Page 84 of A War of Embers

Meaning the only place housing those who would know for sure is the Godlands.

I’m on the verge of a complete mental breakdown. I can feel it. The buzz of magic trembling over my body and the distinct smell of blood coming from my nostril. But there’s no sword to call on, nothing to direct my rage at. After all this time, all the planning and snooping around, of trying to complete my bargain to Rowan, nothing is going to happen. It all reverts back to square one.

“Your souls contain an interesting imbalance of power,” the elderly man hums.

His words take a minute to penetrate through the anger riding me. “What?”

“Were you a monster before becoming an immortal? Seems like an interesting soul to waste on immortality.” He frowns as he looks me over, almost like he’s inspecting the souls inside of me.

“I was mortal.”

He scoffs. “No you weren’t. Who told you that?” He seems genuinely confused by my comment, which only further frustrates me.

“I know I was mortal before I was forced to be this,” I snap. Except now my entire life seems to be crumbling down around me. I have no idea what’s real anymore and what’s a lie. For all I know Lady Gwenyth stole my memories on purpose, not realizing it was a side effect of jamming my body full of beings I never wanted.

He squints his pale eyes at me. “No, you had to have been a monster. Only a creature created here in Aïdes can have the magical ability to hold onto so many souls. Maybe you were one of those taken.”

The taken? Blowing out a deep breath, I shake my head. “You know what? I don’t have time for whatever this is.” Suddenly all I want is to be far away, alone with my anger and feelings.

Amusement grips his features. “Definitely born a monster with a stubborn attitude. Perhaps even a dragon.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Am I?” He raises a thin white eyebrow. “Only a monstrous soul can house a monster. The four souls guarding your god one are what is containing the beast within. It takes quite a bit of strength to not succumb to their weight of withholding your magic.”

My lungs constrict as air becomes difficult to pull in, like breathing through a thin tube. The reason I have four souls is to contain the magic of the godlike one? “No,” I immediately reject his response. “I’m not from here. I was born in Tellus, made into an immortal.” I killed my family.

“So you believe. Monsters do not dwell across the sea. They were forbidden from climbing the cliffs to the Districts over there.”

He’s speaking in riddles that make no sense. “If I’m housing a monster soul, supposedly from here in Aïdes, then how did I end up in Tellus all these years? How would you even know?”

The elderly man chuckles. “My name is Micah, one of the original High Lords who came to this realm. I can see your souls, just as I can see everyone’s who come here looking for a place to find peace. It is a byproduct of being chosen to protect the Cliff of Embers from being soiled by unfaithful and ruthless beings who want to use the power to harm the realms. Your soul is blue, similar to mine. I would wager underneath your clothes, your veins glow an unholy blue.”

Now he has my full attention. “You can only swap a soul with something of equal or greater value. When your monstrous soul was taken, it was given something else to take its place. Something else with a monster attached. The four immortal souls guard it, try to contain its power, but they’re not of equal power so your magic slips through.”

“That doesn’t answer how I would have got to Tellus.”

“Do you know why the Haze is guarded so protectively?” Micah asks.

“Because the creatures who are chosen to breed new life can get a little wild and need someone to protect them from themselves,” I state firmly.

“You’re partially right. The main reason Lord Rowan brings his clan up into the Wraithlands is because they are able to monitor and note who is fornicating with whom. From there, births and pregnancies can be tracked. Those babes can be monitored so they are not stolen. You see, the Lords and Ladies of Tellus have been building an army for quite some time. They sneak over every few decades to centuries to take a babe, raise it as their own, and force it into their army for when there comes day for them to claim the lands they were not given.”

A lovely theory. “You’re missing the part where you know about this. If war was to be waged again, the High Lords and High Ladies would put a stop to it.”

“Why?” He seems genuinely perplexed by my statement.

Is he being serious? “Because those are their children!”

Micah laughs a deep bellowing sound that echoes across the vast grassland. “You seem to believe we carry an emotion similar to a parent, but we do not. We procreated to create children to have a stabilization of power over those already here when we came. High Lords and Ladies do not care what happens to their young. The only reason they care to stay here is that they cannot go back to where they are from. They guard the portal in the Godlands because that is how they retain their magic. Too far away and it dwindles like mine. I can only read souls and reap those who come.”

Everything he says makes sense, but it also feels unfathomable. What if he’s wrong? What if he’s just some crazy nut who never speaks to anyone and therefore is spouting a load of bullshit at me?

Except this doesn’t feel like a bunch of lies. Something about his story tickles a vacant memory, like my mind is trying to tell me why I should believe him but I can’t quite grasp the reasoning or memory on why.

If what Micah is saying is true, then I was born here. I came from some couple who participated in the Haze, who maybe even loved each other. Could they have potentially even loved me? And I was supposedly stolen.

Does this mean I was raised in Cinnabar with the Anderson clan? Maybe they take in all the creatures who came from Aïdes under Lady Gwenyth’s direct rule? How many others are there?

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