Revel’s reply was strained.You think I want to see millennia of Celestial power, and all of Seraphiel’s and my work, thrown away? But what else can you do? Sanctuary will come to your aid; it answers to you.
“Barely!”
As Revel and Gavriel tried to find new solutions to the problem, I let my own thoughts wander. My mind kept circling around to what he’d said about becoming something new. Identity was such a malleable thing, and yet so vital. How we thought about ourselves was more powerful than how the world saw us. I had always been perceived as useless and weak. Small, frail, silly. Except by those who loved me and knew me best, and most importantly, myself. The question that had haunted me my entire life, and in every moment between lives—who am I?—hummed inside me now.
After not knowing the answer to that for far too long, I felt that at last, I could see all the facets that made me who I was. That had prepared me for this moment. I was the beloved of four incredible men. I was a friend to Sunny and Percy and Truth and Hope. I was quasi-mother to Precious. A stepsister of sorts to the First Children, and a High Angelus. I was a Maker and a Namerand quite possibly a secret superhero, no matter what Gavriel the Grumpy Lightbearer said. I was small, but I was powerful. And I was still, even unable to move, the leader of Sanctuary.
Imriel’s words came back to me. I was a bridge, too. I was tethered in two worlds. Did that mean I was like Revel? Could I serve as a conduit and channel power, Sanctuary’s power, away from the realm and into…
The final piece of the puzzle slipped into place. Lightbearer. GavrielLightbearer.
It was almost too easy; the solution had been there, in his name, all along. Our identities, ournames, were the only key we needed.
Revel,I whispered in my mind, but he couldn’t hear. His conversation with Gavriel had turned into a telepathic shouting match. I could see, over Gavriel’s shoulder, a gathering darkness. The shadows were approaching.
I needed to touch Sanctuary. Needed some connection to the ground. But the burlap underneath me was just thick enough to keep my body from connecting with it, and I couldn’t even move my hand to reach down. I was helpless.
Hopeless.
As I thought the word, Gavriel turned, his foot bumping against my side, and the burning feather inside my toga slid out, drifting gently to the floor. As it fell, I felt an odd sensation. A tiny, sour note of energy from somewhere—I thought it might be the swirling darkness inside me—like I’d touched my tongue to a nine-volt battery. As if there was a shadowy filament leading from that feather to me… and just enough juice, when it landed on the marble below Gavriel’s feet, to connect me with my realm.
Sanctuary!I called out.I need you. I need all of you.
I didn’t have to explain myself. I didn’t have to ask twice. The realm was mine, and it may have been loaning Gavriel someof its power, but when I demanded it obey my call, it leaped to comply.
Instantly, power shot up through me, electrifying my body. Electrocuting me, more like. It blazed up to the feather on my chest and shot out in a beam to Gavriel, who was now staring at me with a mixture of consternation and dawning comprehension. He opened his soul, reaching to communicate, but instead of his mind entering mine, the power of the entire realm poured into him, lighting up everything around us. Burning us.
The shadow that had been around my shoulders burrowed deep into my toga, making a cool spot on my lower back, but the rest of my body was feverishly hot. Melting, almost.
Faster by the second, the power surged through me, stripping away everything that had made me Feather, rather than a connection. All the parts of my former self were blown into dust, into a sparkling glitter that filled my sight.
The world was made of glitter. And every particle sang.
And so did Gavriel. His voice, which had been raspy and ruined from centuries of abstaining from music, was so glorious. It had been ever since I woke next to him in the Maker Hall. I wondered what had effected that sudden change.
The power of a Great Sacrifice,Revel murmured solemnly.He gave his wings to protect you.
Gavriel glowed brighter and brighter as he sang, as power flooded from Sanctuary to me to my soulmate through the connection. He turned his face my way, and if I had still been the old Feather—who didn’t know he would only ever look at me with love—I would have been afraid. His eyes were beams of golden fire, and his skin roiling with flames, like some strange sun. He lifted me with one arm and reached out with the other, directing a fountain of power at all the shadows who had been massing behind him, preparing to attack us again.
Something cool crawled even farther behind me: my helpful shadow, protecting itself from immolation. Not many of the others had time to find a hiding place. Some fled down corridors to escape the blast, but thousands of them were restrained, as if a web of light had been thrown around every shadow within range, catching them.
It caught them, and set them afire. But instead of burning or killing them, the fire refined the shadows. The thick smut that not only coated them, but had worked its way into the very weave of their souls, burned out like flash paper, almost instantly. Bright red and blue and violet sparks flew into the air, bizarre fireworks going off too close to the ground. The conflagration didn’t smell like burning flesh or sulfur this time. Now, the air was rich with wildflowers and honey, rain in the desert, and soft forest loam.
It was heartbreakingly beautiful to watch. And horrifying, because Gavriel had just drained a large portion of Sanctuary into himself, and his body was now beginning to bulge oddly, as if he might blow apart at any second. He was the Lightbearer, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe he couldn’t hold this much power.
Maybe I’ve killed us…
Before I could finish my thought, Gavriel was aiming one hand at the gate. “Open!” he commanded.
It won’t work!Revel shouted.It’s not yours to sacrifice. My lock requires a Great Sacrifice, Gavriel! You know this.
NO!Gavriel’s mental voice was so loud, I felt my eardrums almost burst.IT IS NOT HER SACRIFICE TO MAKE.
But it is. It’s literally who I am,I thought desperately.I’m the Beautiful Sacrifice. Open, Revel. Take the key and let us out.
Yes, sister,Revel replied.We’ll do it together.He sent me a sliver of thought, tied to song. The key I needed. When hereached for it, I felt a trickle of power in my center, finally. Enough to do what I needed to.
In my mind, I sang my name and the Celestial word for opening, like Revel had told me to. Immediately, there was a small click in my innermost being, and then an outrushing of power, even as Gavriel screamed a protest.
