Chapter Twenty-ThreeLuna
Chapter Twenty-Three
Luna
Void magic.
I stared at mother priestess as if she had spontaneously started speaking an ancient language I didn’t understand. Everyone knew the void had been locked so far back in time that the location of the entrance into that realm had been lost. Some void magic was still in Purgatory but it tended to be associated with objects left behind when the realm was locked. The magical realm had been locked, but was still accessible to those who needed it.
“Aisha mentioned void magic and the fact Balor needed the magic of the priestesses to access it,” I replied, trying to suppress my emotions.
“I’ve read the ancient text which gives that impression,” Cybele said. “However, there are other texts that mention void magic, and more importantly there is a prophecy from one of our most trusted ancestors. It speaks of one witch who can control the void through the strength of her connection to her mate.”
“A mate who is a dark prince to the kingdom of animals,” mother priestess continued. “One who has two forms, that of a man and that of a beast.”
“Sound familiar?” Cybele asked.
I side-eyed them. “There are a lot of lycans in this world,” I pointed out.
“But are they mated to a witch who was born under the blood moon?” mother priestess asked. “I was called by my sister near the end of her pregnancy as she was experiencing difficulties. We managed to keep the birth of her youngest daughter a secret for several days until the full moon had started to wane. There had been a meteor storm that night as well. All births under such an event were supposed to be reported to the high warlock back then. Instead, we decided to watch over the child.”
Her eyes met mine and the bottom fell out of my world. “You are my aunt,” I said. From the moment I met her, I had felt a connection. She had watched over me even in the temple.
She nodded once. “I had been harvested for the temple at an early age. The only reason your mother escaped that fate was because she had married your father and become pregnant with her first child before her magic manifested. She was left to become a wise woman in the village.”
“I never knew,” I muttered.
“That was entirely the point,” mother priestess replied, a half-smile touching her lips. “The only way we could ensure your safety was for you to remain anonymous. Your mother and I swore an oath that both of us upheld to the very end.”
I remembered the night she released me from the temple, the bundle she had handed me. “Aisha was right. You protected me and sacrificed the others.”
“No.” One of my sister priestesses moved forward, shaking her head. “I survived over a hundred years before I was caught. Every one of us was given help. We had to open our hearts to accept it.”
“What you need to understand is that everything is pre-ordained to a certain extent,” Cybele said. “Prophecies are complicated, and can only happen when destiny aligns in a certain order. You needed to meet and love Salvator to initiate the path, and then there were others along the way who you had to encounter to shape your journey. People like me!” Her smile was as infectious as it had been in life, lighting up her features.
Mother priestess took both my hands in hers, looking into my eyes. “We saw the magic in you the moment you were born. There is a brief moment when a baby is born when they are still connected to their soul mission, and my sister and I had the great honour to see what you had incarnated to achieve. Void magic is dangerous in the wrong hands, but in the right ones it has the potential to heal the rift between realms, and bring balance.”
“How can I do any of those things when I am here and have no body?” I asked, overwhelmed by all this information.
“I’m glad you asked.” Mother priestess smiled and led me across the room to where a grimoire lay open on a desk. “Part of your journey can only be achieved in spirit form, using the magic you have gained over the years, and because of your mating bond, are you able to walk the line between life and death.”
“I’m beginning to feel part of a conspiracy,” I grumbled, wrinkling my nose.
“Not at all, you are part of a legacy.” She tapped the page and my gaze dropped to the words written in black ink that had faded to brown over time.
I sank into a seat, my shoulders stooping forward as my attention fell to the grimoire in front of me. It was written in the old language, so it took me time to translate the words and symbols that had been penned so long ago. My finger moved across the page as I followed the intricate pattern that was used to write stories in the magical community.
There were too many overlaps with my life for me to put this script down to chance or synchronicity. Every word made my heart beat faster. I had believed I had been the victim of bad luck and chance encounters with evil people. This told a different story, one of a person being challenged and judged to determine their suitability to be allowed one chance to journey to a secret place and face a test to evaluate my soul.
A faint background text changed as questions flowed through my head, answering them. I witnessed how my magic had evolved from what it had been when I was in the temple, every step of my life making me seek the next, changing me in inexplicable ways. Finally, I saw the relevance of the troubles I had survived, because without them I would have stayed in my comfort zone for temple life or a mate.
Instead, I had become a leader, a protector, someone who refused to be beaten down.
“I’ve had quite the journey,” I said, raising my gaze to meet that of the woman who guided me even though she was in the spirit realm.
“Every time you bled, we shared your pain,” she replied. “When you succeeded, we cheered you on. Over time, in this realm, we found ways to send you help in different forms, motivating people to aid you.”
Dominic flashed through my head. He had been an unlikely ally in one of my darkest moments. “Dominic?” I queried.
Cybele coughed, her hand trying to cover a smile. “That vampire has a story that deserves to be placed among the stars,” she said. “He surprises everyone constantly. There are several prophecies that I’ve debated might refer to him, but only time will tell which one does.”
That didn’t surprise me because he was the greatest ruler in the vampire nation that I had met, keeping his coven a place of nobility and integrity even if he would rip your throat out if you displeased him.
“What happens to Salvator now that I am dead?” I asked, running my fingers down the side of the grimoire and sensing the magic pulsing inside it. “Will he survive?”
Cybele clicked her tongue at me in the way she tended to do when she was annoyed. “I’ve already told you that you are not dead, merely straddling two worlds. Salvator has his own journey to fulfil before you two can reunite, and in the interim you must complete what you can only do in spirit form.”
“Which is?” Dread unfurled in my stomach.
“Only a worthy soul can claim the key to the lost realm,” mother priestess said. “Therefore, only a soul can stand before the karmic council.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because they dwell in the land of the winged messengers,” she replied.
“Angels.” I stared at her until she nodded once.
Demons were tricky and nasty, manipulating situations to benefit themselves. Angels were an entirely different species. Over time, they had become arrogant and judgemental, capable of great acts of compassion and empathy but too far removed from the living world to share those gifts.
“All the paths to the heavenly realms have been locked for centuries,” I said.
“That’s true, but the hunters possessed maps which allowed them to navigate all the realms as they had the blood of all the ancestors in them,” mother priestess replied. “And we happen to have a hunter among us who was killed in an attack on their village several centuries ago.”
She waved forward a young woman with long, curly red hair and pale complexion. She possessed huge green eyes that felt like they had the ability to see into your soul. “I am pleased to finally meet you. I feel as if I know you since I have heard tales of your adventures for many years. My name is Isla, and I would be honoured to become part of your journey.”
When I was lost and lonely, I hadn’t been as alone as I thought…
“Thank you. I seem to be a little out of the loop in all these matters,” I finally replied.
She waved off my comment. “My cousin Iona has been walking the world alone for centuries since our village was taken by a hellspawn prince. She is an elemental sorceress, but needed to find her own power and strength. Our coven has been trying to nudge her in the right direction as well. We lost our lives, but we gained a new perspective on life.”
“What do you need me to do?” I asked those gathered around me.
“Maia is maintaining your body, but that gets more difficult to do the longer you are separated from it, or the further you travel away from it,” Cybele said. “The karmic council rarely convenes, and even more rarely allows anyone to petition them. Like the other paths in your quest, only you can discern how to navigate this. All we can do is point you toward your goal.”
“You do realise that you all suck as spirit guides,” I demanded. “I hear psychics and mediums in the Earth realm talking about the great advice their spirit guides give them.” I left the rest unsaid because I was feeling grumpy.
“They are not guided by spirits like us,” Cybele replied. “Most of their advice is coming from their ego. No one is telling them what to do, they are merely indulging their wants and desires and attributing it to a higher power.”
I shot her a side-eyed glare as that sounded great right now. “Since we’re running out of time, I guess you need to show me the way,” I said to Isla.
“We created portals to certain places here in Purgatory, and a few years ago, we built one to a stairway to heaven since you were approaching this point.” Isla held her hand out and I followed her to a room at the back of the building.
In it were elaborate mirrors that were big enough to be doors. Intricate metal sculpting was twisted into frames around the mirrors. When I stepped into the room, I saw shadows moving on the other side of the mirrors. I stopped to stare at one that looked suspiciously like the volcano Misti.
“I still keep watch over my homeland,” mother priestess said from behind me. “I stood here and held vigil as they found the bodies of those children who had their lives stolen to empower spells. I will continue to watch over it until it is liberated from the oppressors who seek to claim what does not belong to them.”
One question burned brightly in my head, something I had wanted to know for many years. “What happened to my village?” I asked. “I went back but everything was gone.”
Aisha and I had been the only ones who had been selected as priestesses, but we had siblings still in that village, as well as our parents.
Mother priestess turned away. “I could only try to save those in close proximity to me, and I suffered for my actions. Soldiers were sent out to harvest the villages where magic had manifested, the inhabitants taken into camps so Balor could breed his own magical army.”
Nausea crept up the back of my throat in burning sick. I had encountered camps like that across the globe over the years, never imagining my brothers and sisters could be in one.
I straightened my back and raised my head. There was nothing I could do to save them, as time only went in one direction. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me and the women who have found refuge here. I won’t let you down.”
Mother priestess smiled, walking forward to embrace me, squeezing me tightly. “You never once waivered from your truth. I couldn’t be more proud if you were my own daughter.” She released me, and stepped back. “Remember who you are, let your light shine in the darkness.”
I nodded once, and moved to the mirror where Isla stood waiting for me.
“Take my hand,” Isla said. “This portal is a big jump. We need to travel to the far side of Purgatory.”
“Wait!” Cybele ran into the room, a crystal in her hand. “I almost forgot. Take this with you.” She had always had an affinity to stones, using them in her craft. She pressed it into my hand, her fingers closing mine. Her gaze met mine, boring into me, and I knew there was a reason she needed me to have this crystal.
“You’re still the greatest friend I’ve ever had,” I said, my other hand covering hers. “My biggest regret was never getting the chance to say goodbye.”
“There is no goodbye, only a farewell until we find each other once again.” She stepped back beside mother priestess, and I felt the energy pulse in the crystal as I slipped it into my pocket.
Portals consisted of energy that allowed you to pass from one place to another by compressing the distance. Pressure pushed against me until it felt as if my head was going to explode. I staggered when we reached the other side, disorientated and weak.
“I can’t go any further,” Isla said, lowering her head. “They will not allow my soul to pass as I took a life in vengeance. May the great goddess protect and guide you.”
“And may she bring you peace.” The words from an old wiccan greeting uttered from my lips, although it felt like a lifetime since I had last said them.
She pursed her lips together and nodded once before she disappeared back through the portal, leaving me alone in this forsaken place. An elaborate doorway was carved into the stone, symbols etched around the edge. Twisted iron rods formed a gate in the middle of it, which radiated out from a central point like a starburst.
I moved forward, narrowing my eyes to try and read all the symbols. The warning spoke of death to the unworthy, and a judgement to those who dared to enter.
“Fuck it,” I muttered, grabbing the gate to tug it open.
A flash of light blinded me and pain seared through every part of me. It felt like I was dying all over again.