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“No,” he groaned as if straining. “I doubt there is anything I have to say that she’d want to hear. You need to hurry. Sending your consciousness to another realm isn’t as easy as it may appear.”
“How long do I have?”
“Minutes,” Hydum answered.
“Okay then.” I took a breath, spotting steps carved into the rocks, and I began my climb. Several minutes later, I was at the cave's entrance. There were torches lit on either side of it, and instinctively, I knew Tedara was inside.
I could feel her.
I entered the cave, the darkness before me impenetrable, but more torches began to light themselves as I walked.
I took another step, then hit some sort of barrier. I couldn't go any farther.
“Whatever you’re doing, stop!” I heard Hydum yell. "You can't go too far in the realm or your consciousness will separate from your body, and I'll lose you."
I heard chains as he spoke.
"You should listen to him," a weak voice said. It was a woman's voice, and I grew excited… but it wasn't my emotion. “I knew you’d find a way to come to me, to hear me.”
“Tedara?” I called into the darkness, but the sound of rattling chains was the only response I got. “I can’t see you.”
“It’s been so long since I’ve spoken to another,” Tedara said, and I exhaled with relief, but it wasn't just my relief. It was hers that I was feeling. "Free me, child."
I swallowed hard. “I can’t. The virus you created is hurting people. It’s taking lives.”
"Taking lives," she repeated as a whisper. "Do you know what it's like to be trapped for eons by the ones you tried to help?” Her voice had risen with each word, and a strong wind came from within the darkness, causing me to stumble backward.
“Fools, all of them, greedy fools!” Tedara yelled. "I tried to save lives, but instead, they stole mine. Free me! I can feel them, all of them, suffering."
“You can feel who?” I asked.
"You, all of you, all who are infected, I can feel you. That's how I felt you, Natalie, and knew you wouldn’t be controlled by chaos. I felt your resolve, and I knew you’d be strong enough to get to this point, to speak to me, to help me.”
“Did you purposefully do this to me?” I asked. “It wasn’t just by chance?”
“Mistake,” she repeated. “I’ve made many.”
She wasn't speaking clearly, and as Hydum had warned, she didn’t seem stable. But at this rate, I'd run out of time without learning anything. Perhaps I could talk her into closing the rip itself.
Then I shook my head. I couldn’t see myself talking her into remaining in this place.
“I’m sorry this was done to you, Tedara," I said, and the rattling chains fell silent. "Being subjected to eternity alone is a dreadful punishment. I was told what happened, that you watched something pure begin to rot, and you wanted to start over.” I took a deep breath. “I understand how you felt. But would you have kept wiping the slate clean every time something didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to?" I asked. "You’d murder billions of people in your pursuit of perfection. And perfection doesn't exist, not even in the gods."
I shook my head and looked down at my hands. "Magic and power—even those things aren't perfect. All we can do is try to do the best we can, to live the best lives we can. To find happiness and cherish it when we do.
"I can feel you, your anger and regret. But I killed a woman, an infected soul, and others have died, others will keep dying, and that'll be on you and no one else." My eyes searched the darkness, but still, I couldn't see her. "You'd unleash chaos to end the chaos. That doesn't seem right to me, but I won't ask you to stop trying to break free. However, I will ask you to stop the virus and consider my words that people deserve to live as they wish, good or bad. Take solace in knowing the good is gifted peace in the end, and the bad are punished as they deserve. There is balance.”
There was silence for a time, and I wondered if she'd heard anything I said.
“She must be proud of you,” Tedara whispered. “Your true mother, the Werewolf Goddess. Your soul is one of few who are bright. But… I can’t stop the virus.”
My shoulders fell. “Why?”
“Because I’m not the one doing it,” Tedara replied, and I frowned. Her chains rattled, and I took a step forward but was once more stopped by a barrier. "These chains were never a part of my punishment, young Enchanted. These were given to me by another."
"What are you saying? You're being used? Someone else is behind the virus? But how is that possible?"
“Natalie,” I heard Hydum calling, but I ignored him.
