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FREYJA
As soon as I rest my hand on the tree, everything falls away and goes silent. After what feels like an eternity, bright light floods my vision and I raise my free arm to shield my face a moment before it dims.
I’m standing in the middle of a field. Dark smoke billows all around me, and the smell of smoke and ash are heavy on the wind. The glowing, blood-red eyes of dozens of Wraiths glare at me from their skeletal faces, lips pulled back to bare their razor-sharp fangs. Their tattered black cloaks wave in the wind, covering their twisted, grotesque forms as they hover over the ground.
The vision changes and I’m still standing on the field, but it is covered in blood and littered with bodies. Amongst the chaos, I notice a flash of silver-white scales. “Aurdyn!” I race across the field, dropping to my knees before his bloodied and broken form.
I cup his cheek, but he does not respond. Tears sting my eyes and flow down my cheeks. “No!” I cry out. “I don’t understand. How did this—”
“Will you sacrifice yourself for him?” a voice whispers in my mind, and I still.
“Who is this?”
“Will you sacrifice your life for his?” the voice asks, this time more insistent. “Answer me.”
“Yes,” I reply without hesitation. “I will. What do I have to do? Tell me how to bring him back,” I demand. “Now!”
“Learn to wield your powers, and trust your heart, Freyja. You will know when the moment arrives,” it replies. “Tell no one what you saw here.”
“But I do not know how to use my magic. I cannot—”
A surge of warmth rushes through me, burning through my veins as heat sears my palms. My mouth falls open as the knowledge of how to call forth my fire and bend it to my will floods my mind.
The vision fades and my eyes blink open to find that I’m still standing with my hand resting on the heart tree. I rip my hand away from it as if burned, staring at my shaking palm in disbelief. I whip my head toward High Priest Arkon. His wide eyes meet mine and I take a stumbling step forward, and then fall to the ground.
“Freyja!” Aurdyn’s voice cries out as if from a faraway place as I tumble away into oblivion.
CHAPTER34
AURDYN
Scooping her limp form up into my arms, I rush Freyja toward the back of the temple where the caretakers reside. A priestess guides me to lay her down on one of the sofas. “What is wrong with her?” My voice echoes through the cavernous space, bouncing off the glass dome overhead and the ivory stone walls.
Arkon moves to my side. “The spirit of the heart tree, did it speak to you?”
I open my mouth to reply yes, but remember what it said about telling no one of my vision.
Arkon dips his chin in a nod. “I understand.”
“It spoke to me as well,” Arkon says as the priestess and several others gather around us, listening eagerly to his words. “She is a sanishon. One of those foretold in the prophecy of the Great Uniters.”
“You are certain?” I ask, and he gives me a solemn nod.
Freyja stirs on the sofa and then opens her eyes. They widen slightly when she notices the crowd of priestesses and priests gathered around her.
“Give her space,” I command. “Now.”
She pushes herself up to sitting. “What happened?”
“You passed out.” I take her hand. “As soon as you stepped away from the heart tree.”
“It spoke to me.” Her eyes sweep to Arkon. “But it told me not to speak of what was said.”
His gaze darts briefly to me before returning to her. “Whatever was spoken, was between you and the great spirit, and was given to you to help guide your path.”
Freyja’s brow furrows deeply. “I understand,” she murmurs. “Did it speak to you as well?”
We both nod. “You are the sanishon foretold in the ancient prophecy,” Arkon says. “I suspected this already, when we met, but it has now been confirmed. The spirit of the heart tree would not have spoken to you if you were not the destined one.”
