Evenknowingshewason a time limit, it was difficult for Iyana to tear herself away from her family.She was owed so much more time with all of them.When she said as much, Imo clicked her tongue at her.
“You’ll see us again, child.Just hopefully not for a long while.”
Iyana wrapped her grandmother in a tight hug, giving her the goodbye Altair had denied her.Then she did the same with her parents, who had been taken from her by Uther.Les was last, and she gave Iyana a little extra squeeze before releasing her.
“Theo will escort you back to the river,” Les said.With a sad smile, she added, “Good luck.”
“I’ll be back,” Theo murmured, kissing his wife gently.Iyana’s heart tripped at the sight, and she frowned.Butterflies erupted in her stomach as her heartbeat tried to start.She felt the tug of the other part of her soul living outside of her body.Emmeric was calling her home.
“We need to go.He’s given me the antidote.”
Theo nodded, and they exited the home, the door disappearing behind them.The walk back to the river didn’t seem to take as long as the walk to the house, and she glanced at the Kanaliza with an eyebrow raised.He shrugged.
“Time works differently here, remember?This is where we wanted to go, so that’s where we are.I can’t explain it much more than that.”
The sound of rushing water reached Iyana’s ears, but her steps faltered when they turned a corner and the river came into view.A woman stood on the banks, facing away from them.Her dark hair hung down to the back of her thighs and flowed unnaturally around her.When she turned, Iyana saw the deeply tanned skin and infinite brown eyes.Theo took a small step in front of Iyana to block her from view and raised his hands.
“My lady,” he said, reverence and fear lacing his voice.“The Aztia needs to return to the mortal lands to finish this business with the stars.”
Altea’s face remained stoic.“You are no longer needed, Kanaliza.”She waved her hand in Theo’s direction, and his soul faded, blowing away in the wind.Iyana’s eyes widened.
“What did you do to him?”she yelled.
“Not to worry, Aztia.He is well; he’s simply been sent home.”The goddess tilted her head as she regarded Iyana.“You, however, cannot be allowed to leave.Once a soul crosses the river, they belong to me.”
Emmeric
PanichadenvelopedEmmericwhen Iyana’s heart had stopped, and he ceased feeling their bond within his chest.There was a hole where the other half of his soul should have been, and he knew right then that if she didn’t come back, he’d be following her into the Everlands.
He had listened, though, and given her the entire twenty minutes she asked for.It almost killed him to do it, and he debated giving her the antidote every second.At exactly twenty minutes, Emmeric poured the antidote into her mouth, plugging her nose like Iyana had told him to do and forcing it down her throat.Then he waited.
A relieved breath whooshed out of his lungs when he felt her heart beating again.It was distant and thready, but it was there, and a small kernel of warmth bloomed within his chest at the return of his bond.
Come home, Mouse.He sent the command down that tenuous link, hoping Iyana heard him and it was enough of an anchor for her to find her way back.Emmeric still wasn’t completely confident that he would be enough to call her back.And those fears intensified as the minutes stretched on and Iyana would not wake.
Her heart beat, and her lungs filled with air—not often enough for his liking.Still, she slept.Something was wrong.
Emmeric glanced up at Okab, Altair, and Kaz, all standing above them.“What do we do?”
Okab shook his head.It was eerie seeing pity shine through eyes that looked so much like Altair’s.
“There’s nothing we can do now.She either fights her way back, or she doesn’t.”
Iyana
Thiswasbad.Iyanahad no idea how she was supposed to make it around an eternal being hells-bent on keeping her in the Everlands.The tugging in her chest became more insistent, and she knew Emmeric was panicking.
“Altea, my lady,” Iyana hedged.“It would be best for humanity if you’d allow me to pass.Because I’m the only one who can banish the stars.If you want your creation saved, then you’ll let me go back.”
“Another Aztia will be born in your place.My mother ensured this would be the life-cycle of those chosen.”
Iyana tried not to let her frustration show.“I understand, but it could be many years until another Aztia is born, and then they would need to grow and learn.I’m herenowand ready to do the duty thrust upon me.If we waited, many humans would suffer and die.”
Altea waved her hand in dismissal.“Your measly human lives are over in a blink of an eye.Humanity, as a whole, will survive; you always do.”
“So you’re going to condemn thousands to suffer because you simply don’t care about the weight of one human soul?”Fury lined her words.“That doesn’t seem like something a goddess would condone.Especially when your own mother created the Aztia and Kanaliza for this specific purpose.”
The stoicism on Altea’s face quickly morphed to anger.Her hair whipped around her as if a tempest was raging, and the sunlight beaming down on them dimmed.The river rushed faster than before.
