Wren
Any other night, I might find it amusing to realize that I live on an island dedicated to the spirit of the Sky, and there isn’t a high point that isn’t man-made in sight.
I let out a small breath, not a laugh, because nothing about this is funny.
The closest I can get to the sky this night is the roof of the shrine where the beacon sits. So I do.
Ten years ago, I arrived at the Isle of Caelestis, the Isle of men…I knew I was exactly where I was meant to be.
The Atheneum holds more of the history of humanity on this land than any other place in the world, and all of it was open to me.
Brother Damon showed me my quarters: starkly empty, an austere space to study and contemplate.
I’d never known peace like that before. I had imagined that I could live out my entire life on this small piece of land, learning and teaching.
I had a certainty deep within my soul about it.
This is my home now. Until five days ago, when my idyllic cloister of brotherhood was shattered.
I understand the magnitude of what happened.
I believe in the spirits of this land because I have witnessed them.
I have studied them with relentless hunger.
But that suspension of all of my plans did something irreversible to me.
As I knelt on the stone floor of the Atheneum, Damon witnessed my anguish in all of its destruction. I knelt there for hours.
If this was all of my solitary life I was allowed to have, it was worth it. If this is the price I pay so that one of my brothers can remain here, I will pay it. I have been resigned to that fact since I left my dear library that same night—bitterly so. I sit a while longer on the sanctuary roof.
The sky is clear tonight, and across the sandy shore, the Isle of Naedra looms before me. My education has been extensive, and I know what to expect for the Rite and for the trials ahead. What I cannot seem to wrap my mind around is the who of it.
Today I am one, tomorrow I am one of three. My mind drifts across the water now, to Elemyr, to whatever Prince rides this way. South, too, to whatever priestess prepares now with her sisters.
I have dreamed of being alone; now that dream is stolen.