chapter twenty-seven #2
“Find two guardians willing to spill their blood for you, and you will be allowed to enter,” he finishes with a low rumble.
“Not one step in our growth is made alone, child. Do you have anyone willing?” Mah’s soft voice is almost a caress.
My heart drops into my stomach. Does that mean I need to sacrifice two others if I’m to pass? There’s no way I’m giving up Seniia and Vilder, even if they do offer, which I strongly doubt they will. They may be loyal, but they don’t wish to die.
“We are willing.” Seniia’s voice, clear and strong, cuts through the jumble of my thoughts.
I spin toward them. “No! Please, you don’t have to do this. We don’t know if it’s safe. I don’t want to risk your lives.”
Seniia holds my gaze steady. “We have made our choice, sister.” Her emphasis on the last word shatters my heart.
“I owe you everything,” I whisper.
“You owe us nothing,” Vilder says. “Except surviving.” He nods for me to proceed, and I turn back to the divine stone statues.
“Seniia Eweel of Riverii and Vilder Aken of Airée are willing,” I say in answer to Mah’s question. My voice shakes uncontrollably, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
“I ask the guardians to step forward,” Mah says softly, “and listen carefully.”
They come to stand beside me, Seniia to my left and Vilder to my right. Seniia briefly squeezes my hand before letting it go.
“A blood offering is required to open the gate of the soul. Are you prepared to bleed for your sister?”
“Yes, we are, Mother,” comes their unified answer.
“Patience is required to hold the gate of the soul. Are you prepared to wait for your sister?”
“However long it takes, Mother.”
“Trust is required for transformation to happen inside the gate of the soul. If you leave your position, your sister will die, her soul forever ours. Are you prepared to offer your trust to your sister?”
“She can trust us with her life, Mother.”
“And if she dies inside the gate of the soul, you will die with her. Are you prepared to give your life for your sister?”
“We are prepared to die together, Mother.”
“And you, my child. Do you trust Vilder and Seniia?”
Silent tears roll down my cheeks. How could I not?
They’re risking everything for me. “With my life, Mother,” I choke out, surprised to find that despite everything I’ve been through, there is no fear, no doubt, only a steadfast belief that they would enter the Void with me if that was what was required.
“Then it is done. When ready, take your positions.”
I glance at Seniia and Vilder, then back at the stone statues. “Would you mind if we take a moment?” I ask. Should the worst happen, I won’t see them again. I can’t leave without saying goodbye.
“Be swift.” Closing her eyes, Mah folds her wings.
I turn toward the two of them. “You don’t have to do this.”
“We know we don’t have to,” Vilder says. “We want to.” The right corner of his mouth lifts. “There is a difference.”
“Is it . . .” I can’t believe I’m about to say this. “Is it possible for humans to bond?” I stare at my feet. Something’s changed in me, and I can’t explain it. All I know is that I don’t want to live a day in my life without these two by my side.
“Bond? As in an anam’caeur?” Seniia claps her hands. “Oh, that would be wonderful. But . . .” She looks to Vilder. “I’m not sure humans can bond.”
“Ero thought I could,” I mumble, averting my eyes, a slight flush to my cheeks. Adjusting my cloak, I notice how Vilder studies me, an intent expression on his face.
Void! What was I thinking? I shouldn’t have asked him. “I’m so sorry, Vilder. You don’t have to—”
“No, it’s not that,” he says. “I doubt Ero is wrong, and I’d be honored to bond with you, La?na.”
My gaze locks with his. For a moment, I can’t speak, the weight of his choice, his trust, making my eyes burn with unshed tears. I almost can’t believe he’s willing to tie his life to mine. Not because he has to, not because someone commanded it, but because he chooses to.
We gather together, and Vilder brings out a small knife, slicing across our left palms. Turning to face him, I clasp my hand with his, mixing our blood.
“I, Vilder, willingly claim La?na as my anamè. She is now a sister in blood and in spirit, and I swear to protect her, support her, and stay loyal to her from this night until the eternal night claims me in its embrace.” The words differ slightly from the bonding ceremony, but the last part I recognize.
I hold Vilder’s gaze as I repeat the vow, then shiver at what feels like a spindly web melting into my body.
A long, silent gaze passes between us, full of unspoken understanding. To willingly bond after being braced is not an easy feat for either of us.
The corner of his mouth rises. “I’m glad it is you,” he says, and I fling my arms around his torso, giving him a tight hug.
Turning toward Seniia, I repeat the ceremony with her.
I close my eyes as the second bond envelops me, and Seniia squeezes my hand.
“Sisters,” she whispers, and knowing what this means to her, it takes all I have not to break into tears.
Vilder wraps his arms around the two of us. “Whether we fail or succeed, we do it together.”
Seniia nods. “If you go down, we go down. You are not alone.”
“It is time.” The voice of Mah rings through the night. Her wolf form once again lifts its eyelids, and her eyes, glowing like twin embers, push back the oppressive darkness.
Seniia and Vilder walk toward the massive stone statues, Vilder stopping by Zerex’s side while Seniia stands by Mah. The tops of their heads don’t even reach the height of the claws of the wolves as they stand by their paws.
There must be inscriptions on the side of the statues as I can hear Vilder mumbling to himself, “It’s a contract.”
He brings out his dagger and slices across the same palm Seniia healed for him just a moment ago, and Seniia takes her white-handled boline and does the same.
A tense silence fills the air as they stare at each other for a brief moment.
Then, with an audible breath, they both press their palms toward the hand-shaped dip in the stone.
The gods speak as one. “And it is done.”
I take a couple tentative steps forward, holding my breath in anticipation, then releasing it with a sigh when I’m not burned to ashes.
“Death before rebirth.” The gods’ voices rumble as their eyes slide closed once again. “In the depths of the dark, all is renewed, and in silence, the seed of wisdom is gained.”
The ground rumbles again, and then everything is silent, leaving me in darkness once more.
No longer blinded by the light of their glowing eyes, I realize the Celestial Moon is almost at its peak, her four lesser moons all full, all shining brightly in the sky, marking Mi’Awal.
No more than a bell at most. Stepping forward, it strikes me that if I were Reān, the Mi’Awal Moon would be my birth moon.
Happy twenty-first moon day, then, La?na.