Page 109 of Visions & Shadows

There’s an overwhelming need in my soul to fight for the chosen ten who will lose everything, just like I lost everything.

“The list has been made,” Raighne says. “It is not for us to decide.”

“Who decides?” I snap.

“The orders came down from Awo himself.”

Letting out a frustrated sigh, I say, “I want my chosen ones to have a smooth shift from Earth to Vaalbara. I’ll fight for them, and I don’t care if I have to go against Awo to make it happen.”

Raighne shakes his head at me and is just about to say something back when the air starts to vibrate around us.

In a flash, Raighne grabs hold of me, and his arms form steel bands around my body.

“What’s happening?” I gasp.

“Awo,” Raighne breathes, sounding shocked out of his everlovingmind.

“I’ve given the orders,” a voice thunders through the room, making me flinch closer to Raighne.

Oh shit.

It feels like a force is trying to make me submit, but somehow, I manage to turn around and face Awo.

I haven’t survived Adeth and Ares only to back down now.

All I see is a bright light, with thousands of glimmering orbs making up a whole. They seem to be multiplying and lessening by the second.

“Ask the question burning inside of you, for this chance will only come once,” the being orders.

I stand stunned for a moment, not able to find any train of thought. His voice is so beautifully thunderous, leaving me in a state of astonishment.

I have to dig deep, looking for the courage I know is inside my soul.

My tongue darts out to wet my lips, then my voice quivers as I say, “Please, bring Jason’s animals to Vaalbara. He loves those animals more than his own life. He’s coming to a foreign world, and he needs them. We can’t just rip the chosen ten away from everything they love.”

My words dry up, and I don’t know what else to say.

For a few tense seconds, I can only feel the vibrations in the air, then Awo says, “You get one request. Only one. And you use it to plead for a human’s earthly animals? You’re in so much pain and have a quest ahead of you that will require all the strength you can gather, yet you think of another. You have no past and are in doubt of your future. Your father faces certain death, but still, you think of another.”

His words hit hard and rip the very air from my lungs.

I grab at my stomach to keep myself standing.

Dad!

Awo moves closer to me until I can feel his presence surge through my soul.

“Your soul is true, Alchera. I’ll bring the animals. All you need to focus on is bringing my chosen ten home. Beginning at dawn, you have only ten days to complete your destiny.”

With the timeline given, I watch as the light fades and the air settles around us.

As Raighne lets go of me, I stare at the spot where Awo was a moment ago, his words echoing through me.

‘Your father faces certain death.’

That means my father’s going to die, doesn’t it?

I could’ve saved him with one question, but instead, I asked for Jason’s animals to be spared.

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