I heard the clang of the cell door being cast open but I couldn't focus on anything outside of my body. My nails clawed at the stone floor and my back bowed upward. With that arching motion, I rose out of my body and Danu disappeared. I was there and yet not, soaring into another realm where a god waited for me. Cries of my name followed me into the darkness.
“There you are,” a deep voice greeted me.
I peered into the black. Galaxies glowed just beyond my reach but before me there was nothing. Then a golden light appeared. Within that light stood a man. His hair was long and straight—the color of polished wood. Muscles stretched over his lean body, creating beautiful shadows with the light. A piece of leather was belted across his hips for modesty but the rest of him was bare, and he grinned broadly when he saw my appreciation for the view. Green eyes the shade of summer leaves brightened as he stepped forward over empty space.
“Kolltean?” I asked warily.
Kolltean inclined his head. “I take the form that suits the forest when I'm in Danu but here, I prefer to be myself.”
“It's a lovely self,” I said softly.
He chuckled. “Thank you, small goddess. You are... what do the humans say? Not so bad yourself?”
I laughed and it rang through the air like tinkling crystal. The sound startled me, which made Kolltean laugh again.
“You have the asha of a goddess once more,” he said gently. “It's why you're here.”
“Why am I not receiving visions as I did the last time?”
“You have seen it all already. As you have this form I've taken.” He held out his arms and shrugged. “All you must do is remember.”
“Remember,” I whispered.
And with that one word, I did. I remembered it all with supreme clarity. Standing in that place surrounded by the Gods of Danu in their true forms. Speaking with them about their hopes for their people and then receiving the knowledge of my future. All of the joy and love and tears and pain that awaited me. I gasped through the revelations and shuddered in both gratitude and fear. What a life I would have. What amazing love and dangerous adventure awaited me. But I knew I had to leave those images there, even the ones that could serve as a warning. Taking them back with me would risk the lives of the people I loved. And would love.
“Ah, you understand now why you only remembered brief glimpses at certain times,” Kolltean noted. “Your visions will wait here for you and if you need them, you know where to find them.”
“That's why I saw the vision of Braxis,” I whispered. “I knew that I needed it.”
“Yes.”
“And now, I must go back to Danu and return the asha.”
“No.” Kolltean shook his head gently. “You have done enough, little goddess. We will finish this.”
Kolltean looked to his right and a woman stepped forward. She had wild white hair that billowed about her in tiny curls. Swaths of breezy silk swathed her slim figure and her eyes gleamed a bright silver. With her pale skin, she looked like a star amid the heavens.
“Hello, little goddess,” she said.
“Hello, Adhara.” I smiled brightly. “Fancy meeting you here.”
Adhara laughed and the sound soughed about me like a gentle breeze. But she quickly sobered, “You succeeded. We knew you would.”
“I had some help.”
“Yes. The love you share with your men has saved the Universe, just as you foretold,” she said softly. “Extend our deep gratitude to your lovers and your... to Braxis. He has played his role well.”
“I will. But please, take this extra asha from me now. I'd like to return to being me.”
“It would be our pleasure.” Kolltean held out his hand.
Adhara extended hers as well and I took both of their hands at once. The instant that we touched, asha and magic rushed out of me and through the gods. They rumbled and blustered back to the elemental hearts where they belonged and as they did, the asha and magic taken by the hearts were pushed out and returned to their proper owners as well—the Bargests, the Sylphs, and me. Asha left me and came back to me through the two gods, completing a divine circle. Healing us all.
I saw the hearts through their magic—the stout, green Heart of Earth, hidden within the roots of its guardian tree, and the brisk citrine Heart of Air hovering over that perilous mountain shaft. Their colors brightened until they blasted past the barriers I had set, then simmered into a strong pulse. Earth and Air magic flowed into Danu once more, reviving Danu and then the Danutians before returning to the land and then the hearts in a sacred, ancient cycle. And once the hearts and land and people were whole, the gods released me, and I went tumbling back into my body.
Chapter Fifty
I opened my eyes and met an exotic Danutian stare.
