“I’m not going anywhere, not while your mom is vulnerable, and not until I know what Skender’s plan is.” Peri was still trying to come to terms with the fact that Skender was Tenia’s mate and that she couldn’t kill him. At least not yet.
Torion placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a pat, then he was gone. And she was alone again.
“Why do you insist on destroying our land?”
“Dammit,” Peri growled. “What does a high fae have to do to get some peace and quiet in this place?” Peri glanced over at the female draheim who’d landed next to her. For a beast so large, the dragon had hardly made a sound.
“You can have peace and quiet when you stop causing chaos,” Serapha replied.
If humans ever found out about supernatural beings, Peri had a feeling talking dragons might be the one race that their mortal minds simply wouldn't accept. “Your offspring should have left me in that compound to die, then I wouldn’t be here to cause chaos.”
Serapha shifted her massive form and settled onto her haunches. “Your actions freed him from the elf king's clutches. He was indebted to you, just as I am.”
“I’m releasing you of your debt.” Peri waved a hand at the beast. “You've provided sanctuary for me and my charges in your realm. That is enough.”
The draheim was quiet for a few minutes. Peri could feel the dragon's gaze, which was nearly as hot as the fire it could breathe.
“What?” Peri finally snapped. “I’ve already had a fae child put me in my place. You might as well continue the theme.”
“The Great Luna visited my son while he was held captive,” Serapha said.
Peri’s head snapped around to look at her. The draheim's scales shimmered a pale, iridescent white in the afternoon sun. Her large eyes glowed a bright blue, nearly matching the sky above. “When?”
“The night before you arrived at the Order,” she answered.
“And what did the Great Luna say?” Good grief, was she going to have to pull every bit of information out of Serapha's big snout?
“She told my son that the time had come for his purpose to be fulfilled. She said that his capture by Ludcarab allowed him to be where she needed him to be. The goddess wanted him at the Order compound so he could help you and the others he rescued.”
Peri’s mouth dropped open. She jumped to her feet and glared at the draheim, even though it wasn’t Serapha she was angry with. “You’re telling me your juvenile son had to be held captive by a mad man so I could live?”
Serapha’s eyes softened, and she lowered her head so her eyes were level with Peri’s. “No. I’m telling you your creator, my creator, and my son's creator, knew in eternity past that this day would come. That his life would serve a greater purpose than flying through the air and diving into our sea for fish. He saved a fae child. He saved a mom. He saved a mate. And, yes, he saved you. It is not the first time your life has been saved by one of mine, though your mind doesn’t remember.”
Shock radiated through Peri as the draheim’s words penetrated the fog of bitterness. She’d been saved by a draheim? When? Peri wanted to stomp her foot, but she’d done enough damage to the draheim realm. She began to pace as Serapha’s words rattled around in her head. How long ago had that been? And why didn’t she remember something so monumental?
“There is evil in every realm, Perizada.” Serapha said, completely moving past the fact that she’d just laid a doozy of a revelation on her. Maybe it was for the best that Peri just let the news marinate. Her mind could only take so much, and it was at its breaking point. She set the information aside and focused back on Serapha. “You’ve seen the evil of my kind. You’ve seen the evil of the likes of Ludcarab and those who have come before him. You have also seen those who have stood against them.”
Peri had heard the words before, from a different voice, but with every bit the same conviction. “But why?” she gritted out through clenched teeth. “Why must anyone sacrifice? Why does the Great Luna allow evil? Why did something so horrible have to happen to your son for Tenia’s son to live? What’s the point of any of this if people we love are just going to keep sacrificing themselves while evil continues to roam the earth?” Three thousand years and Peri had never questioned the goddess. She’d followed faithfully. She’d obeyed even when she didn’t understand. But now, she had doubts. She had fear.
“Have you ever considered that evil isn’t a ‘thing’? It's not a being like you and me. Instead, it is the absence of good. Evil is not roaming the earth. It is simply present where there is a lack of virtue, morality, and righteousness. And since we know our creator is all of those things, she is not the author of evil. She doesn’t make evil. It is our choices that make evil exist. It is the gift of free will that allows us to have the world we do. And though that world contains evil, it holds many amazing and wonderful things as well.” Serapha looked over the landscape. “Our choices, every day, big and small, help bring more good into our realms, where before there was an absence of it. That is your purpose. That is why sacrifices must happen.”
Peri swallowed hard. The words rang true, and she knew the draheim was right. But under the weight of her heartache, she found it hard to have faith in what she knew to be true.
The large, white draheim shifted, causing the ground to tremble. She seemed to be settling in as she curled her front legs beneath her and lowered her body. The dragon didn’t speak. She didn’t answer any of Peri’s questions.
“What are you doing?” Peri asked.
“I’m being still,” Serapha answered. “Just as you need to be still. Come, sit.” The beast motioned with her head for Peri to sit next to her.
Peri’s hands fisted at her sides. “I don’t want to be still. I want to understand. What did you mean that it wasn’t the first time I’d been saved by one of yours?”
Serapha shook her head. “It is not time for that answer. For now, you will have to accept that it is not your decision when your life is over. For now, it is time to let go, just for a while, and be still.”
Peri sighed. What else did she have to do? She walked over and sat down beside the huge draheim. Serapha leaned her big head down and nudged Peri with her snout, pulling her closer until the fae was pressed against her chest just in front of her front leg. The draheim's body heat warmed Peri immediately. Her stiff body relaxed, and Peri found herself leaning back until her head rested against Serapha as well.
“We’re just going to sit here?”
Serapha’s large head rested on the ground, and the breath that came out of her nose rustled the grass. “We’re just going to sit here. Close your eyes, Perizada of the fae. Ask your questions in your mind. Humble yourself before your creator. Open your heart, bare your soul to your creator, though she already knows you inside and out. Bare your soul because you want to be in communion with the Great Luna. And then be ready and willing to receive those answers.”
