Page 26 of The Discovered
The water grew warmer with my anger.You didn’t need to let yourselves die. There had to have been another way. Why didn’t you let me save you?
There was no other way. You aren’t responsible for the choices of others, my child. No one let us die. We were murdered. And we used the force of that violence to protect you all these years, until we knew you’d be ready to return.
I will avenge you.I reached out for them, but the image dissolved as soon as my fingers made contact.
You will avenge us all, but not as an act of vengeance. As an act of salvation. You are made up of everything good in the world. Don’t lose yourself in what you are not. Heed our warnings.
A flash of myself shivering on the ground of the clearing flashed before me. Daelon hovered over me, his eyes completely white.
The cold? What was that energy? Where did it come from?
It became harder and harder to tread as currents tried to pull my body in all different directions.
Who am I, Momma? Please tell me. Who am I saving? And from what?
My mothers’ voices rang in unison.You are hope embodied—the hope of thousands—the hope of this world and all the rest. You will deliver us. You will restore this realm to its former state of balance and goodness. Trust your intuition. It will guide you always, sweet girl.
I realized these words were just a copy-and-paste from fragments of different memories, a compilation of things they’d told me as a child. I was alone.
A wave of grief crashed into me. It was the grief of thousands, and it was too much. It sank into my heart and dug and dug until I was hollow and cold. I gasped for air and was met with water, pouring into my lungs like liquid fire. In a panic I remembered that Daelon wasn’t here to pull me out if I was overcome.
I thrashed and struggled, but soon flashes from the great beyond took shape all around me. I saw witches laughing, crying, begging, and singing. The din of their voices grew louder and louder, swelling into a melody that drove me to a peaceful stillness. The images and sounds faded out of focus, but I’d glimpsed enough to understand the truth my power wanted me to understand.
I wasn’t alone, and I never would be. I had access to the loves, fears, desires, and intentions of all beings that had ever lived, begging to be transformed into magick. I borrowed some of their energy to propel myself back up, breaching the surface and coughing out every drop of water I could. My limbs were heavy. There was so much pain in these waters.
There was also enough hope to fuel a revolution. I clung to that current instead, shaking off the grief I’d worn as a second skin for too many years. My mothers’ words illuminated the darkness of my guilt and shame, bringing it into the light where it withered and fell away. This power was a gift, not a curse, and the witches I sensed in these waters needed me to be strong.
Hello there, a new voice erupted, and I knew immediately it meant me no harm. His energy was soft and pure, his voice so close that I half-expected him to appear wading in the water nearby. No sooner than I could turn my head in the direction of his call was I transported somewhere else entirely.
A loud popping sound assailed my eardrums, but I was unable to scream as I was dropped into a familiar place. I knew it from my nightmare. I was inside the dark, sprawling castle once more.
This time I was in a dimly lit, medieval-looking room, with long, religious-looking tapestries and an altar set up at the front. As it came into focus, I jumped at the figure sitting on a green cushion to my right. It was an old man with a white beard, dressed in maroon robes. He sat up against a wall, his legs crossed.
“You’re the one he’s been looking for. Are you astral projecting, young one?” His eyes remained closed as he spoke.
That sounded like something Steph tried to tell me about after trying psychedelics. Was I still inside my head? Was this all some kind of weird metaphor?
“You don’t know where you are, do you?” he asked. “That’s okay. No need to be afraid.”
Someone knocked violently at the door, and a booming voice erupted. “Amos. Are you aware of the chaos beyond your room? Or are you too busy communing withthe Goddessor whatever the fuck it is you do all day?” the man sneered, anger dripping into each word. Even from here I could feel his heavy, cold energy. It was suffocating and… familiar. “I need your assistance. Now, old man.”
“Maybe you do have reason to be afraid,” Amos chuckled softly. “Off you go now. Until we meet again.” He opened his eyes and smiled, and I knew he couldn’t actually see me as he looked vaguely around the room. “Just think of your physical body, wherever it lies. That should be enough to guide you back.”
“Who are you talking to?” the voice bellowed. Was this the voice from the abyss? From the field and among the trees? It wasn’t distorted any longer.
I didn’t want to find out.
The old man winked, almost in the right direction toward where I hovered, but not quite. He started walking to the door, and I quickly tried to remember where my body was. With Daelon? No. In the woods. I was sitting in the woods in a billowy dress. My knees stung.
I snapped back into my physical reality so quickly it left me with severe vertigo. As the forest came into focus, I became aware of someone standing over me. I lifted my gaze to see a very angry Daelon with his arms crossed.
“Where the hell have you been?” he hissed. “Do you have any idea the thoughts that went through my head when I couldn’t find you? And then when I couldn’t bring you back from wherever you just were?”
He was nearly yelling at me. I narrowed my eyes in petulance. “No, I don’t have an idea of those thoughts because you won’t tell me anything,” I retorted.
Daelon offered a hand to help me up. I thought I’d seen him at his most angry last night when I told him to bugger off, but now I knewthiswas his most volatile, fuming state—or at least I hoped. I accepted his help mostly out of fear that the vein in his temple would burst. He looked down at my legs, and as I followed his gaze, I realized that one of my knees was bleeding. I must’ve landed on a thorn or something.
When I looked back up to him, he was glaring at me in a way that drove me to silence. Instead of letting go of my arm he moved his fingers down to encircle my wrist and pulled me behind him as he started walking back toward the house. His grip was loose, so I pulled my arm free from him and followed in silence.
