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Gods, I loved this male.
I gave him an appreciative smile and slipped his hand into mine.
“Thank you for coming.”
I turned back around to try the door to find a dark-robbed shadowy silhouette had appeared in the doorway.
I yelped in surprise at his sudden and silent, ominous appearance. Every hair on my body stood on end. I held my breath, squeezing Malekai’s hand in terror. Ready to shove him away if that thing so much as tried to raise a finger to me.
Instead of reaching for me, thePharalakiwordlessly turned and disappeared into the temple.
Malekai and I exchanged a look before he stepped ahead of me, taking my hand in his and pulling me behind him.
It was almost completely dark. Only the fae light floating in front of the acolyte that I guessed we were supposed to be following guided our steps. Columns lined the foyer and hallway that gave way to numerous doors, none of which we stopped at. ThePharalakirounded a corner and passed a shadowy hand over a section of the stone wall that then disappeared. A pitch-black, arched doorway appeared, and he began descending a set of spiralling steps that led further into the dark.
Malekai looked back at me in the rapidly dimming light. “You sure about this?”
“We’re gonna die at some point. Why not now?”
“Hilarious.” His tone said he found it anything but.
Still, he led the way down the steps, gradually catching up with the light and the acolyte.
The scent of… fresh air and flora greeted us moments before the steps ended. Instead of a dungeon or a crypt, or whatever else one might fathom to lie beneath a literalTemple of Death,we found… A single, large, full moon illuminated a field filled with tall grasses and wildflowers that rippled on a breeze like silvery, docile ocean waves. A large stone house with a terracotta roof sat in the distance; the lower floor’s windows facing us were illuminated and glowing the colour of a lit hearth.
Malekai and I exchanged wide-eyed looks as the acolyte strode through the field towards the house.
Behind Malekai, just meters away, a river flowed. Glowing an unearthly blue. He followed my gaze, lips parting at the sight.
The River Oblivion.
ThePharalakistood patiently by a surprisingly flimsy wooden front door made of nothing more than several slats of old plywood where vertical shafts of light peeked through.
A rather humble home for Mors…A God.
I’d seen illustrations of a sprawling palace. Not this cozy artisan’s haven that barely had a front door. I suppose if anyone didn’t have to worry about safety, it was him.
Dark vapours escaped from within the hood of thePharalaki’srobe, disappearing from between the light-filled gaps in the wood.
“Do come in…,” a silky female voice called from inside the house.
ThePharalakidrifted away, its robe whispering across the tall grasses as it returned to the temple. A view of ice-peaked Mountains laid in the distance beyond the single, open, doorless doorway that simply floated in the center of the field.
Malekai, still holding my hand, pushed open the door to reveal a woman with skin the color of the moon and hair as black as night to match. Large, heavily lashed, luminous green eyes took us in. The high cheekbones, the shape of her lips… All so painfully familiar.
Her features slackened as her gaze swept from Malekai to settle on me. The steaming clay pot held in her mittened hands shattered at her feet. Breath caught, voice whispering and cracking at the same time.
“Akash almighty…I can’t believe you’re finally here.”
Her eyes swelled with tears as she stepped around the pile of food and clay shards, closing the distance between us. My breath felt like it had been gripped by a fist in my throat as I stared into a face that I’d seen far too many times to not recognize. Every time I’d ever looked in a mirror.
There were only slight differences. She had slightly rounder, fawn-like eyes and impossibly long lashes. Where her skin was nearly alabaster, mine had an olive complexion. And she looked only vaguely older than I did.
Something painful squeezed in my chest at the recognition.
Oh, gods…
Her hands, surprisingly cool, gripped me by the backs of my arms. She hesitated as though giving me the opportunity to protest before she crushed me against her chest with considerable strength.
