbing downwards on it.

           “Sapphire has the twin of this pendant,” Helen explained. “She gave one pendant to Kayla. The pendants are bonded. Give that to Sapphire and explain the situation to her. She will understand.”

            “How did you get the pendant?” Dahlia asked.

             “Kayla gave it to me,” Helen said. “They share a bond. The matching pendants always point to her twin. This one will lead you to the other one. In other words, the pendant will lead you to Sapphire.”

            “Why are you giving it to me?” Dahlia asked. “Surely Kayla can do it herself?”

            Helen shook her head. “Ask Luna. There are many branches of the future. If you guys are to escape, you are the only one that can bring them out of here.”

           “Troy is the one you are talking about!” Dahlia exclaimed. “He’s the shadow morpher. Not me, Helen.”

            Helen smiled. “And you are the only one who can free him from the trance that Varmer placed on him. Not just because you are a charmer.”

           Dahlia blushed. “I didn’t mean...” she stammered.

           “His feelings for you might save him today, Dahlia,” Helen said. “And then again... they might be his downfall.”

           “What do you mean?” Dahlia demanded. “You aren’t a diviner... are you?”    

           Helen hesitated. "No... Dahlia, I'm not a diviner. But, yes, I've discovered my powers already. It is not only a method of finding out information."

           Helen’s image flickered. She was slowly vanishing into the shadows.

          “Wait, Helen!” Dahlia cried. “Please! I didn’t get to say goodbye to you! Why did you sacrifice yourself for me? Answer me, please!”

           Helen smiled faintly. “Stay safe, Dahlia McLean. Trust me in one thing. Varmer is right. You are the most powerful persuader that the world has ever seen. You alone will determine whether the war is lost or won.”

           Her misty image was fading now. Only her face remained. She gave Dahlia one last smile.

          “Trust me, Dahlia. And stay safe.”

           Helen’s image vanished in a ripple of shadows.

           Dahlia fell back into a restless sleep, slightly dazed. She tossed and turned on the small bed. She slept on until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

           Dahlia jerked awake. Sunlight streamed in through the window. She sat up, slightly disoriented. She rubbed her blue eyes.

          Alyce smirked down at her. With her, were Leo and Ellie. All of them wore black cloaks and red clothes underneath.

         “Come!” Alyce said, calmly. “My lord, Varmer, requests an audience with you.”