My first thought, as I dismounted, was that I had not stepped foot inside a church in a very long time. I had abandoned my faith after Prince Claudian forced me into his employment as a mercenary. I no longer deserved the favor of the Goddesses. But, Seren was inside, and I had no choice but to retrieve her.
Even careful footsteps sounded far too loud in the echoing stone chamber of the sanctuary. The shadows were inky; the barest lick of moonlight trickled in from a hole in the ceiling far above. Dust and debris littered every surface after years of disrepair.
An altar rose in front of me, proceeding the large gathering space. It remained surprisingly intact. Tomes and scrolls littered the top, and dozens more lay forgotten on the floor. Hundreds of images of the Three Goddesses were sketched and scrawled and painted across each and every one.
Their countenances were barely discernable in the dim light, but I knew them well enough. Lunanya, the Moon Goddess, bathed in glittering silver, Soliana, the Sun Goddess with a halo of gold, and Stellány, the Star Daughter, with twinkling light bursting at her fingertips.
“I remember going to church with my parents when I was a child, my sister just a babe in my mothers arms.” I spoke quietly into the dim, but the words echoed back like water lapping at the shore. “We would pray for guidance and bring gifts to lay at the altar. We performed mágik to celebrate and honor the Goddesses.”
Glass crunched under my boot as I moved deeper into the dark. Dust tickled my nose.
“Who did you worship, Seren? Humans may have shunned our Goddesses, but surely you believed in something. Surely you had faith insomething.”
Seren remained silent, hiding, biding her time.
“I remember the stories, too,” I continued. “That there was nothing more powerful than the mágik of the Celestials, but they wanted to share that power—generous as they were. They sent a rain of mágik upon the world to allow their people to hold the Goddesses' love in their hearts and minds.”
I passed pew after pew, fingers trailing over their wooden backs. They were crusted with dried blood, a trail leading me to Seren.
“Have you heard this story before? The story of how the Rázuri were born? I’m sure you have, but I’ll tell you again.” I settled myself onto the penultimate bench. She must be just behind me now. I was so close, but I was so tired. The wound at my ribs ached something fierce. I struggled to breathe slowly, to hide my pain from her keen ear.
I continued on, the tale so clear in my weary mind. I had heard it so many times. “Humans transformed into something greater with mágikal gifts over the elements of the universe. The Goddesses rewarded their reverence with power. They prospered under the loveof their heavenly rulers, but not all humans were bestowed with the Goddesses’ gifts.
“War broke out across Szrestia, bred of jealousy and fear. Acsilla and Ordelés divided into two kingdoms, each determined to destroy the other. We were not alive during the times of peace. We have only ever known the darkness of a world touched with deep, lingering hurt, Seren. But we can make a different choice.” Regret saturated me. I missed the Goddesses and what they represented, the goodness from which I had strayed so far.
A clinking sound rattled at the back of the chamber. I scanned the space, eyes catching on the chipped glass bottle which rolled to a stop at the base of my broken pew.
“Seren.” I spoke her name calmly, softly. “We do not need to make this difficult… Again.”
I rose slowly, inching my way toward the exit. My pulse pounded, the weight of both our fear in my blood.
Feet shuffled on paper to my left where the door yawned open to the forest outside. I lurched toward it just as she did, and we crashed—together—into the stone wall. I grabbed her by the back of her neck, pinning her cheek to the doorframe.
“Enough. We are both injured. I, for one, am exhausted, and I really do not wish to continue to fight you tonight. Please, Seren.” I was dead on my feet, the edges of my vision darkening.
Seren pushed halfheartedly against my grasp. Fatigue weighed on her just as heavily.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” I offered.
“I choose the hard way,” Seren gritted the words between clenched teeth, coarse as black sand. She was equally venomous withblood dripping down her arm and sleep threatening her drooping eyelids than she had been at her best.
“Perfect,” I grumbled. I turned her roughly and knelt so my shoulder pressed against the warm flesh of her belly. I wrapped one large hand around her thigh, bracing the other against her ribs.
Seren thrashed against my hold. My fingers dug tighter into her leg. The muscle bunched, fighting against me with every winding kick.
“Let me go!” She screamed, voice breaking on a sob. “Damn it, just let me go! I don’t want this…I don’t want this!”
“These are the cards we have both dealt,” I grunted. “Your words, not mine.”
Her fingernails caught my neck, scraping across delicate skin and tearing at the collar of my cloak. She screamed, and my ear drums rattled with the force of it.
“I don’t want to be like this! I wasn’t like this before you…”
“Seren!” I snapped, pushing her hard into the door frame.
She moved to swipe at me again, nails reaching—eyes blazing.
I sucked the air from her lungs before her aim could land true. It winnowed away, leaving her gasping with futility. She clutched my shoulder, fingers digging deep into the well of my collarbone.
