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“We still lost many loved ones,” she added gently, “But I do not blame you, Mareina. Just as I do not blame the blade when it cuts me but the one who wields it. You have merely been Zurie’s instrument of death. Thankfully, you and my son are in the process of great awakening, and because of that, Atratus will also face great change.”
My brow furrowed, steps stilling in the long hallway. The entire place appeared to be carved parallel into the mountain so that each cavernous room, all decorated with wood, candles, elaborate tapestries, and furs, had floor-to-ceiling windows.
How much did she already know? Nakoa had told me she was a powerful witch with great powers of divination… And she indeed appeared less than half her age.
“Have you seen what happens when we reach Zurie?”
She studied me for a moment, her expression unreadable.
“I have. As has Miroslav… There are many paths… Many potentialities… Many paths leading to the same desired result - the result that stands in the best interest of us all. Let us pray this will be the path you take.”
Her mouth quirked in a tiny, mischievous smile.
My lips parted in shock.
Miroslav.
My mind reeled.
Leilani chuckled, pulling me along.
“I believe The Well will help clarify things…”
At the end of the long hallway, we reached a set of dark wooden doors boasting intricately carved designs and runes. Magic radiated powerfully from it, making every hair on my body stand on end.
My footsteps slowed as we approached, and Leilani came to a stop, gently laying her hand on my arm.
“I have a scrying well… I don’t know what exactly it will show you, but it has been made clear to me that it is necessary…”
The magic emanating from that room felt as if it were causing every molecule in my body to vibrate and hum in a way that both warned me, yet called to me like a moth to the flame.
“What you’re experiencing right now will calm once you’re inside.”
“Is it a ward?”
“Not quite… But… It gives tests to us all. It is different for each person.”
“Is it your magic?”
Leilani chuckled, shaking her head. “Heaven’s no… But it’s why I made my home here. To better guard it. Protect it.”
I could feel the magic radiating from the door beckoning me forward, only serving to make me want to dig my heels further in.
At my hesitation, Leilani slipped her arm around mine, gently tugging me towards the door.
“Come. You will not be harmed.”
Leilani whispered in an unfamiliar language beneath her breath, and an unseen hand parted the doors in front of us.
As we stepped in, I gasped, discovering the ceiling was nothing short of palatial… It rose at least a hundred feet above us with gigantic Stalactites stretching like deadly, jagged sickles towards their towering stalagmite counterparts. I stared in awe as I realized that they were not merely made of stone and mineral deposits but crystal.
Within my mind, I heard a faint echo of the voice from my dreams.
"O ziton irini feri polemon, al o kaloumenos 'O Vasiléfs mou' synaxi. Protá dio emisfaíria tou auto olo én genisete, ke tote panta pesite."
“The one who seeks peace will bring war, but it is the one you call, ‘My King’, who will unite. If two halves of the same whole become one, all your kingdoms will fall.”
"Mi lanthonéti, oti kei mortatum eiaeternitate ma skhimata dothate. Essita me, Vitum Guardatore, na evris tin oikisí sou.”
