“N-n-not the… the d-dark… n-not from l-l-light.”
Her voice is scarcely above a whisper.
“N-never…never r-resting.”
“S-soul starved….a-a-and…s-so h-hungry.”
Her fingers twitch weakly against my cloak.
“E-essence of life… d-denied.”
“No f-flesh… th-they… they won’t… find what they s-seek.”
Her head turns toward me, her cheek brushing my chest.
“D-deceit revealed… w-with… rise at hu-humanity’s false end.”
Her eyes flutter open. Unseeing. The whites are faintly visible, as if her mind is somewhere far beyond this moment.
“Power… born… from s-sacrificed babes.”
“The pool…the pool lies.” She jerks once, her head thrashing as if whatever she’s seeing unsettles her.
A tear slips free, disappearing into her hairline.
She speaks names then—softly, reverently.
I hold them. Store them away as carefully as if they were placed directly into my hands. Because something shifts. The muted tones momentarily vanish from her aura as if her soul has all at once flooded with light.
Then…
“Beware. Sisters. Great redeemer and deceiver. T-they come.”
“Children with no shepherd. Proverbs thirteen twenty-four.”
Her fingers tighten around my cloak.
“Handmaiden of God. A gift… of many forms. Bound to conquer the fate of three, unite and reign with mercy.”
I brush her hair back from her temple, tucking it gently behind her ear.
“Do not stray… and forget not…
“…a soul’s…”
She turns more fully into me, her forehead pressing to my chest as if seeking shelter.
“Currency.
“Or the golden hour… salvation will be lost.”
Her voice fades to nearly nothing.
Memories or mad wanderings… or prophecy?
Instinct answers.
The latter.
