2. Gracie
Gracie
My consciousness returned slowly, encouraged by a warm glowing heat that ran over my skin. In contrast, memories flashed before me, violent and pain-filled, as I remembered the sensation of being shot.
Then I remembered saving—or hopefully saving—Basir. Was he okay? Was I okay? Was I dead? That thought alone was enough to make me open my eyes.
I regretted it instantly, shielding them against a burning ball of energy glowing directly in front of me. When it dimmed, I took a breath of relief and tried to look around the bright space I found myself in.
Gravel roads.
Grassy fields in all directions.
A calm blue sky.
The only anomalies were me and the massive orb of light that seemed to be watching my cautious actions, hovering gently in place.
Stumbling to my feet, I looked down at my clothes. I wore a plain white shift dress, void of any sign—blood or otherwise—of what had happened. I felt good for someone who had just been shot. Too good.
My throat tightened as panic began to set in. The only thing grounding me was knowing that even if I hadn’t survived, Basir and the other two would have.
A soft melody filled the air as I focused back on the orb, its bouncing movement carrying it down a path I hadn’t noticed before.
I opened my mouth to say something since the thing was most likely sentient, but nothing came out.
I wasn’t sure I could speak right now, and honestly, what would I even say?
I doubted this ball of energy could answer the millions of questions streaming through my head.
My first step down the path made the sound of gravel crunch underfoot, as did the second and then the third. The fourth step brought me into another realm entirely.
My foot lifted off the gravel path and landed in space. Literal space. The world around me twisted until I became dizzy, and when it finally stilled, I was amongst the stars.
“Gracie,” said a deep reverberating voice, but when I looked around the vast expanse of space, I saw nothing. Just pinprick starlight in the distance. The orb pulsed like a heartbeat as my name came again, echoing in the distance.
Then a gold thread unraveled from my chest, shooting forward through the orb and into the infinite universe. Ghostly figures danced along it—familiar yet unknown faces holding the same thread of magic I carried through my wolf.
My bloodline? My ancestors? The weight of the moment pressed heavy and charged against my skin.
“Gracie.” My name again, but this time it hit me. I knew where I was and who was calling to me. This was Astaruun’s realm.
The god of creation.
As if it had been waiting for the realization, the realm vibrated and the stars began to swirl. I gasped in surprise as the orb slammed against me, like a bullet, dropping me into a brand new realm.
Heat. A painful inferno of wind slammed against my body, flames licking toward the sky. Volcanic terrain rumbled underneath my feet as I reached out to hold onto something—anything.
The orb kept close while the sky churned with smoke, eddies swirling as something whipped through the air.
A roar shook the realm, disrupting the flow of the smoke so that I was able to get a better view of my surroundings.
I wasn’t in the open air as I’d thought, I was in some type of massive underground corridor.
Then I saw it. Or him.
A dragon head the size of a castle sat at the far end of the space, its eyes glowing gold with magma seeping from between its scales.
By The Eight. It was horrific and awe inspiring at the same time.
A silent scream built in my throat as the orb beside me turned a deep warm gold, as if trying to calm me.
It wasn’t working.
If the realm before had been Astaruun, then this had to be…
“Vorrakar?”
Instead of an answer, the dragon shifted and opened its mouth, giving me a glimpse of its sharp, lethal teeth before a wave of black smoke choked the air, stealing both my sight and my breath.
Darkness wrapped around me, the orb disappearing beneath its assault. I cried out as the smoke transformed into a shimmering midnight abyss and I was plunged into icy water, colder than anything I’d ever experienced.
I kicked my legs, trying to swim upward, only to sink further down. On instinct I held my breath, but when the pressure became too much, I let it out in a gasp. I didn’t inhale water though, the liquid moving through me just like air.
The orb appeared beside me, pulsing blue, and I reached out to grab it. The moment I did, I understood why it had been urging me close this entire time—it was a vehicle.
It flung me forward through the water, the two of us traveling past gigantic coral structures and stone towers that reminded me of Ravik’s territory.
Minutes later, as light began to filter in from above, words floated through the water, pausing our journey as the orb slowed to a stop.
“Do not question the tide moving forward, little one.”
The voice was deep and dangerous, and as I looked back into the depths, I saw nothing—but I felt it. I felt him. Thaloryn.
I was clearly being summoned to each of the gods’ realms. I could only assume it had something to do with Nyxarra and Vaelithra. But Thaloryn was right. Whether he meant the literal tide or not, I couldn’t question this. I could only absorb the moment.
When the orb surged forward once more and broke the surface of the water, the air shimmered under the heat of a brilliant sun as I pulled myself out onto sand.
Thick with rich emerald vegetation right off the sandy shores, the island sang with the calls of birds moving from tree to tree. I walked forward beside the orb, its pulsing light turning green as we stepped into the tropical forest.
I could immediately sense the raw magnetic energy coming off every living creature around me. It was more base and instinctual than anything I’d experienced in Sylvaern’s temple, but I knew this was her realm.
Roots the size of my body broke through the ground, and stones triple my height were blanketed in moss. After several minutes of walking, I reached a clearing that housed a massive temple.
At the entrance stood a simple woman, except she was anything but simple.
Average build, cream-colored robes, but her hair…
It was deep green, intertwined with living plants, and as we drew closer I realized her skin was made of different textures of earth, from the richest soil to driest desert sand.
She offered me a soft smile in greeting.
“Come with me. You’re not done with your journey.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, making my way toward her. “Why am I here? Why now?”
This wasn’t the first time I’d had a vision from one of the gods, but this felt different—like there was something I was supposed to learn. To grasp.
The woman reached out a hand as the orb circled her, producing a happy hum.
I probably shouldn’t have been so trusting when it came to what I assumed was a literal god, but I was at their mercy here and I had to believe that if they wanted to hurt me they would have already.
Besides, my instincts were telling me that was far from what they wanted.
I had to trust that—to trust myself.
After a long moment of staring into her deep brown gaze, I met her fingers. I’d wanted to ask her about the gigantic tree growing from the center of the monolithic structure, but the world flipped upside down before we could even enter her temple.
My vision cleared, and I instantly recognized the crypt I’d landed in.
Except this time I was without my mates and without Vaelithra.
Just me and the many tombs lining the walls around me, all of which were open and empty.
I wasn’t as fearful as I should have been.
There was no sense of eeriness, just a pregnant pause as if the universe itself was on hold, waiting for me to get settled.
The orb moved silently beside me, turning almost translucent.
I could feel its desire to disappear, to not be noticed.
No one wanted to be noticed by death, not even a magical orb.
My steps echoed as we moved further into the crypt, and I examined the detailed stone work on all sides.
I didn’t know if Yvelis had a physical form; I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen them depicted that way.
But I could feel their power. The quiet, raw strength that death held over this place.
The air grew cooler as we moved along the long corridor.
In some ways I felt the most comfortable in this realm. It made you feel as though you were suspended between life and death, or maybe something beyond either. Considering what happened to me before this, I was hoping it wasn’t the latter.
My fingers reached out and grazed the orb for comfort. I honestly didn’t know when this would end. Maybe it wouldn’t. Maybe I would wander the eight realms of the gods forever. Maybe this would be my end.
When we finally reached the door at the end of the crypt, I paused, realizing it was made of bone. My fingers traced the skeletal hand that acted as a knob, and my eyes widened as the fingers tightened around mine. That was eerie.
In a flash, I was thrown through the door and into darkness. My body slid forward onto the ground, grass and dirt rising up to meet me as I grunted in discomfort.
Slowly lifting my head and looking around, I immediately recognized the landscape. It was a much larger version of the garden I’d spoken to Vaelithra in before, except this time it seemed to span in all directions for miles.
As I stood, the orb came to hover next to me, pausing for a long moment as we listened to the space around us.
A thread of power running over the ground connected me to the creatures nearby, from the wolves to our east to the lions south of us.
I didn’t know if Vaelithra would appear, but her influence here was strong.
The orb began to tremble and shake next to me, causing me to step back. It turned a deep green and brown before violently transforming…into a ghostly version of my wolf.
My mouth dropped.