41. Chapter 41
Istood before Myaella and Malik, the weight of what the Mother Blessed had done that night, the guilt I had hidden for the last ten years finally bubbling its way up to the surface.
I had tried so hard to forget it, to not let it haunt me, yet it had always been there, in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
"A part of you knew, didn't it?" Myaella asked. "That what you did was the reason for the Shroud."
I could not stop the shaking of my hands, nor the wave of cold that made its way over my body as I remembered that night, and the panic we all felt once we realized what we had done, that we could not take it back.
"If you would have just accepted it for what was when it was happening, if you would have just let the boy die and not pushed him past his limits, given him to the roots to feed, this wouldn't have had to happen."
I shook my head, not wanting to hear her words, not wanting to accept the truth of them. "You want us to let people die? When we have the ability to save them?"
"It is a part of being alive. It is a part of the balance, and essential for the survival of Yllsora.
Even the Divine do not stay in this state forever.
We move on to the stars when the time comes, joining the very universe we help create.
It is how it must be. With all that the Mother Blessed take, you have to give something in return.
It's the only way this world will survive. "
"Does it have to be that?" I asked.
"It does. There must be a balance."
"But now you have brought us needless war and suffering," I said. "You have made it so the Mother Blessed suffer. We cannot even use our powers as we once were able."
Myaella shook her head. "Everyone on Yllsora would have suffered in time.
What I have done has only made the Mother Blessed stronger.
Without destruction, the light wouldn't be as bright.
And you, my dear, are very powerful, beyond anything you can comprehend.
You were on a path similar to Mirelda's and needed to meet your match before it was too late. "
I shook my head, not wanting to learn anymore, not wanting to know how the Divine had manipulated my life. But still, I had to know.
"What do you mean my match?" I asked.
"As Divinity, we have the ability to imbue mortals with our magic. You know already that my sister imbued you, giving you a drop of her Divinity. And once I saw the path Yllsora was going on, I knew I had to do the same."
I struggled to wrap my mind around what Myaella said.
"The revelers?" I asked.
"Not quite. The revelers are my Mother Blessed, a balance to you all as a being. But no, you, Allyra, needed your own match. Someone with a drop of my Divinity, the way you have a drop of my sister's."
"And who did you imbue?"
A knowing smile crossed Myaella's face as she looked beyond me, at something over my shoulder.
"Look behind you."
I turned, not ready for what I was to find, only to see Malik, standing tall, his gaze trained on me.