Chapter 32 #2
“Balance, indeed. Of course, this knowledge did little to cease the couplings. There were many of the light who loved each other, as well as the dark. They feared what would happen to that relationship, that bond, when they grew to find their true equal. Their mate. Chaos provided an alternative route.”
“Chaos lured them to their side by the promise of eternal love?”
“Yes. Except the deal was ruinous from the onset. Naturally, this information was only privy to Chaos. If you entered an agreement with them, you offered the kernel of your soul that was given to you by your parent. Your light, or your darkness, was given to Chaos. Once your essence was gone, no matter what love was promised to you, your partner would not return it, for you were not the same.”
Unrequited love.
The young girl in the sky returned, winking at me before prancing off into the distance.
Did she, too, know the absence of a parent’s love?
The yearning to be accepted as you were, to be loved and valued rather than used?
I had been passed from my parents to my uncle, to Rai.
If I had had a love like she described, what lengths would I have gone to save it?
“What did Chaos do with the essences?” I feared I knew the answer.
“Chaos consumed them, believing that with enough of Dawn and Dusk’s magic, they would regain their strength. Only this time, they would possess much of the magic that had kept them at bay throughout their battles in the past. Giving Chaos an advantage. Magic of the three.”
I shuddered at the thought. To be lured by love, only to watch it crumble to dust. A building collapsed to time. A home without a hearth. A body without a soul.
“Dawn feared what would happen to not only the Celestials but the Fae, Nymphs, and humans if Chaos somehow regained their strength, and if their army continued to amass. That was when she and Dusk created the Home of Souls. It was tasked to me to manage Osmerra, and this.” She gestured her arms around her, trying to encompass everything here.
“That is quite a task to give a singular person,” I said, gazing up at the galaxies that continued to thrum, new sounds pulsing from each star. “Even if that person is a God.”
How was I connected to this? Was I to be the relayer of this tale? Was that my reason? Brida would have been better suited to the task. Who would even believe me?
“It has been.” She sighed, she too grew tired from our journey and from the story she was being forced to retell.
“In the first war, we were well matched, as we were at our full strength. The majority of humans, Nymphs, and Fae sided with Dusk and Dawn, knowing that they were their only hope. However, there were the odd few who were swayed by Chaos, their promises were tempting to be sure, but the majority of us saw through it.”
We were nearing the peak of the dune, and my legs were burning. “What’s happening?” I asked, suddenly desperate for water.
“This is the final test, Lil. Only those ready to face their emotions, to be shown their reason, are able to make this climb.” Hild said, turning to face me, offering me her hand. “Just a few more steps.”
I reached for it, allowing her to pull me until we finally reached the top.
At the base of the hill, mounted in the sand, stood three doors.
Above, the swirling galaxies from the sky looked as if they were weeping.
Trails of light appeared like woven tears, threads surrounding each of the doors like vines on a tree.
And in the sky, rested a young girl, smiling down at me, waiting for me to arrive.
I was awed by the majesty of what I was seeing. There were no words to describe the beauty, the serenity, the calm. For the first time in what felt like decades, my mind was quieted. Blank. At peace.
“It’s changed since we were last here. Good to see it’s keeping up with the times.” She said as she patted me on the back before resuming her easy stride. “Come now. The story’s not over.”
To my relief, my leg lifted easily, my pace quickened.
“The humans died quickly, in that first war. It was horrible to witness. But I spent little time on the battlefields. I was sent here—to ensure everything worked as it should.” Hild continued.
“The stories the poets and singers tell you of battles fought over jilted lovers, while some of those may be true, the core motivation of those wars was hatred. A hatred embedded into those who served Chaos from the onset of their creation. Because the part of their souls that had been given away had been filled with hatred in its stead.”
“What is the Home of Souls?” I finally asked, eyes focused straight ahead of me on the door to the right. It’s carved wood speaking to me in a way I couldn’t explain.
“The Home of Souls serves as a regenerator. A place for a soul to come, once its physical vessel has died. It will return to a form once a suitable replacement has been found. The thought originally,” Hild said as she turned to face me, “was that this would work for every soul. However, we learned quickly that only the souls of the Celestials would live on.”
“Live on how?”
“Celestials, Primals rather,” she rolled her eyes, “Fae, human, Nymphs, they all coupled. If you can say anything about what Dawn and Dusk gave to their children, it was the desire to procreate, and procreate they did. Before we Primals realized we each had a mate, many copulated and had more offspring than they could count. Well, you see, that created specific bloodlines, ones directly tied to Dawn, Dusk, and eventually, Chaos.”
“Bloodlines.”
“Yes,” she said, “and while everyone carries the essence of their ancestors with them, in the case of the Primals, that became quite literal. If you were a descendant of one of the original Primals, you could become a host as it were, when their soul decided to reincarnate.”
“A host,” I said, appalled by the idea. “What would happen to the person whose body they were overtaking?”
“Dawn knew it was a flawed system. But you see, Dawn herself had been killed in one of the many battles, as had Dusk. And they had come to the Home of Souls.” Hild sighed, “The last version of Dawn was a woman named Thale. She wished to fix the system, however Chaos caught her, entrapping her in the Pool of Vitality before she was able to change it.”
“What happens to them? What happens to those whose bodies are used as vessels?” I repeated myself, my tone firmer.
“You share the body and soul of the host. Thale was Thale, but as time progressed, she lost herself to Dawn. Two souls, especially that of a god, in one physical form is too much to ask of anyone.”
“So they lose themselves, and everything they are? All so these fucking gods don’t have to die?” My blood was racing, my voice shrill enough to crack glass. They’re parasites.
“The idea behind the Home of Souls had been honorable in its inception, but like when Dawn had gone to make humans, something about her magic had changed. Eldara had changed.”
I folded my arms over my chest, ushering her to continue.
“Chaos, we still are unsure how, was stealing magic, regaining their strength. Chaos unleashed terror in Hadash—a part of Eldara that had been teeming with forests had its magic leached from the mountains, the ground—the earth there has never recovered, it remains a barren waste.” She said, running a hand through her long, shimmering hair.
“When Dawn fell to Chaos in the final battle, she did not return here. For millennia, we have waited for her. Dusk lived many lives without knowledge of where his mate was. A condition that drove him to madness, but that had been Chaos’s plan.
” Hild turned to face me. “Chaos made another deal with the Pool of Vitality. A deal that we only learned of these past months. Dawn would be bound to the pool, and could only be freed by a human, her most treasured creation in the eyes of Chaos.”
The stars shone brighter, rising to their peak as the story hit its crescendo.
“Chaos knew that as the centuries passed, as time marched on that she would be forgotten, her children would cease to remember their celestial mother. The pool, the Celestials, our magic, all of it would be forgotten. Thus condemning her to an eternity trapped in its depths.”
“What…” I cleared my throat, “is the pool, exactly?”
“No one is quite sure. Not even Dawn. A life source, to be certain, but to what extent?” She clicked her tongue.
“What happened to Chaos after they did this?”
“We expected Chaos to then come for the rest of us, but they disappeared.”
“Disappeared where?”
“No one has known. Not until recently.”
I could feel my heart racing in my chest. Waves crashing against the rock, attempting to knock me over. “What’s changed?”
Hild’s expression grew weary, her brows furrowing, “The ground has been dying once more.”