Chapter 72
Seventy-two
Jada
After checking in on the progress of the new buildings and the bridge, I head back to my apartment. Things are coming back together so quickly, and I’m pleased with the progress. With a bit of magic and luck, anything is possible—like rebuilding a city within a few cycles.
I’m exhausted, and the to-do list in my mind grows by the second. Explore my magic, touch base with the humans, reach a consensus on what to do with the Cosmic Hall, thank Torin and Faye for the hundredth time. The endless stream of thoughts runs through my mind as I make my way to my bedroom.
I sit on the edge of the bed; the tome containing the prophecy lies before me on top of my plush covers.
Who wrote this? Who prophesied what was to come?
How long ago? I remove the tie binding my hair together, running my hands through the beautiful pink strands.
Will I ever get the answers I need? Something scratches at the back of my memory, something whispered to me in the depths of dawn.
It’s on the tip of my tongue—almost there, but just out of reach. What was it?
I turn towards the window, looking at the beautiful city stretching outwards before me. This is my legacy. A new world filled with opportunity and inclusion.
A soft grin takes over my face. What a legacy to have.
I am everything and nothing, floating in an endless in-between. There’s no pain, no thoughts, just contentment. Am I in the dawnfire once more? Is this life or death or in-between? The thought enters and exits my mind without a moment to truly focus on it.
Once predicted in legends of old,
An object of value—of treasures untold.
Change your future; seal your fate.
You must pass through the final gate.
Four pieces in total, needed to complete—
With them all, destiny, you cheat.
Immortality, to always be,
Start in the land of mist and sea.
Huh? What does this mean? What am I supposed to do with this information?
Passing through gates, cheating destiny, legends of old… This all sounds like a myth. A fairytale I would have picked up in the Library.
“Jada, there is an artefact of immeasurable worth. With it, the fates of the worlds would be altered. Balance must be maintained.”
I startle from my contentment, but the weightlessness calls to me, pulling me back into its embrace. I thought I had restored the balance already. Wasn’t that the whole point of what we just did? “Someone seeks it, but you must find it first.” The voice is female, both comforting and chilling.
“Who are you?”
A pause. “I go by Vala, but others know me by many names.”
“What are you?”
“One of the old gods, determined to right the wrongs done. I have faith in you, daughter. My spirit lives on, in you.”
Daughter?
First, an ancient voice is speaking to me in my dreams, speaking in riddles about some treasure I’m supposed to find, and now she is telling me she is my mother? This sleep is anything but restful.
She continues, but her voice sounds further away. “Travel to Merafeth. There lies the beginning of all answers.”
Gasping, I sit up from where I’ve fallen asleep in bed. Stars, was that my mother?
I rub the sleep away from my face.
She was the one who spoke to me in the Temple of No Return. I remember vividly now. Is she dead? Is that why she only speaks to me in dream-like states? She’s entrusting me with this mission to find a legendary object of incredible value. Not only that, but before someone else does.
For every non-answer I have, a question emerges.
So much for balance.
Fuck.