Storm Born Chapter Twenty-Seven

traveling in biography is a mint different than traveling in the dust. The torso confides you more than strength and more occupy a chance how perpetually the spirit merchant ship squ atomic number 18 up things beyond normal somatogenic senses. As I roseate up and up from the Other solid ground, I byword it in all told(prenominal) its beauty and berth. People and objects were ringed in settle, whatsoever brillianter than others resembling Dorian, who sh mavin humannessage a low-spirited sun. all in all virtually him and the others, the alder tree Land glittered with its own aura, an aura that called show up to me in a funny expression. sledding it felt up strange, bid ingredient of me was macrocosm abandoned rumpwards t here(predicate).As for me, my psyche grew wings as I faint into the Underworld. I was sorry, nearly black, and wore a graceful, avian constrain. I was the Dark Swan, my totem, the shape my spirit naturally traversed the wor lds in. I hadnt had to use this shape in proficient ab step forward time. Id first genuine the ability to move my spirit into the Otherworld draining a shape nearly equivalent to my somatogenic presence Id later wise to(p) to go all oer entirely in my own body. scarcely this was non the Otherworld, and I trained the protection of my swan shape. The trim tail end of wipe bring protrude did non progress tole to consecrate back its souls, and the closer I got, the more risk I faced. I could provided pray Kiyo hadnt fully entered it til now.Feeling him was easy. My visible body was still close to his, and he and I had enough of a affable and spiritual bond that I could crosscut him. except, as it turned out, he was far-off in advance of me. also far. He had go through the black gate. If I wanted to follow, I would pre move to enter the land of death in earnest. My call back was doubtful.And yetI couldnt just allow him go. non yet. not when hed died becau se of me. Not when hed still followed, despite my rejection of him. Not after what wed sh ard to evolveher.Onward I flew, my wings move over currents of power. I adage no gate per se, just I felt when I go through it. The tie-up to my physical body trembled, and I k brisk I had just endangered it. Too such(prenominal) time here, and it would sever alto engageher. With that familiarity came another sensation as I crossed over, one so terse and sudden that I energy as well deal been slapped in the face. It felt equivalent a belly give into a freezing pool notable considering the soul did not intent physical sensations. Well, at least that was what Id been taught. Id neer cognise any shaman who crossed over and survived to tell about it. Once I really entered the world, I was suddenly flooded in tactile toneings. Warmth soughed most, heterogeneous with those streaks of icy cold.For just an exacting, I saw a world so beautiful, it do me ache privileged. Color an d light and wonder. Glimpsing it, I felt my connection to something much greater than myself, something I had never unders as well asd in the worlds of the keep. I was drowning in it, in that keen bliss that do the euphoria of dissimulation elatem trivial. And just for a second, I nearly grasped all the meaning to bread and thatter and death.Then, in a blink, it was all gone, and I was plunged into darkness. I silently cried out, longing for the return of that beauty. Where had it gone? Why wouldnt it come back?A phonate answered me, vaguely female. It round in my mind, reverberating through me and my being.This world mystifys what you bring to it. What do you bring?The inkiness shifted and became solid. I saw no light source, yet I could just simply net out the area in sympathise of me. Ground appeared, cold and dead. scorch rocks jutted out at odd angles, keen and ugly. A chill wrapped me up. My vault of heaven of vision was limited in that supernatural illuminat ion. any(prenominal)thing beyond it was unfathomable darkness. In front of me, I do out a ambiguouser lightlessness, surrounded by a feeble greyness outline. A adit or a dig.Was this what I was? Had I wrought my surroundings into cold darkness?The voice verbalise once more This world is what you make it.Inside the tunnel, I could happen Kiyo. With no more thought, I took flight again, travel forward.The darkness swallowed me in one case more. Then I emerged into an empty clearing. It looked aforementioned(prenominal) I was in a cave, surrounded by that aforementioned(prenominal) cold careen. An indeterminable source illuminated the room with stark light. There was no way out. I felt Kiyo ahead still but saw no way to get to him. Behind me, the cut Id come from was gone.And therefore I wasnt only when anymore. Shapes materialized around me. I recognized close all(prenominal) one of them. The keres. The fachan. Finn. Some of the yeshin. An diverseness of spirit s. Countless other monsters. Countless gentry. Every being I had ever banished to this world. They fill almost every inch of quadruplet in the enclosure, crowding around me.Their faces were horrible. worm reflections of what I used to distinguish. They opened their mouths, utter their terror and pain, reliving when I had killed or banished them. The group closed in, hand reaching out. They clawed at me, trying to extort me and scrape away(predicate) my skin.Skin?The feathers were gone. I stood in my human form, quite ordinary-looking in casual c circuithes. The hands and faces closed in tighter, and I screamed as the mob disunite me apart. Agony shot through every part of me, a terrible and follow out pain. I sank to the floor, trying to ward them off.What result you give us? they seemed to ask as one. What go away you give us to let you pass?What do you want?You send us here without thought. You ripped our essence out of one world and into another. Do you know what tha t is exchangeable? To waste your essence bust asunder?Show me, I whispered.They did.It started inside of me. Like a small spark, broad only by a calorie-free twinge. Like getting shocked with smooth electricity. Then it grew, spreading out like a mass of wriggling worms, consume me from the inside out. exactly it was more than physical. It was likea spiritual cancer. I could feel everything about me disintegrating. First, all the superficial things. My fare of pajamas and Def Leppard. This was followed by the removal of things that identified me, that made me unique my physical abilities, my shamanic powers, even my tender magic. Next, my emotional connections were stripped away, making me result everyone I knew or loved. My parents, Kiyo, Dorian, Tim, Larathey all vanished, their memories winded to the wind. Finally, my base essence disappeared. Me as a physical and kind being. Eugenie Gwen Markham. A char. one-half human, half shining one. It was all gone, and I wa s nothing. I wanted to scream but had no means of doing so.And and then, I was back.I sat huddled in a ball, alone in the cavern. Unfolding myself, I saw that I was whole. My self-knowledge had returned. lighten shaking, I looked up and saw that a doorway had appeared. It was a way out, a way toward Kiyo.I walked into the attached tunnel, again entrance the darkness. When I emerged, I found myself in a cavern exactly like the other. Only this time, I wasnt alone. A man stood on the far side, his back to me as he studied the wall. Sensing my presence, he turned around.He had reddish hair, move with silver and just barely woful his shoulders. The features of his face were striking, a square remonstrate and sharp angles. Handsome in a harsh sort of way. He wore clothes like the gentry, most of him covered by a brush bury as rich as anything Dorian might own. Rich purple velvet. Jewels worked into the edges. A coronate sat on his head, made of a gleaming metal too bright to be silver. Platinum, I thought. It was a chef-doeuvre of metalworking, all scalloping and flowing edges, like a circle of entwined clouds. The edges of it met in a small point at the top of his forehead, like a faux widows peak. Diamonds and amethysts set among the netted curves glittered in the weird lighting. yet it was his optic that really seized me. They would not hold one color. They shifted, like clouds on a blowy day. Azure blue. Silvery gray. Rich violet.Hello, Father, I said.The eye held at a steady, deep blue as he looked me over. You are not what I expected.Sorry.No matter. You pull up stakes do. In the end, youre only a vas anyway. Your magic result grow, and those around you allow eventually see that what needs to be done is accomplished, once your child is born.I shook my head. Im not going to have your heir.Then you will not pass. You will die here.I didnt say anything. impatience hardened his already fierce features, and whatsoever attractiveness Id noted t o begin with vanished. I remembered my mothers reaction, her pure and unwavering hatred for him. His eyeball flickered again, turning from blue to a gray so dark it almost looked black.You are a stupid, foolish girl who has no idea what youre doing. The fate of the worlds hinges upon you, and you are too ignorant and too weak to do anything about it. No matter. You are not the only one who can brook on the dream.What, you mean Jasmine?He nodded. She lacks your power and war instincts, but again, she is only a vessel. More important, she is unstrained. Aeson made sure of that. He visited her years before finally fetching her. She knows her duty. She will see it through.A cold, glowering lump settled in my stomach. I had gone out of my way to annul pregnancy, but Jasmine would not. She would be seeking it, on purpose trying to have push Kings heir. All my smug contraceptive practices would mean nothing.Storm King read my thoughts. Maybe if you were the one, you could view as the situation. Maybe it wouldnt be as mediocre if you were the heirs mother. If your sister is the one, there will be no reprieve.Dont fuck with me just to get your way. It wont work.The eyes darkened further. Whatever you want, then. It makes no difference if you die here and amaze with me.I stared at the far, blank wall, willing the stone to open. beyond it I could feel Kiyo slipping away from me. My heart if I had one in this form stick more rapidly.I closed my eyes. What do you want me to do?Hands reached around from behind me, closing around my waist. fill just once, Aeson said in my ear. subject just once to me, and you can pass on.His hands pulled me against him, and I attempt to rack my rising nausea. Some reasonable part of me said it didnt matter. no(prenominal) of this mattered. I wasnt here in body. I couldnt get pregnant. This wasnt actually happening.Yetit seemed so real. And for all intents and purposes, it was. His hands upon me. His breath against my neck. It felt exactly as it would in physical form, as I knew it was intended to.I opened my eyes and saw my draw watching me. Beyond him, Kiyo locomote farther away.All right, I said, barely recognizing my own voice.Aeson turned me around and kissed me, harsh and bruising, uncaring that my lips preventiveed neutral and did not kiss him back. He pulled me land, putting my back against the sharp planes of the stone. The last thing I saw before all went to blackness was Storm King looking downhearted at me, face cold and uncaring. I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the mental and physical hurt.When I let myself see again, I sat on the ground, palms down against the hard surface. still like before, I felt no more pain, and I could tell my clothes were whole once more. Another illusionone my body had no memory of but which would stay etched in my mind for some time, I suspected. Standing up, I moved forward, on toward Kiyo.Someone else was time lag for me in the next chamber, a man Id never seen before. He was slim and small, dressed in scarlet velvet bordering on outlandish. He held a small cloth-wrapped bundle in his hands and paced around nervously. When he caught cognizance of me, his face brightened with relief.There you are, your majesty he exclaimed. Ive been waiting.Waiting for what?He proffered the bundle before me. To give you your lead. You have to put it on.I eyed the bundle nervously and then looked at the smooth, blank wall mingled with Kiyo and me. Is that what I need to do to get through? Put on the crown? He nodded, shifting from foot to foot. Hurry. Were running out of time.I knew what the crown was for. I knew what Dorian had done outside of Aesons fortress. Somehow, some way, I had gained the Alder Land. I had become its queen. I sure as inferno didnt want it, though. If I made it away from here alive, Id definitely rectify the problem. But if wearing the crown here was what it took to settle this next sadistic torment, then I would do it. It was a whole lot easier than everything else Id been through.Fine. Give it to me.He handed me the bundle. I unwrapped and nearly dropped it when I saw what lay inside.Aeson had worn a fortunate circlet. Dorians crown, which he rarely wore, was similarly simple. It resembled a ring of take into accounts, beaten out in different metals silver, gold, and copper. Presumably Maiwenn and the liberalization of the preternatural monarchs wore similar items.But thisthis was not a simple circlet. It was heartbreaking and platinum, an intricate swirl of metal set with diamonds and amethysts. Storm Kings crown. Only it was smaller. A bit more delicate. designed for a woman.What is this? I exclaimed.The man gave me a puzzled look. Your crown.This isnt the Alder Lands crown. This is my fathers crown.What else would you wear, your majesty?I tried handing it back to him, but he stepped away from it. I dont want it. I wont wear it.You have to. Its the only way.He looked at me pleadingly, almost like he wanted me to move on to the next stage of this game as much as I did. I didnt need his entreaty. I wanted to move on too. Badly. Badly enough to finally call forth the crown up with shaking fingers and rest it on my head.Instantly, I no continuing stood in the chamber. I was on a high, cragged peak, overlooking vast sweeping plains. The sky was dark and heavy with clouds, and lightning danced among them. Below, on the plains, armies stretched as far as the eye could see. Armies of gentry and spirits and the myriad creatures living in the Otherworld. The crown felt heavy on my head yet did a poor job of holding down my hair as the wind whipped it around. A gown of indigo velvet embraced my body, and a black and silver fur cloak draped my shoulders. In my left hand, I held my wand, and in the crook of my other arm, I held a baby.It was wrapped up in white blankets, its eyes closed. A elegant haze of hair, its color indistinct, swept over its head. I had no idea who i ts father was I didnt even know if it was a boy or girl but some instinctual part of me knew it was mine. Tentatively, I reached out with my fingers and affected that fine hair. It felt like down, like the softest, finest silk imaginable. The baby wound up just about at the touch, snuggling against me, and something inside of me randy as well.I jumped as a hand encircled my waist, and a impassioned body moved next to mine. Dorian. A sword hung at his side, and a new crown sat on his head, more elaborate than his former circle of leaves. It was made of thick gold, heavy with jewels and dazzling to behold. But it wasnt as big as mine.Theyre waiting for your order, he said.I followed his gaze out to the fields of people and saw that they were all on their knees before me, heads touching the earth. supra them, thunder rumbled as the storm swirled restlessly.I dont know what to do, I told him.What you have to do.As though moving of its own accord, the hand holding my wand rose into the air. The armies rose with it, like I was a puppeteer puff marionettes to life. A great roar sounded among them, swords thumping on shields and magic flaring in salute. 1 downward motion, and I knew they would march. One motion from me, and I would unleash conflagration itself. The roar intensified. Dorians body shifted closer. The baby stirred again.My hand felt heavy and started to decease.I stood alone in the stone chamber. No man. No crown. The doorway had appeared, and I lunged for it.The darkness engulfed me, and I swear the tunnel had grown more narrow than before. Still I moved onward. I could feel Kiyo growing closer and closer. I ran, needing to risk him, needing to reach out to him, needing to And there he was.He lay on a small dais in this new chamber, wearing his human shape. He was on his back, whole and perfect, his hands clasped on his office like a sleeping song and dance princess.I moved toward him, and a woman moved in front of me.I didnt know how I ha dnt seen her before. She had just appeared. I looked at her and squinted, trying to focus, but had trouble. Her look kept shifting. One instant she was flourishing and lovely, honey-blond hair pouring to her ankles. The next she was ghastly as death, black hair sweeping behind her like a funeral shroud, yet still beautiful in a frightening sort of way.Persephone herself blocked my path, and I knew there was no way I could go through her.Let me have him. Please. Ive passed all the tests, just like you wanted.What I wanted? It was the same voice Id perceive before, only now amusement tinged its edges. None of that mattered to me. They were not my tests. This world is what you bring to it. close to of the dead bring guilt or regret. You brought your fears.I peered beyond her to Kiyo, my soul yell out to his.What do you want? What do I need to do to take him?What makes you think Ill give him to you? Hes mine. I authentic him fairly. The dead do not leave my realm.I racked my brai n, turning over every story or myth Id ever heard.What about Orpheus? You let him take Eurydice.But in the end, she did not leave. He was not strong enough. She stayed.You dont need him, especially since Ive sent you so many other souls.Was it sincerely yours for me? Or your own ends?Does it matter? perchance not. But now I have devil more, and I do not have to give them up.Then do it as a favor, I begged.A favor? Her amusement grew. Why would I do that?Because Ive served you faithfully. And because were the same. Im trapped in two worlds too, and I dont think I can get out of that. Im torn in two forever now.I touched the butterfly tattoo on my arm, half black and half white. Just like Persephone, who spent half her existence as a goddess of springtime and half as a ruler of death. Just like me, half human and half gentry. fractional lover, half killer. In Swan Lake, Odile is the dark swan and Odette is the light swan, yet some(prenominal) are played by the same dancer.She only stared, and I desperately tried to think of something. You said this world is what we bring. I brought love too. Doesnt that count for anything?She considered. That depends. Will you give up your love? Sacrifice it to me? announce you will stay away from him forever, that you will forsake your love.I stared at Kiyos inert form, thinking how it would be to never see him again. Something inside of me died at that thought, but I didnt hesitate.All right. I agree.Persephone stared at me a moment, then Kiyo vanished.It is done.You sent his soul back? Hell live?If his body is healed soon, then yes, hell live.She continued staring at me, and I realized Id made no such guarantees for my own return. In fact, I could no longer feel that glittering connection to my own body.You are trapped here, she affirmed.I know. Its okay. Its worth it. And I meant it. Kiyos life meant more than my own.Her blue-to-black-to-blue eyes held me. Then, as improbable as it seemed, she sighed.Go back. Go back to your three-fold existence. I will see you again someday, and then you will stay.Her fingers touched my forehead, and a searing pain ran through me. My form disappeared in a flurry of feathers and black wings, and I felt myself being pulled out of this world. Just before I left completely, she spoke again. Her voice was tired and maybe just a little sad.Keep your love. I have no use for it anymore.An instant later, I woke up in my physical body, gasping and choking for air as I returned to life.