42. Chapter 42
Ilooked at Malik, almost unbelieving. But in truth, nothing made more sense.
Everything was still around us as the words, their meaning, and everything Myaella had said all sunk in and made a home in my mind. There were so many things I wanted to say in that moment, all of them swirling in my mind at the same time.
"Did you know this?" I asked, for it was the only thing that I could find strength to say.
Malik nodded, defeat and guilt flashing across his face. "I knew the moment it happened during the Shroud. Myaella told me what I was, that my reason for existing was to provide a balance to you."
I studied Malik, realizing what this meant for us, how suddenly, everything made sense.
This is the beginning of the balance. That phrase that had haunted me this entire journey, finally revealing its meaning.
I thought I had understood what those words meant back in Myaella's temple, when everything from the last ten years between Malik and I was laid bare, but I couldn't have been more wrong.
Malik and I were each other's perfect opposites, the perfect balance for the Divine needs of this world. Me, a bringer of life, and him, the power that ensured that life could continue to flourish.
We were always more than just a boy and a girl, Malik and I. Destined for one another in every way. Even long before the Shroud, this was meant to happen, his hesitancy to everything the Mother Blessed represented leading him here.
"You two weren't brought together by chance," Myaella said behind us, causing us both to turn and look towards her once more.
"Some fates are not clear to even the Divine until they happen, but this was always your destiny.
It is why you were both born in Sorrel, why you were betrothed to one another. It was all leading up to this."
"Why?" I asked. "Why involve us in the politics of the Divinity?"
“There is much you do not know about the home of the Divine,” Myaella started.
“This fight between my sister and I is a millennium long and will continue for a millennium more. It is why she made this world in the first place, why she fled the Caelium. But I found her again and now she has fled for the rifts between worlds, running from me and this fight. It is long from over. One day, in time, you will understand, but for now, all you need to know is that this world is new and has a chance of a different destiny than all the others have fallen into. This world will be ancient, but only if it accepts the balance—no more, no less. There are revelers who remain on Yllsora, as they will need to continue to balance what it is the Mother Blessed take from the roots. You must work with them.”
Before, her words would have seemed impossible, such a thing unable to transpire, but now I knew it must, that it could, because the revelers had shown me that Yllsora could find peace again when we worked together.
"I have helped you," Myaella continued. "But it is up to you to save Rida. Once that is done, you must continue the balance, or else I cannot promise that Yllsora will last much longer."
She leveled her gaze with mine.
"This world is in your hands now. Do not fail."
Myaella studied us for one last moment before she left with a wisp of the wind, as if she was never there, the Divine leaving this world for the final time.
"Allyra, please," Therian begged behind me, having witnessed everything Myaella had just told us. "I see the purpose now. I see why we need the Mother Blessed, and Rida. Please, I—"
The roots did not give Therian a chance to make amends, pulling him beneath the surface, suffocating and squeezing all the life from him until he was one with the myco below, his body now feeding the very thing he was once determined to misunderstand.
I tried to find it in me to feel remorse, to feel some sort of grief for the man I had been with for the last seven years, but I felt nothing but relief, like I was finally released from a long, suffocating hold.
Malik stepped beside me, still a good distance away. I stepped towards him then, needing to be closer, but he only backed away, fear and wariness tracing every bit of his features.
His eyes had gone black, the pupil expanding to cover his entire iris. And there was something darker there, a twinge of something I had never seen from him before. A look in his eye that showed me just everything he was capable of, even if he didn't want to admit it to himself.
Even with the fear that shot through me as I saw the full breadth of his power, I still felt drawn to him despite it.
I still felt the need to be near him, because underneath all that darkness, I could still see the Malik I knew so well.
I had no reason to fear him, for he had every opportunity to turn on me since he returned and he hadn't.
Something settled in me at the realization, a breath of relief escaping as I moved to approach him, only for Malik to take another step back at my movements.
"Lyra, you need to get out of here. Away from me, at least," he said, his voice gravelly, his eyes downcast and angled away from me.
"I'm fine right here," I insisted, stepping closer to him.
Malik raised a hand, keeping me at an arm's distance away.
"I don't want you to get hurt," he said, his voice wavering with restraint.
"You've already shown that you won't hurt me. I've lasted this long by your side; I think I can last a little longer."
He looked at me then, his dark eyes softening, a twinge of the man who I knew lay under his powers coming back up to the surface.
"You won't hurt me, Malik."
I stepped closer to him, tracing the veins along his eyes, seeing how his powers affected him much like mine did.
Malik laced his fingers in mine then, and I saw the darkness of the veins there too, so similar to the ones on my own.
Together we studied our hands, both bearing scars of the fate we had been dealt—the evidence of our new reality and a glimpse into what the future held for us.
The unknown should have scared me, should have made me freeze in place, but I felt nothing but sturdy assurance as Malik and I stood there, taking in the aftermath of what had happened.
The field around Rida was scorched, the city of Hythe still standing but damaged, the temples of the Mother Blessed destroyed from the mainland men's flame.
It was quieter than I imagined it would be, the only sounds were the movements of the people of Hythe and the Mother Blessed taking stock of their homes and the damage that was done.
It would be a long road before Hythe found normalcy again, if they ever would.
The only constant in life, after all, is change.
I thought our work was done until Rida creaked behind us, her trunk still weak from where the king's men had burned it, the smallest bit of rot still making its way up her trunk.
That was the first moment I felt truly helpless, depleted of power and unsure of what to do next. There was a cycle to all things, yes, but Rida was the one thing we could not lose. The Mother Blessed could not uphold Yllsora without her, and Yllsora could not live without the Mother Blessed.
I looked to Malik, desperation radiating off me as I gripped his hand tighter. The sides of his eyes crinkled as he looked to me and back to Rida, going silent as he so often did when he was deep in thought.
Finally, after long moments of watching Rida sway with bated breath, Malik looked back to me.
"Do you trust me?" he asked.
I nodded, knowing with every part of my being that I would stand by his side no matter what.
He then took my other hand, guiding me back to the base of Rida, pressing my hands to the roots that were so large, they towered above us.
"Malik, I can't," I said, knowing he wanted me to draw on my power, but having none left.
"Trust me. Just start channeling your power."
I did as he said, drawing the small drop of power I had left and pushing it into the trunk.
Immediately, the roots began to hiss back, the little strength I had beginning to wane, the pain starting to find its way into my veins.
I felt myself begin to succumb to it and embrace the light that began to shine behind my eyes, the exhaustion of everything leading up to that point finally coming to a head.
I accepted my fate, going towards that bright, beckoning light, only to feel Malik place his hand on my back, between my shoulder blades, a surge of power pushing from his hand into my body.
It felt so different from my own power, yet so similar. Where mine felt like a soft breath, Malik's felt like a sudden surge, strong yet gentle, the pair of us not so different after all.
I stood there, propped up by Malik as he continued to feed into me, the combination of his power and the energy of Yllsora surging into my body unlike anything I had ever experienced before.
It was powerful and warm, like a caress from the inside out, like being born again.
Light and energy coursed through my veins, my power finding new life in my body with Malik's help, giving me the strength to drown out the rot that had made a home in Rida's trunk.
The grass around us depleted, the blades gray and crunched, and for a moment I feared that we wouldn't be able to do it. That we wouldn't be able to save Rida, that we would not be able to continue on as Myaella said, and would not be able to keep Yllsora alive as the Divine decreed.
Even with Malik's boost, my power waned for a moment as the thoughts consumed me. That even after everything it might all be for nothing.
"Keep pushing, Allyra," Malik said in my ear, wrapping his arms around me. "This isn't over. I've got you."
I leaned into Malik's strength, letting him hold me as I pushed, our powers combining into a force that ran over the roots, forcing the rot down from Rida's base and back into the depths of the earth, back to where it could feed, and not kill.
There was a burst of power from beneath us, the full breadth of Rida's power emerging once again as we stumbled back and looked up, watching as Rida sprang back to life.