Page 91 of A Rising Hope

“But none of it mattered, because by then we finally found the perfect soul. A young Healer. A perfect candidate. We trained her, and we prepared her for what was to come.”

“It was the day we planned to confer to her the godhood, to dedicate her and then at last make the sacrifice, devoting our lives and powers to her as she made a claim to deity, when Insanaria’s armies found us. We fought them that day just like we had fought them on so many other occasions. Our offenders died. But so did our only hope of salvation, killed without the chance at life.”

Diamara turned to face me, her expression solemn and weighted by the memory.

“We searched through all our wounded, healing them as much as we could to save their lives. That is when we found her.” Ocsanna’s gaze froze on me.

All four of them paused. And so did my heart as I realized who they were speaking of.

“Your mother was the captain of my guard.” Diamara was the first to speak. “She fought many battles. A valiant warrior with a kind heart.”

I bit the bottom of my lip, hoping it’d stop the tears from dropping down my face. Tears that filled my eyes to the brim as Diamara spoke.

“I urged your mother to leave, to run, seeing that she was with child and the battalions attacking us were numerous. But she stayed, refusing to abandon her duties even then.”

“The wounds she received were extensive. I could have fixed them and saved her life . . . ” Ocsanna stumbled over the words.

“But she refused,” Diamara stated instead. “Demanding that you be saved instead.”

I couldn’t breathe, heart frozen as their words, like tattoos, were engraved into my soul.

Ocsanna paused, sad lines deepened on her soft features.

“I could repair her body, but you wouldn’t have survived the strength of the magic. I told her to save herself. You were too young. Too small. But in spite of my pleas to her, she still refused to be treated, demanding we save her child at any cost.”

“Her Soulbond, your father, died in the battle just mere months prior. Before either one of them knew she was carrying their first child. A child they very much wanted and loved even before they knew of your existence.”

“You mother was a valiant warrior, Finn, but even the strongest of warriors need hope. And you were hers. Hope that all the death and destruction were not in vane. Hope of a brighter day. Hope that even in the darkest of the worlds there would be undeniable, living proof of the strongest, purest love. A child of love, a child of truth, and a child of hope. Hope that Insanaria could never destroy. For as long as there was love, as long as there were those courageous enough to live it, the world would withstand even the most violent of storms.”

“So, we did as she demanded. I eased her pain and helped her through labor in the last hours of her life.”

Petra motioned with her hand, and the sky turned dark with the vision.

And I cried.

A woman bloodied and bruised and, in her arms, just as bloody, was a tiny infant, cord still attached.

My mother.

Mymother.

Uncontrollable tears rolled down my face, but I didn’t dare blink, memorizing her every curve, her every feature.

My mother.My soul trembled and revered at the same time.

“She believed you’d change the world even then,” Petra said solemnly, looking at the image of the woman and her child.

“The moment after you were born, I tried to save her. But regardless of how much magic I used, her life was too far gone.” Ocsanna cried with me. “Her last breath was just moments after your first.”

My chest cleaved in two, as I watched my mother whisper in her last breathfor a better life.As she landed a single kiss on my cheek her soul ascended and her body went limp.

“We cared for you; but you were so small, so weak,” Railin added, silver streaks in her eyes. “You lived all but an hour when Death had come to collect your soul as well. Ocsanna had labored with all her magic to fight Death’s call. But magic or not, mortals could not outrun their fate.”

“Butgodscould create their own,” Petra said.

My tears froze as realization at what they were implying quaked through me.

“You were a perfect indication of hope and despair, of joy, of new life and yet also sorrow and death. One of pure heart and yet with a wounded soul.”

---