The omega tosses her hair back, and I see a lock of silver hair. She looks up at me, her eyes holding mine.
“Hold on. Help is coming.”
She turns and grabs the knife off the beta behind her and slices her own throat, collapsing on the ground as the Beta Goddess howls her fury.
I think about that moment for a long time, and then I do what she suggests. I hold on, and I watch, and I learn.
Six hundred years after the Night of Falling Stars
I think the omega was wrong. No one is coming. What am I holding on for? All I can do is think.
Sometimes, I sink into a dark part of my mind, and I drown there, thinking about all the lives that were lost because of me.
I think of all the things I should have done better, how I should have been smarter.
But mostly, I watch the plants grow; I listen to the pleas of the humans around us. Alphas and omegas are almost gone. There are small pockets left, but they seldom pray.
Why would they?
A furtive movement catches my eye, and the person drops from the roof above and lands on the stone. He looks around, frowning, but he can’t seeme.
Only the Goddess can see me now, and it’s been a long time since she came to torment me.
“I don’t know if you’re here, but I was told to come and offer you this hope.”
He turns and faces me, but he still can’t see me. His hair is long, and he’s young, but when he smiles, I want to smile back.
He puts a plant on the ground and slides it towards me.
“Right, I hope that’s close enough. She couldn’t tell me much more than this.”
I look at the plant under my nose.
“Alpha, she’s coming. We all are. One chance. One attempt to save us all.”
He sits cross-legged in front of me and bows his head.
“My name is Marshall Kilmoire, and I’ve been sent to give you your part in this mission. I was told to tell you everything and give you this plant. It’s a choice.”
I watch him closely.
“I am the Spring Alpha.”
I jolt, staring at him with wide eyes. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
“We’re coming. The timeline she manipulated will only come up once. In a hundred years. Everyone is getting ready to be born. But we’ve been putting things in place for hundreds of years.”
He smiles.
“The time for the Luna Omega and her escorts to return to us is almost here, and when they come, we will undo all the wrongs.”
As soon as he mentions her, I struggle against the chains, trying to get free, trying to find the voice that I’ve lost.
“But here’s where you come in. The Prophet has told me to tell you that she will set you free. But you cannot remember, or you will die, and so will she.”
I stare at him, trying to comprehend what he’s saying to me.
“We all have a job, specific things we have to do in each lifetime. This time, I’m here to give you this herb that will erase your memory temporarily.”
