This was supposed to be a victory.
It didn't feel like that at all.
Nuriya
"Did you feel that?" Sherus asked me.
I nodded slowly. "I think the entire Shade felt it."
The pulse had rushed across the island like a tremor, but its origin was unmistakably supernatural and otherworldly. I'd listened in on the GASP comms line, with reports coming in from agents who'd chosen to stay behind on their home planets.
The sanctuaries had lit up, and a sense of impending destruction had gripped the hearts of billions of creatures across the Supernatural Dimension and the In-Between. They'd described the event in great detail, all the way down to its unexpected ending.
After some confusion, it had taken them all some time to realize what had happened. Taeral had stopped the ritual, somehow. He and his team had probably found Death, and the wave of annihilation had been pulled back before it destroyed everything that lived in its path.
"How are you feeling?" I murmured, measuring my husband's spirit from head to toe. He didn't seem any different, but I didn't think it would hurt to ask.
Whatever had happened with the ritual could've affected him, as well. I'd learned a long time ago that it was always better to question everything than to simply accept it. Sherus gazed at his body for a while, then gave me a warm but poignant smile.
"I think that, no matter what happens next, we'll all be okay," he said.
"How? You're dead. Not sure you noticed."
He chuckled. "I am well aware, thank you, my love. But even so. My death will not have been in vain."
"Maybe she can help you," I said.
"Who?"
"Death. Maybe she can help you. From what I'm gathering out of these comms reports, the ritual didn't happen. It was stopped. Which has to mean that our Tae found Death. So, I don't know… as a reward for his accomplishments, she could undo what happened to you. What happened to the other fae, as well. All these deaths are unnatural. They shouldn't have happened."
Sherus walked over to me. Outside, the evening set in stars and indigo stripes over The Shade, the silhouette of the nearby redwood forest clearly outlined like ink drawings against the glimmering sky. It gave me a sense of peace—the complete opposite of what was going on inside my soul.
He couldn't touch me, but he could still get close enough for me to grasp the impression that I could at least sense him. "Nuriya, let's not get our hopes up," he said. "You and I are both grown people. We've had our share of madness and death, long before this happened. We can't rely on higher forces for anything. We did that with the Hermessi, and you saw what happened."
I scoffed, lowering my gaze. "We brought them out to save us from Ta'Zan, only for them to turn on us with their stupid ritual. Yeah, I see your point."
Even so, I didn't want the truth that Sherus was hinting at. It would've left me without my soulmate and my son without his father. The loss was too big. Too difficult to stomach. Impossible to ever get over. I hadn’t made it this far in life to take such hits. It just wasn't fair.
"Maybe we'll get lucky, like you said," Sherus replied. "But we should not hope for it. Most importantly, we should be careful, going forward, of seeking favors from any of the entities that make this world move and spin."
Looking back, I had to admit, even the swamp witches' relationship with the Word, a cosmic force of its own, was rather complicated. During the apprenticeship, it could either fuse with them or kill them. And it didn't jump out with a solution for everything. The Word, for better or for worse, had taught its subjects not to rely on it to save them. They could use it. They could channel its strength. Sometimes, it stepped in, sure, but it wasn't reliable. Its interventions were unpredictable.
And if there was one thing we'd learned, it was exactly what Sherus had just pointed out. We could no longer allow ourselves to mess with or depend on these godlike entities.
The damage the Hermessi had done was, in many ways, irreparable.
"The loss of life…" I mumbled, a thought surfacing into my consciousness. I'd been so preoccupied with Sherus and Taeral that I'd nearly forgotten about all the other fae.
"Nuriya. You have that pensive look that sometimes worries me."
"Whatever happened to the sanctuary fae?" I said. "I haven’t heard reports yet. Agents said they were heading back there to see, but no one's said a word in almost twenty minutes."
He smiled again, and, for a mere flicker in time, I had the false sensation that everything would be okay. My skepticism cut deeply, but it was necessary. Sherus was right. I couldn't delude myself about this.
"I'll be okay in here," he replied. "Why don't you go to the grand hall? I think the GASP seniors are still gathered there. Find out what's happening."
"Perhaps our son will say something in the meantime," I said hopefully.
"Regardless of whatever he tells you, make sure he knows I love him," Sherus said.
My eyes felt wet. Tears were pooling again, and I needed to get out before I broke down and cried. It wouldn't have been the first time today. Exhaling sharply, I shot to my feet and gave my husband a brief nod.
"I'll see you in a bit, Sherus."
I vanished, teleporting myself across The Shade and right inside the grand hall.
I found the whole of GASP here. All of them looking rather conflicted, torn between grief and relief. What an odd pair of emotions to behold across so many familiar faces.
“Any news?” I asked, feeling stupidly hopeful.
A thousand storms were raging through my heart, as I’d yet to hear from Taeral. Perhaps knowing that he couldn’t be killed had taken some of the edge off, but I was still worried. It was in my nature as a mother to worry—about his wellbeing, his state of mind, anything that could make him feel anything less than happy and fulfilled.
Derek and Sofia were the first to greet me. They didn’t seem happy at all. No one could bring themselves to experience such a thing. The haunted looks in their eyes stabbed my heart with invisible daggers. I could only imagine how they felt, considering how much of their family they’d had to leave behind in the sanctuary on Calliope.
“We think Taeral and the crew managed to stop the ritual, somehow,” Derek said, his tone grave and heavy. “But not before the five millionth fae was taken under the Hermessi’s influence.”
“That… That means the fae… They died?” I replied, finding no better words for this kind of follow-up. Sofia teared up and nodded rapidly, then hid her face in Derek’s chest as he pulled her into an embrace. Oh, my heart…
