Chapter Thirty Three
HIMMEL
The Hall of the Sky waited like star-kissed dawn.
At once cozy and known, though she’d never seen it before and couldn’t pierce the interior, Himmel longed to curl up inside, sigh, and sleep the ages away.
Concentrated sky arcane twirled within, speeding around.
It manifested almost as an extension of herself.
Himmel existed within this place as much as she existed without.
Of course she did; this was her Seat of Power.
Yet, she couldn’t even enter. The arcane blocked her.
It felt wrong and diabolical to be kept from her own Hall. Souls awaited within. She felt them stirring and flickering, protected by Onskar’s prodigious power. They were those who died within the realm of the sky. They must be few compared to the sea and the land, but all precious nonetheless.
The Hall of the Sky perched atop a gigantic mountain made of sea-washed stone covered with mossy drapes. The towering pillar jutted from the waves as a narrow behemoth with little more than size and treacherous warning. No human would approach, with the rock-freckled sea surrounding it.
Longing drew her up the facets in bursts and swirls.
She found a thin ledge that Einar and Mila might shuffle along, but it promised death, not hope.
As she twirled higher, the arcane warned her, whispering of protections, worthiness, and proof.
Himmel understood. She could not bring the humans. They had to climb to it themselves.
To the top she scuttled, but found no safe path that satisfied her.
Einar and Mila would scramble to their deaths up this mountain.
No talisman could protect them from the perilous fall or Einar’s mortality.
But his longing to find his lover, and Mila’s desire to save Pedr, would draw them towards the Hall.
Where would they enter?
She sought, but could not find an entrance. The protective arcane, at once familiar and foreign, allowed her no admittance.
Einar and Mila must take their chances and proceed on their own.