Page 128 of The Last One
Unless—
Fear curdles in my stomach. “He wasn’t the Destroyer, was he? He didn’t kill my mother, did he?”
“No,” Sybel says. “The Mera are also protectors. They do not choose violence.”
“You told me that I destroyed Chesterby,” I say. “My wind powers, my skill with a blade. Isn’t that a part of the Mera way? Destroying? Executing? Fighting?”
“You must be balanced,” she says, “and right now, you aren’t balanced and you’re losing control, letting one side overtake the other. Even Mera show restraint, and you’re showing more and more that you don’t havethat, either. You are even failing as Mera. What you don’t understand, what you refuse to accept, is that your job combines the entirety of your heritage. Helping. Healing. Guarding. Protecting. Strength and compassion, neither stronger than the other. You are phenomenal.”
I scoff. “I am not that.”
“You have a job to do.”
“And what is that job?” I ask.
“You are the one to stop the One.”
Now this is too much.
I snort. “I don’t think so. Why me? Why not you? Or some other…?”
“That is not my purpose,” she says, “nor is it anyone else’s. This is your purpose. Just as a hammer cannot fulfill an ax’s purpose, another Eserime or Mera cannot take your place for this task.”
Task. This is no mere task. This… This ismadness. I place a hand over my hammering heart. All I wanted was to know who I was. My name, where I came from, my parents. If I’d known I was a dying realm’s salvation, I would have kept my mouth shut.
“Kai, we can’t run from this,” Sybel says. “We can’t surrender. The One will not stop at Vallendor but will go on to poison another realm and then another realm.”
She holds out her arms. “I don’t have the power to stop what’s coming—that is not my purpose. And I don’t knowexactly how long we have, but I know it is not a lot of time.” She offers me a sad smile. “There are those who have tried to stop the One, but they’ve failed—and Eserime died alongside their charges.” She waits a beat, then adds, “And if you refuse to do what is needed, I, too, will die. As will the others you care for. Is there at least one person who matters to you, who you wouldn’t want to see perish?”
Jadon. Veril. Philia. Olivia.
Jadon…his kindness and care, the way his lips feel against my skin. Veril’s rapier-sharp jokes and effortless skills with lentils, mortar and pestle, his home my refuge in the past days. Then there is Philia, so brave and compassionate. And Olivia, who has grown on me. I care more for her than I did before simply because someone I care about loves her.
And it’s more than that. My eyes skip around the forest. There are plants and trees—morning glory, lilies, basil, crabapples, so many others—growing across the sky and stretching up to the clouds. They are beautiful and healthy, and their beauty has offered me joy over these last hard days.
But that’s just it—these days have been so hard. How can I face a battle bigger than the realm if I’ve barely survived this? “This is too much to ask of one person,” I say. “I hardly know this world. How can I save it?”
“If you choose not to be the ax,” Sybel says, “then be the shepherd. Be like your mother, be like Lyra, with her boundless stores of love. Fight to the very end for those you love. You must fight for all of us with all you have, Kai. You must save Vallendor Realm. This realm, this land, every forest and glen, the mountains and desert, every piece and parcel is yours—and you must heal it and you must protect it.”
You are so much more. The angel on their shoulder. The shepherd. The ax.Goddess.
Since waking up in that forest and chasing Olivia to Maford, everyone except Elyn has called meeverythingexcept a child of Supreme. Certainly notgoddess. And yet, despite their ire, I still tried to save their village—including Jadon, Olivia—and I tried to save themwithout hesitation, because that’s who I am. Being a sword and shield—that is my nature. Making sure my companions are safe—I am their shepherd’s crook. Despite my wounds and weakened muscles, that word—goddess—feels…right.
“All that you need already lives inside of you,” she continues. “Powerful forces are already after you, Kai, and they will try to influence you, lull you into slumber, trick you so that you never defeat the One.”
“Elyn,” I whisper. “Is she the powerful force you’re speaking of?”
“Why do you suspect her?”
“Because she’s tried to trick me, and she’s sent sunabi after me. She tried to turn Maford against me. And the battaby attack—according to Veril, his part of the forest had never seen a battaby. She may have even sent the burnu.” I shrug. “How do I protect myself against them?”
“You’ll need more than armor,” Sybel says. “You need your amulet. And you need to wear your original clothes—they’re your protection from those who hunt you and from the elements killing Vallendor. That was no mere cloak you wore. The vest, the pants, the amulet in particular—every item you donned was consecrated by Supreme, and all of it works together to shield you and galvanize your core. But you’ve been without it all for too long, and now you are vulnerable to the forces of evil.”
Olivia—she stole my belongings and has yet to express true remorse. In that dream I had while recovering, she hid in the oleander, wearing my pendant around her neck. Was that more than a dream? Was that a vision? I place my hand on my neck where my amulet should hang. Do I know something deep within that I’m reluctant or unable to acknowledge? Could she be a part of the forces trying to stop me?
“You’re speaking to me as though it’s possible for me to find my amulet,” I say.
“I speak as such because itispossible,” Sybel says. “I am not lying or being hyperbolic when I say that your amulet is a part of you, Kai. You will always feel it calling, especially if it’s near. Open your eyes, and you will see. Youmustsee. Because without that pendant, your stores of strength will continue to drain, which means that you can’t give this realm and its creatures all that they need to survive the war that’s coming. You could stand before the One right now and that wouldn’t be enough, not anymore.”
