A watery smile crossed my face as I whispered, “Of course it was you.”
Vesna came toward me. As she did so, white smoke wafted around her form, and she began to change. Her features molded until she was an old woman with white-cropped hair and insanely blue eyes. She looked slightly different— antlers bloomed from her head, and white dots like the ones on her back were scattered across her cheeks. She wore an elaborate blue robe that looked like it’d been crafted from the very stars themselves. But I had no doubt it was her.
“Lady Magdalina.” I ran to her, reaching out and wrapping my arms around her. Gods, I thought I’d never hold her again.
Hello, Emmaline.The gentleness of her voice, even echoing now with the god-power she held, was still so soft.
“I missed you so much.” My tears leaked into the front of her velvety robe. Her presence was groundbreaking to me. I never needed to feel love from anyone else ever again, so long as I remained here with her.
I never left.She stroked my hair back.
“I should’ve realized.” Everything made sense now. Gods and goddesses sometimes came to Earth to incarnate as mortals, to help the fae on their quests. Magdalina had incarnated as a sorceress to help guideme.I couldn’t believe I’d been in the presence of a goddess for so many years and had no idea.
Sit beside me here, Magdalina said, and she gestured to the side of the pool.We have much to talk about.
I knelt beside the pool. Magdalina spread her cloak out around her as she took a graceful seat. I reached out to take her hand, and she squeezed it lightly.
“Did you know who you were before you died?” I whispered. I couldn’t help it— the tears were welling out of my eyes again.
Whenever gods incarnate on Earth, we do not regain the memory of who we are until we are much older,Magdalina replied.I did not come to understand that I was the goddess of wisdom until I received my trance from the other gods about your quest.
“That was before I was even born. Why did you never tell me who you truly were?” I asked.
Gods are meant to guide, Emmaline. What kind of pressure would you have faced if you knew you were being mentored by a goddess?Magdalina asked.
Psh. No shit. She’d been tough on me when I thought she was a powerful sorceress.
“Are you here to give me answers? Do you know where the Unseelie stone is, or anything about this lost city we’re looking for?” I pressed.
That’s something I cannot help you with,Magdalina replied.The lost city of the Unseelie fae has been hidden from the gods for many years. It is why Droga cannot find it.
“We’re looking for an Unseelie city?” I asked. At least we were getting somewhere.
Quite correct; the city of dark fae that the first Hidden King and his court shrouded himself within centuries ago. When the Unseelie fae fell and their extinction was imminent, the most powerful sorceresses of their race banded together to put a curse upon the city, so that no Seelie fae or god would ever be able to find it. So numerous were they and so great was their combined power, that not even the gods could know where the city was. Memory of it was wiped from our minds forever.
“I’m an Unseelie fae. I have dark fae blood. The city wouldn’t be hidden from me. I could find it!” I said in excitement.
You speak the truth, but be aware that Droga has Unseelie fae working for him as well, most dangerously Gabriella. She and others like her have the ability to find this city, and she will not continue to fail forever. You must find the city before she does. Otherwise, the Unseelie stone will be lost.
“How can I find it? Is there some clue we need to find, or a spell that’ll show us where it is?”
You already have the ability to find the stone within you, Emmaline. The potential has always been there, waiting inside. You can do whatever you want. You merely need to unlock what has been hidden away.
Melancholy overtook me as I realized that in this form, Magdalina was a true goddess. She couldn’t interfere with my quest to find the stones, as the Seven Gods had taken an oath not to aid me in the journey to find them. The fae had to prove themselves worthy to keep the portal open… that was the whole point. She couldn’t just hand me the answers.
“I wish you’d survived,” I said sadly. “Even as a goddess incarnate, I’m sure you would’ve been able to help us find it, or at least help us defeat Droga for good.”
That is not how I, or fate, determined my path.Magdalina frowned— as if the idea of altering fate was irritating to her. Her personality hadn’t changed one bit.
“But… you had the power to stop Droga, and yet you sacrificed yourself.”
The power to defeat Droga is inside of you, not I,Magdalina said.I chose my death, because I knew it was time for that incarnation of mine to end.
“But how? I’m the Worldweaver. I’m supposed to bring all of this to an end, but I’m not even strong enough to cast a spell anymore,” I said sadly.
Because you don’t believe that you can.
“It’s hard to believe when I feel this way,” I insisted. “Since you’ve been gone, I feel so hopeless. Nothing seems like it’s worth fighting for.”
