Chapter 40
‘The Gods deemed us worthy of their power. Are you worthy, Evyen?’
— Written correspondence from Tinyrah Kazimyr to Evyen Deyanira (Post-Division).
Taryn
Taryn tried his best to draw out his power. He strained against the donstenyte poisoning his mind and came up with nothing. No Magick at all. Whatever they had here was infinitely stronger than what was in Luciena.
He had tried to pull and break the chains, but it was impossible. Every second was crucial, his rising panic starting to take over. He sat back against the wall and looked inwards. How could he escape this?
Taryn could only think of one solution. Accessing the Godspirit Ismene said he had within him. He had seen Airess do it. He knew it was possible to draw on that power–a power so strong that it could break the drugged-coated chains bound to him.
“My power is within the mind, a different kind of Magick.” Taryn recalled Airess saying once, during a past conversation. Could it be possible to tap into her Magick? If the mind was truly separate from the body, could it still hold some power that could aid him in breaking out of here?
Taryn closed his eyes and meditated. He had been unintentionally drawing from her dreamwalking abilities for months now. Maybe he could draw on something deeper if he purposely tried to access it. Accessanyonewho could help him.
He lay down, trying his best to calm his raging breath.
One. Two. Three. Four–just as Airess taught him.
Calm. Collected. Controlled.
After several minutes, he slipped away.
“Tarynon.” A voice spoke. “At last, you’ve finally reached the higher dimension.”
He looked down at the armchair he sat in–one he had sat in many times in his life. In front of him was a small fireplace, and to his right sat his grandmother, Ima, her lips curved in a soft smile. She was knitting as she usually would, crimson and emerald yarn intertwining, as if she had never died at all.
“Ima!” He said, slipping out of his chair and dropping to his knees in front of her. “Is it really you?”
Ima nodded. “It’s me,” she set her yarn aside and took his hands in hers with a soft smile. “Why have you come, my dear?”
Taryn didn’t know it was possible to cry here–wherever this dimension was, but there were tears streaming down his face. It seemed to be a step beyond the dreamworld, his movements more fluid and controlled.
“I am so lost,” Taryn confessed. “After you died, everything changed. I have–I have done terrible things.” Taryn looked away. “If you knew what I’ve done, you would never look at me the same. I’m sorry I couldn’t make you proud.”
Taryn sobbed. There were so many things he had felt but never voiced, never formulated into words from all the sadness and shame he felt. Ima drew him in an embrace. “My dear,” she drew back, looking him in the eye.
“I have always been with you, through every hard trial and decision you’ve made. I know what you’ve done. I know what you’ve gone through. You are more than worthy of happiness, of a good life. Your mistakes have been forgiven.”
Taryn’s mouth parted open, half in shock that he was really talking to her, and the relief that her words had brought him. Feeling a sense of urgency, as if time was about to run out, he blurted. “I found my mate. Oh gods, Ima, she’s even more beautiful than I deserve.”
Ima smiled. “I know. What a wonderful match Fate has made.”
Taryn frowned, suddenly remembering why he was here. Where his body really was. “She needs my help. I’m trying to fight through the poison and access the Godspirit, but it's too strong. I don’t know what to do.”
“Let go of your shame and let your spirit be free. Only then will you access what you desire.”
Ima pressed her thumb in the middle of Taryn’s brow, sending a feeling of Magick coursing through him. “Until we meet again.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, electricity filtered through him, blinding his eyes. He was falling through space now.
All Taryn knew was that he had to try and let go of his shame, his guilt. He needed to access the Godspirit. He needed to save Airess.
Words whispered around him as he fell,
“Killer!”
