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“It is my fault. I killed you,” I said through tears.
With Lumi no longer holding them back, the Spirits of the world, too long kept in Tal, streamed between us, pushing us apart.
Dimitri’s hand tightened in mine. An unnatural wind tore at my dress as the floor trembled, but I could not take my eyes off my sister.
She shook her head.
“I love you. Death is not the end, just a different tomorrow.”
A claw of shadows reached out from the Gate, slicing into the Spirits, pushing through. Lumi let go of my hand, threw herself on the creature, and before I could react, disappeared into the Gate.
Dimitri’s grip pulled me back, a controlled tornado keeping everyone else away.
The bond between me and my sister that had survived curses, distance, and death snapped.
For the first time, I was alone.
Empty where she once was.
Hollow.
Silence.
I was barely aware of Dimitri still at my side, fighting his own battle, of Pyre’s fire going out, of danger approaching, but as the consciousness withdrew, my overextended mind heard nothing.
The silver Gate returned to transparent green, like a world seen through a glass bottle. Lumi stood surrounded by Spirits against the gathering darkness Ealhswip sought to bring into our world. With them, no one would be able to stop her. The dead had regained theirhuman shape, as if entering the Goddess’s realm gave them back something they lost.
More flowed through—a seemingly endless stream—but I could no longer feel them. Lumi’s power over the dead had left me.
The shadows clashed with the Spirits, proving it was possible to die again as they were shredded.
The crown on Lumi’s head still shone, keeping most away.
I laid my hand against the transparent surface, needing it to tell me what to do to help. My light faltered, magic almost spent.
A shadowed figure leaped past her and pushed its howling snout through the Gate, calling for others to follow. Dying here did not matter if we did not restore the balance.
The world quaked. A wail tore through the air.
The wind calmed.
Dimitri’s hand slackened and slipped out of mine.
I turned away from my sister’s battle, attempting to catch him, as boulders hit an invisible force above us—Helia. Then she, as if unable to carry the weight, collapsed on the ground as well. The stones rained down around us, one smashing into my shoulder.
I barely felt the pain as I saw Ealhswip, Lord von Mekeln, and the remaining two priestesses disappear under the rockfall. With the last of her power, Helia had given us another moment.
Time for some more improvisation and idiocy, for no one could plan for this.
The Gate’s surface rippled when my hands pierced it.
As if we were still bound and she knew my thoughts, Lumi’s hands closed around mine. I pushed my magic into her, and Lumi guided it into the cracked arch on the other side, giving life to the world of the dead so that it could heal itself.
One on each side,mirror images but so different, we offered balance.
This had never been about forcing it back together, thinking we humans knew better, but providing it with the means to do so itself after Ealhswip stole part of its power when she forced her way back.
The magic played the sigils like notes, pure music lifting me. The infinite consciousness I imagined was the Gate or the Goddess or something I could not even fathom, drew power out of me until I illuminated the cavern like a newborn sun.
