Interlude 5
Saelira and Kaelith walked through the mists of the Realm of the Lost. Four years ago, the young prince had been born.
The Goddess of Destiny, in her gossamer dress and veil, looked like a child beside The God of Lost Things.
He wore blue velvet robes and was barefoot on the dark soil.
Like an old man and his granddaughter, they walked quietly through the silent forest.
The world was not at peace, and though they were gods, they knew the future was far more uncertain than they’d expected when they were woken from their long sleep.
Gods rarely fear anything, but they, more than any others, had the foresight to know the paths before them were wrought in strife and anguish, even for the gods.
“The prince will not be enough to save this world, to save us,” Kaelith said in a soft voice. “Even now, at four years old, his soul is broken. Our youngest sister’s touch breaks all things, even her future champion.”
The mist curled around them as their feet padded softly down a road that led both nowhere and everywhere at once. The Realm of the Lost was unique in that it was both a part of Nyth and outside it, lying alongside it rather than separate from it.
“It is as you say. Her touch, at the moment she claimed him, changed his soul. He has the strength to protect us all, but I do not believe he will be whole enough. When she takes him fully, I don’t know what will become of him. He will not break as others believe, but he will… weaken.”
The chime of a silver bell sounded in the distance from one of the young prince’s birthright gifts he had forgotten. Forgotten by the one who should be its bearer, a mirror image had appeared in Kaelith’s realm.
“There are no others to take his place, and he must be trained. He cannot be coddled as his parents do now, but what other options are there?”
The old man stopped, his blue eyes glowing with power as he looked down a path that he’d never considered. “What if we didn’t depend solely on the prince? What if there was another to help him, to be the strength of heart to his strength of arms?”
Saelira paused for a moment, her gray eyes glowing just as brightly. “I cannot put this in his path. I do not wield the power to make the correct choice or to connect the strands in a way that will be productive.”
Kaelith bowed his head for a moment. “I may be able to. Every soul is lost when it swims the Endless Sea. But by the Pact, I cannot influence the world of Nyth as I would normally.”
“Then do not influence Nyth. Influence that which has not yet come to Nyth. Change the soul before it has found the body.”
Kaelith nodded slowly. “This I can do. But the soul will need the right conditions to be raised in. The path must be laid thoughtfully, and this I cannot do alone.”
The sigh that came from Saelira was like the wind, soft and soothing.
“The young ones are not part of the Pact. Together, the three of us will lay the child’s path.
The others have forgotten the purpose of all of this, but the young ones have not.
Find the soul, and we will prepare Nyth for it. Do it soon. We do not have long.”