“They want you to know that they are happy. That they will choose to be reborn and move forward. I offered them a single request, since their sacrifice was so great. This was all they asked of me.”
My hands started to shake. My right palm lifted and, without thought, I pressed it against my lips. I wasn’t sure if I was trying to hold in the cries, or if I needed to cover my face so that everyone wouldn’t see me fall apart. It wasn’t fair.
“You can’t bring them back?” I had to ask.
The Mother crossed to me, and all of a sudden she was about seven feet tall and her pink was shadowed in flecks of white. I swallowed as she stared down at me. Was she going to smite me now or something?
Brace moved from where he was beside me, sidling closer and shifting me back so that he partly stood between us.
The Mother smiled.
“So much love. It was a day of mourning for all when your melding bond broke. The gift that is given only once in many centuries.”
“It won’t happen again,” I said around Brace.
He was trying his best to use his bulk to block me, but I wasn’t having any of that. I ducked under his arm and managed to snuggle into his side.
Together, Brace. We face everything together.
I would not let Brace be hurt. I would throw down with anyone who even tried.
Have I told you lately how hot it is when you get all warrior on me? He sounded amused.
The Mother drew our attention again. “I’m sorry, little one. If I could return the dead to you, I would. But there are some things beyond my control, and death is a realm that my sister has dominion over. She does not release souls easily, only for the purpose of natural rebirth.”
I nodded, my head dropping as those damn tears welled again. There was nothing more to say, and by the time I composed myself and lifted my face again, the Mother was gone.
Noise filtered across the room. Lucy and Fury were the first ones to jump in.
“Look at Abby go. You’re all on a first name basis with gods now?” Lucy said.
From what I remembered, we’d had a fairly in depth conversation last night during the party, catching up on everything that had happened during the final battle. Lucy had probably forgotten I’d told her about the Mother of All. She’d had a lot of crandy too.
Fury snorted. “Don’t even act surprised, pixie. It’s Super Abby, after all.”
“Word!” Everyone around the table sounded off, and I couldn’t halt the laughter which rang free.
Chapter 21
The sensation of weightlessness is not something you get used to. It feels unnatural, even for someone who was born from the blood of sentient beings that can ‘walk’ across the universe. Brace and I were floating in a space that seemed to be the center between many star systems. This was the beginning. The place where the stones had collided and the Walkers had been born. The ultimate black void. There was no oxygen or heat. It was cold, dark and without a gravitational pull. When we first arrived Brace had to hold me until my body adjusted. It was only his calming voice in my head which kept me from freaking out.
I didn’t have to breathe to stay alive, but it was uncomfortable – my body was used to the sensation of breathing. It wanted to do it, and there was no air here. I was also kind of freezing to death, except my body continued to rejuvenate itself, so I never actually froze. After a few minutes, I stopped even feeling the iciness.
How did Lucy and my mother survive this?
A barrier which crosses over their faces and along their bodies, he said.
Lucy hadn’t told me much about her mating ceremony. She said it was something you needed to experience for yourself. So far, I would have to say, that beside the freakiness of floating in a black abyss, the absolute sheer beauty of existing amongst the stars like this was something I would remember forever. Like the time Brace had taken me to my winter cabin. It seemed that I could reach out and grasp a piece of magic and hold it in my hand.
There was no noise. But all of a sudden the Walker witnesses appeared. They were called by the gods and I didn’t recognize any of them. There were five males and two females. They formed a circle around us. A burst of power flared to life, and there was now something else visible in the blackness beside the stars.
A ring of power.
Something within Brace and me responded to this. The golden ties of our melding flickered to life before bursting free of our skin and intermingling with the wash of power from the Walker witnesses. For some reason I was feeling excessively patient and didn’t stress about what was about to happen. I just waited and accepted.
Union of Gods. Mother of All. Blessings above. Ties and bonds of the pair. Mated in the beginning, so shall be in the end.
The words chanted through the bond, and they weren’t in English – which was the base language for Walkers – instead they were in what sounded like their ancient language. Yet, I somehow understood each word.
This is a place of magic, Brace murmured. You’ll be more here; you’ll know more.