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Middle worlds.
“As beautiful as it is here, we wouldn’t want you to have this place be the only place you’ve ever known. We wanted you to have freedom… Among other things, we wanted you to meet yoursoulbound…”
My breath caught as a flare of pain speared through my chest.
“That is how you came to be born in the doorway between realms…”
Soteira tipped her head toward the wallless doorway that led from Avernus to Bellorum.
I hadn’t ever realized that the words in the dream should be taken so literally.
Born between realms… Born in an actual doorway.
Every shadow observant… ThePharalaki.
Death and eternity given form…
Dizziness from the revelations swept over me, and instinctively, my hand reached for Malekai, who promptly draped his arm over my shoulders and tucked me into his side. My parent’s eyes lifted to his.
“This is… My most loyal friend and…”
My words drifted briefly because that didn’t sound nearly sufficient for what Malekai was to me.
“And the love of my life. Malekai.”
Malekai’s arm tightened around me as his already considerable warmth seemed to double, making me want to bury myself against him in comfort.
My parents' brows leapt in unison.
“It’s an honor to meet you both,” Malekai said, with warmth and reverence, offering his hand.
Mors’ mouth tilted up in a soft grin as he took his hand in both his own.
“And I, you… Moirai showed us a great many things in Mareina’s future potentialities… And you were in a great many of them.”
Soteira embraced Malekai’s hand in her own despite her brows pinching with confusion. Her smile uncertain as her gaze caught Mors.
“The tether between you two is… one of the strongest I’ve seen… But… Is Nakoa alive?”
My throat seemed to work over a bit of gravel.
“Yes… He is. We… Don’t really see eye to eye on… anything.”
Soteira and Mors exchanged a glance, something unspoken between them, before she gradually nodded, wearing a look of both compassion and concern.
“I see… Thank goodness you have each other then.”
Something seemed strained about her words, and she forced a smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes. It gave me an uneasy feeling that I wilfully chose to ignore.
“What keeps you bound here?” I asked, desperate to change the subject and get my questions answered.
Mors and Soteira exchanged a tense look.
“Every deity that is born in service to a realm is bound to it,butthey have an aspect of their soul that enables them to fold to and from various realms - shift forms and energies - while the greater portion still remains rooted to their home realm… My sister, Keres, with the help of a powerful ally, stole that portion of both mine and your mother’s souls so that she can wreak havoc as she pleases across the realms without our interference… If we were to try and leave my domain without it, our soul’s connection to this realm would be severed… We wouldn’t be able to return until we died as mortals…And by then, it would be too late because Avernus, along with everyone in it, would have been destroyed…To put it reductively.”
Thankfully, Malekai was holding me, or I would have swayed on my feet.
“How do I find her?”
