The first touch of godly power brought agony, the weight of realms, of universes, of beginnings and endings and life and death and…
And…
And…
And Aya was going to die.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Brutally.
The goddess of wisdom was screaming, a shrieking,keening sort of sound that could shatter the skies. Perhaps it was doing just that. Aya couldn’t tell. There was nothing beyond the agony of that power and the way it blurred her vision until all she could see was everything and nothing.
Colors, tastes, smells.
Kingdoms, realms, universes.
Things made and unmade.
Oh, to be a god.
It was hells.
And yet Aya persisted. She tugged, and ripped, and stole until that power was a steady flow through her, until she couldn’t separate herself from the goddess or the veil or the very world.
Until she could feel herself unraveling, becoming something more.
For Will.
For her family.
For her friends.
For Eteryium.
There was a hand on her shoulder. A whisper in her ear.My sweet Aya. Hold on,mi couera. Hold on.
Her mother’s voice was still like sunshine given life, even in the midst of death. Aya wondered if they would be together soon, or if this would cost Aya not just her life, but her soul, too.
Erased entirely from the realm and the Beyond.
I’m sorry, Ma.
For before. For now. For everything.
That hand on her shoulder tightened its grip to the point of pain, and suddenly Aya was falling. She landed hard on the earth, the fall knocking the wind from her.
There were hands on her face, a broken voice calling her name again and again.
Will.
His strands were clotted with blood, his face streaked withtears as he bowed over her, released from the hold of Sage’s power. Her blade lay in the grass beside them.
Aya looked to where Sage stood, a spot of red blooming against her robes. Her eyes glinted with rage, her power flowing from her in ripples, as if she couldn’t control it.
It would destroy them all.
