Page 52

fifty-one

Carnaxa

S urrounded by water, I feel as if I’m being swallowed by relentless waves. I gasp for air as I tumble uncontrollably. My hands flail, trying to grab onto something and when they find nothing, my heart beats faster.

The images of the kukhe , Ereon and Siphonie holding me back, and Thylas walking into the flames — the images come barging through my mind — but I can’t see them —any of them. My lungs feel as if they’ll burst and I struggle to figure out which way is up or even where I am.

The coolness of Ereon’s magic is no longer lingering along my skin. I calm my racing heart. I have to survive. I have to find them. The water is my home. I’ve spent years learning to swim in the seas of the Goddess, regardless of where I might be. I expected to land on ice, but that was a foolish thought since water doesn’t freeze in Antalis.

The dark murky waters twist around me and I’m tumbling around like a rock in a current. I close my eyes and listen, letting my body calm and become one with the sea of my home. Finally, the currents release me, but where the surface is, I do not know.

I open my eyes slightly, the salt water stinging them as I do. The shell at my sternum casts a faint glow, lighting up the darkness. My lungs threaten to burst as I hold dearly to the last bit of breath still inside of me. I have to make a decision, one that will determine my demise or my success. I swim in the direction illuminated by the shell.

My arms grow heavy as I push against unending pressure. In front of me, the water shimmers and starts to take shape causing me to pause my pursuit of air. A blinding light erupts from the dreary surroundings and I stop swimming, holding my hands to my eyes as I tread water. My lungs remind me that I don’t have time for this. I choke on the water and panic flares within me. I’m out of time.

I thrash against the water, knowing that I’ll never make it. I swim faster into the light in front of me. I have to get to the surface soon. My gaze grows hazy as the water overtakes my lungs .

A hand reaches out, grabbing my own. My mother’s sweet face appears and I know she’s calling me home. To home with her — to Mohasha . Suddenly, air fills my lungs and I can breathe in this watery grave.

She pulls me into a crushing embrace. “You need to know who you are, Carnaxa. Daughter of Drāhēn? and prophecy.” She kisses my forehead and I’m thrown back, away from my body.

The vision I saw when I passed into Shaston replays in front of me, but this time, my mother stands beside me, tightly holding my hand. Blood, sweat, and death invade my senses as the battlefield rages in front of me. A man burns at a stake and a woman stands, once again, in the middle of it all. But it’s not just any woman.

“You.” The whispered word leaves my mouth as I turn to my mother. She doesn’t look as she does now, but how she appeared in my dreams when I swam in the unending darkness.

She nods her head. “I didn’t want this to happen. Khaysus wasn’t meant to touch my lands, not on Ashonera. In Mohasha we fought because he didn’t understand that I could never love him, and instead of accepting defeat, he infected the heart of my beloved, even when he was punished by my siblings.”

A man’s chilling laughter filters through the air of the vision, and my attention is called from the scene in front of me. A shadow of a man, who wears a crown, stands behind the lines of soldiers waging war. His hands erupt into flames as he unleashes his fury on those who fight against him.

My mother begins again, “He who betrayed me, and was infected by Khaysus, was my first creation. The one I wanted to lead Antalis. The one elected to. After many years of breathing life into the world, I realized that if I split a soul’s drop in half, when the two pieces of the soul were reunited, they had a love incomparable to anything else. I wanted that.” She hangs her head. “And maybe I was wrong to want something not meant for one of the Hasǔ . But I took a piece of my soul and created someone. That’s when he became furious.

“I had given him as many blessings as I could. The life water that flows through my veins so that sickness could never endanger him, and the ability to call precious creations to him. Nevertheless, he wanted more. He wanted to use my power — my magic — to craft and wield water. I didn’t know this is what he had planned.”

A silver tear streams down her face as she looks at the man tied-up and screaming in pain, as his skin melts from his bones.

“I had no choice. Khaysus gave the traitor his flaming magic and, combined with the abilities he already had, he created creatures of darkness and burnt the lands I held dear to ashes. I was tired. I knew that battle would not end in my favor. My magic was depleting after days of battle, and he was burning my twin drop in front of me. Your father. Not in the same body as you now know him, but a piece of my soul, regardless.”

“ A l? t neni pe , o a l? peng? pe w? lomo popo ra l?, ” pierces across the battle-torn land, dragging my attention back to the memory playing before me. Ice sprouts from her palms as she grabs a dagger from her side, bringing it to her neck. The silver blade has a blue stone inset, the same stone as mine. I glance down at my thigh where Thylas’ gift still rests, even in this strange dream. Jerking my head back up, I watch as the woman’s body crumbles to the ground and everything around her is knocked back. A wave of power courses through the land, halting everything.

“So I did the only thing I knew I could. I released the last of my magic, starting a cycle that would have to be repeated. I created Shaston to banish those who dared to defile my peaceful home. I thought that with his death, things would change and hopefully, over time, Antalis would be renewed. I didn’t know the full complexity of the deal he made with Khaysus, or the power he still held.”

As the world changes with a blinding light, and people disappear from where they stand, she reaches out to touch the freckles at my neck.

“The first time I walked the land, I had one of these. When I released my power and became a mortal because your father’s soul returned, I had two. When you were born, I laughed because you bare three on your skin. With everything I’ve done in this life, you are my greatest creation.”

My fingers graze against the three freckles that dot my neck. “I don’t understand. If you are a part of the Has? then why did you succumb to the deluc? Why is the King of Shaston still raging war on us? Why do I not have the power of ice like you?”

“That was never my original power, but one I found when I made a twin drop. A piece of my soul molded and created something new. Twin drops create a ripple that connects you to your other half, and the magic can be shared. For you, I blessed you twice. I tried to protect you and your drops from the twisted blackness that is anchored in your other drop’s soul. But I couldn’t protect him anymore, not after he performed the neni . But the ceremony helped untether you from him long enough to return your memories. It was no accident that Thylas found that blue stone on Antalis’ shores or that you found the dagger again in Shaston; the stone was imbued with my magic. Putting the stone back in its intended position, leached my power, breaking his hold on you. Fret not dear one, all things are not lost.”

She smiles at me sadly. “As for the deluc, I can’t call myself home to Mohasha , only the Creator can do that, but it was my time to go. The deluc is a twisted pyrrhic solution brought on by my want to return to Mohasha — to die a mortal’s death — to initiate the prophecy and return this land back to how it was intended to be. However, I wasn’t aware that the plague would spread. Now, none of my people can get home until the prophecy is complete, all of the souls that have been taken since the rings of color disappeared are stuck in this land of in-between. I’m sorry this burden has been placed upon you. I need you to finish this, to release their souls to Mohasha . Trust yourself — my blood courses through your veins. You are the daughter of a goddess.”

“What do you mean, finish this? What? How?”

“You’ll know when the time comes. The Creator knew this would happen. They planned for this just like they planned for you to create the world anew.” She reaches out to me, but I step back still staring at the scene before me.

“But the King of Shaston — why? ”

“Because he took his original form again.” Her gaze shifts to the memory’s battlefield, and with a swift motion, she transports us closer to the man, his cackles echoing through the night with treachery and hate. It’s in that moment that his emerald eyes meet mine, captivating me with their intense gaze. King Atlas.

Water again engulfs me, and my mother is nowhere to be seen, but breath is still in my lungs and my shell illuminates the darkness. I try to recall anything that can help me now. Thylas, as a boy, would read from the history books at the end of my bed. He repeatedly read stories of the Great War and has a tattoo on his shoulder to commemorate his love for the w?ngesk .

I call my magic to the surface, feeling its power surge through me like a tidal wave. The w?ngesk answered my mother’s — the Goddess’ — plea during the Great War and helped her battle against those who harmed her; I can only hope that such a creature still remains. If magic has awoken, perhaps he has too. My magic hums in the darkness of the water, calling for the honored creature.

Suddenly, an answer bellows from the darkness, echoing through my ears. A w?ngesk , the revered creature of the Goddess, comes swirling into view. Its body, a delicate interplay of shadows and silk, effortlessly glides through the water, creating currents in its wake. Its massive form is adorned with tentacles that writhe like serpents, their suckers gleaming with an iridescent hue. As it grabs me with its gentle touch, its eyes, filled with age-old wisdom, never leave mine.

Together, we ascend higher and higher until we break through the surface, the full moon shining directly above us.