“You’re making a quicker recovery than I expected,” the middle-aged man said as his fingers trailed down my bare back. “The stiches are holding, but do not recommend any strenuous work or travel anytime soon. You should be grateful that your spine wasn’t severed, but I don’t think you will have feeling around the scarring.”

“Thank you for seeing us,” Melinde said.

“Anything for a friend,” he replied. “Just bandage he up again like I taught you. Get some rest, Miss Sol.”

I nodded mutely. The doctor had given me some tablets for the pain, but they only took the edge off. I had gotten little sleep in the four days that I had been in Locksin. Each day passed like an eternity as I lay in Melinde’s cot writhing and sweating from the pain of my wounds. I had developed a fever that was resistant to Melinde’s home remedies so she had sent Rolan to retrieve the village doctor. The boy now sat in the corner with his head resting on his arms while drool pooled on his forearm.

Melinde broke my line of sight as she placed another wet cloth on my burning forehead. Her eyes darted from the doctor, to me and then to my mother and Ryaa who floated silently near the head of the cot. I doubted that healers could see spirits, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they could.

“If her fever doesn’t break by morning I’ll come by again.”

“Okay,” Melinde said nodding. She watched the doctor put on a light coat and collect his bag. He nodded to her and left. Melinde’s attention turned back to me. “Do you need something to drink?” she asked me.

“No,” I croaked. I just wanted to be in the sea. I hadn’t felt the water on my skin since I had been found on the beach. The urge to return to it was so strong that I had even hallucinated that the room had flooded.

“Any suggestions?” Melinde asked the spirits. Ryaa shrugged.

‘Our people usually stay submerged in caves when we have strong fevers. If you have a tub you can fill it with cool water and keep her under,’ my mother said. 'The Grace we wear gives us resiliency when in the water.'

“I don’t know how the neighbors would react to that, besides the ointment that Doctor Leon gave us would wash off.”

It was my mother’s turn to shrug.

“Why not take me down to the sea?” I said softly.

“In the middle of the night? I can’t see in the dark like Waterfolk.” Melinde shook her head.

‘The moon is out and we can be look outs,” Ryaa said. ‘Taking her won’t hurt.’

Melinde’s eyes moved between us before she sighed. “Okay, let me put my son to bed first.” She gathered the boy in her arms and carried him out of the room.

I rubbed my jaw; it had begun to ache when I had clenched it during Doctor Leon’s exam. He had been gentle, but his fingers had caused pain disproportional to the slight pressure that he had applied. It had taken everything in my power not to curse out loud. I knew that Waterfolk curses were unique to our people.

I struggled to put on my Grace while laying on my belly, when Melinde came back. When she saw what I was doing she pushed me into a sitting position and dressed me. “You’re allowed to ask for help,” she said while I looked sheepishly at the fireplace. She crouched in front of me with her back toward me and the spear resting on the floor. “Climb on my back.”

Melinde carried me through the hush of the village. The only sound I could hear were her boots on the gravel path that ran behind the houses. Grass grew all around the buildings that rested on slightly elevated earth. Picket fences marked the boundaries between properties and on each gate a lantern had been lit and hung to illuminate the path.

As the wind blew I heard the clatter of metal, wood, and glass trinkets that had been hung below the lanterns. “What are those?” I asked using the spear to point to the nearest lantern.

“Those are wind chimes. They’re supposed to chase away evil spirits.”

“Do they work?”

“I don’t think so, you showed up after all.”

I didn’t realize my face could get any hotter. I chuckled.

“The medicine must be working if you’re able to laugh.”

“I just need this fever to go down and I’ll be alright… May I ask you a question?”

She shrugged.

“Why don’t you want to slay Lemuete?” I felt her body tense under me. I feared she wouldn’t answer me as the silence formed a rift between us. I listened to the even fall of her feet on the gravel and rested my cheek on her shoulder.

“I don’t want to be a champion,” she said softly. If it wasn’t for my superior hearing I probably would not have heard her. “As a champion can I take care of my family? What of Locksin? The women here look to me as a leader, I can’t leave them behind to throw my life away for some far away threat.”

“What if that threat grew? What if it comes here?”

“Can it? It’s been 400 years since the calamity, this demon has had more than enough time to amass power. Shouldn't we have seen destruction by now?”

‘Our Mistress has been containing the spread of his evil, but it is growing difficult. Without her handmaidens and champions, there would be little she could do on the mortal plane without causing a greater calamity,’ my mother said.

“Greater than a flood?” Melinde said.

‘Can you imagine what it would mean to have Death walk the earth?’

I felt a chill go down my spine as I imagined a blackened waste and gray waters.

“If I was a champion, I would slay the demon myself, but I’m not. The Mistress chose you,” I said. “Would you really give up a chance to protect our peoples?”

Melinde shook her head. “You don’t have a child of your own; you wouldn’t understand. I can’t leave my son; the thought terrifies me. It terrifies me to think that a little part of me will be left alone in this world if I die. I can’t leave him behind. Please don’t ask me to.”

She was right, I didn’t understand her fear. I did not have children and never would. Aur was the closest that I had to a child, but I did not feel the same attachment that a mother would have. I worried about his safety and moods, but I never felt loathe to leave him behind. Why should I bring into the world someone that would have that control over me?

Vael was the only weakness that I was willing to have, and now he was dead.

The sound of the waves grew louder as the path turned to dirt. A lone house marked the transition point. Its roof was sunken in and the shutters hung crookedly with missing slats. The fence had fallen long ago leaving random posts that had been stripped of paint.

The grass now rose past our hips and brushed my bare feet as the path narrowed. If I didn’t have my fever I probably would have enjoyed the tickling sensation.

We crested a knoll and looked down on the Sparkling Sea. Ribbons of sparkling light intermingled with the waves and left scattered sparks across the dark sands. The moon was waxing gibbous and the clouds floated past it lazily. At that moment, I wished that I could fly to the moon, maybe it was better there. I wondered if the lady of the moon would welcome me in her marbled halls.

I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew I was laying on the ground with Melinde leaning over me. The back of my head throbbed with a dulling aching pain and my back was on fire. I sucked in a scream and let it out in stuttered gasps. Bile rose in my throat.

Melinde rolled me on my side. “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!” she said over and over.

“Huh?”

“You fell! Can you understand me?”

“Y-yeah.”

“How many fingers do I have up?”

I looked. “Three?”

‘What in the world was that?’ Ryaa said. ‘If you’re trying to crack her head like a nut you’re succeeding!’

“Not now, Ryaa!” Melinde growled.

‘We have company!’

“What?” Melinde’s head whipped around. I could hear the fall of footsteps, but the grass blocked my view of the figure drawing near us. Melinde grabbed the spear and pointed its blade toward the source of the sound. “Who goes!” she called out.

“I am Lasaro, Illustrious of Nadir, Eminence of the Geta house. You must be Melinde Kane.”

Lasaro? Why was the Illustrious of Nadir here? Was this some trick? I was about to rise when my mother lifted her hand and motioned for me to still.

She and Ryaa moved in front of us.

‘Can you prove that you’re Lasaro?’ Ryaa said crossing his arms.

“Is this proof?” the man said. Ryaa nodded and moved to the side. That was when I saw the Illustrious of Nadir for the first time. His white hair was in a warrior’s braid that was left to fall down his back. I couldn’t see the color of his eyes as they were hidden by shadow. I imagined that they were gray as Lord Faxon had reported to us. In his left hand he held a sword aloft. The weapon glowed in his hand with a soft light.

I could feel the power radiating from his body. I found it hard to look away from him; his presence seemed magnetizing. My skin prickled as the hairs on my body rose in anticipation. I felt ready to flee at any tell of danger.

“Eminence!” Neara knelt beside me on the path and hugged my neck. I grunted in pain.

“Child, be careful, she’s injured,” Melinde said. She was looking between Lasaro, Neara, and myself. "White hair," she whispered.

"Neara, why are you here? Why aren't you in Geyser?" I glanced at her face and arms, checking for any injuries.

"Eminence Lasaro brought me here because the Mistress said to."

Lasaro kneeled beside me and took my hand in his. "It's an honor to meet you under better circumstances, Eminence. Your husband is worried about you."

I sucked in my breath. Vael was alive, and what did he mean by better circumstances? My vision blurred and I covered my eyes. How was he alive? I didn't kill him?

"How is he?" I whispered.

"He was in very bad condition when I left; he could hardly speak. If I hadn't stopped you, he would be dead," Lasaro replied.

I looked at him through my fingers. "Stopped me?"

"I apologize, I'm the one who struck you down."

A moan escaped my lips as I began to cry. I was so foolish to try and throw my life away. What would Vael think of me if he knew? I was fortunate that Lasaro had stopped me. Why had I given up? Why did I wrap my whole existence around his?

I hated myself. I hated this body, and I hated my actions. I was a monster in human clothing. Would Vael divorce me? Would he lock me away for attempted murder? Cia's death would be enough probable cause to put me in a cell.

I wanted to be with Vael, but maybe...maybe I was not meant to be.

I felt a cloth pressed against my hands. I opened my eyes to see Lasaro offering me a handkerchief. I took it and wiped my eyes. Already I could feel my eyes swelling as I dabbed them. “I don’t know why you’re apologizing to me,” I said. “I deserved to be cut down.”

“I’m apologizing because of the nature of my sword. When I separated the Bone God from your body I also separated your soul. I had to strike you a second time to reattach it; such is the nature of Cleave.”

“You, you killed me?” I could hear the shakiness of my voice as my body felt chilled. I wasn’t a ghost. Leon, Arno and Rolan could see me. How was I still alive? Was I alive?

I felt my head lift off the ground as something cold and soft pushed it up and cradled it. I looked up in surprise to see the Bone God leaning over me as my head rested in her lap. She looked like a dimmed star in the darkness; solidified white light.

Her pale lips turned up into a small smile as I trembled in fear.

‘Hello my wayward, Sol,” she said in a musical voice. ‘Do you still desire to be in my halls?’

“N-no, Mistress,” I stuttered. I felt my chest tighten as I began to hyperventilate. If I said the wrong thing would she kill me? Would she kill Vael?

‘I didn’t expect my Lasaro to act out against me for the sake of a stranger. My daughter must favor your husband. Don’t worry, I have no plans to shorten his life again, though if either of you ever defy me again, your afterlife will be less than merciful.’

“Yes, Mistress,” Lasaro said while bowing.

“Yes, Mistress,” I echoed. The Bone God stroked my hair gently.

‘I’m happy to have my champions together. It has taken much maneuvering to pair your with your personal weapons. Each was made from a strand of my hair and imbued with my essence.

‘Sol, as with your mother before you, you will carry out my will on this earth. You and Neara are two of my handmaidens. It’s your duty to serve me, aid my champions, and protect the people.’ Her head lifted and she looked at Melinde and Lasaro. ‘Lasaro, Melinde, Lemuete has risen. By your hands and my wrath you shall slay his wickedness. Destroy this abomination!’

“Yes, Mistress,” Lasaro said. Melinde bowed her head. She was trembling. Her knuckles mottled as she gripped her skirt tightly. She shook her head.

“I c-can’t! I was not m-meant to be a champion!” she choked out between sobs.

‘You must!’ The Bone God pressed her right index finger against Melinde’s forehead. The mortal woman shuddered and the color drained from her face. ‘Now do you understand your purpose?’

“But…my son?”

‘He shall remain here, safe with your husband. If you so wish, Neara can remain here with your child.’

“How will leaving a child here give me peace of mind about leaving my son?”Melinde was now glaring at the god who seemed unperturbed by the hostility.

‘Do you doubt my power? Everything that is, ends. One day I shall absorb all and then my eyes shall close for the last time ending all of existence. For this reason I am confined to my halls, only sending out a small portion of my spirit.’

Neara stood up and bowed to Melinde. “Ma’am, I am very strong. If any threat comes I will become a giant and crush them,” the little girl said. Her hair began to glow.

Melinde rubbed her eyes and then hugged her. “Ok… I’ll go.”

‘Then it’s settled. Neara will be your personal helper. Sol will work with Lasaro.’

I blinked and found my head laying on the ground once more. I had not realized that my pain had been lessened by the god’s presence until she was gone. All the pain came back at once. I clenched my teeth and hissed.

“Was that a hallucination?” Melinde asked.

“No, the Mistress comes and goes as she pleases,” Lasaro said. “Why were you out here in the middle of the night?”

“We were on our way to the sea to break Sol’s fever.”

“I see… Eminence Sol, would you allow me to carry you the rest of the way there?”

I froze. I didn’t want him to touch me anymore than he had. I understood that he had attacked me to save Vael and our guards, but what was to stop him from attacking me a second time if he saw me as a threat?

“No thank you,” I said as calmly as I could. I wished I wasn’t in so much pain so that I could stand up and run away. I wished that my vision did not blur so that I could see clearly.

Ryaa moved to my head and glared down at Lasaro. ‘Leave her alone. She’s only in this state because you attacked her.’

“Would you rather that she had killed her husband?”

Ryaa snorted. I found the sound odd since he no longer had lungs or a corporeal nose. ‘You never allowed her the chance to talk things out with the Mistress.’

“I see now. You’re in love with her.”

‘We are friends,’ Ryaa growled. ‘I have a girlfriend.’

“Then why aren’t you haunting her?”

‘Because she doesn’t need me. Claire has always been independent, besides she can’t even see me.’

I closed my eyes. It was my fault Ryaa was dead. I couldn't bring him back to life and I had no way to say that I was sorry. He should have left me in that cell, then I wouldn't have hurt Vael or killed Cia.

I bit my lip. Why was I pushing the blame onto him? Was there a part of me that didn't want to feel guilty? I couldn't take back what had been done, but I could work towards a better future. I needed to stop thinking of just myself; there were others hurting just as I was.

Claire and Melinde had lost Ryaa too, Neara had lost her parents, and it was possible that Lasaro had lost someone as well.

I needed to be stronger. For them, for me, for our people. This should never have been about my selfish need to be a warrior like my mother, this should have been about the protection of all.

There was a flash of light and I opened my eyes to see the Mistress standing over me with Melinde's spear in her right hand. The metal spear head rested in the valley between my breasts. 'I'm glad that you're finally learning, Sol Manolo. Each of you was chosen by the love you hold in your hearts and the unwavering courage to cross the Forbidden Line. Each of you was willing to see that Waterfolk and Landwalkers are only human.'

The Mistress applied pressure to the spear head until it dug into my skin. I felt a sharp pain, but remained still as the tip buried into my sternum. There was a second flash of light and the heaviness that I had felt in my limbs lifted. The burning sensation of my back faded away to nothing and my breath became lighter. The god smiled at me and returned the spear to Melinde who sat looking dumbstruck.

‘Don’t make me regret giving you a second chance,’ she said and between blinks she disappeared.

I stood up unassisted. “What happened?” Melinde said as she rose to her feet right after me. She turned me around and pulled down the collar of my Grace to expose my back. “You’re healed! All I see are two scars.” I pulled aside my Grace in the front and looked at the spot where the spear had pierced my skin. There was now a small scar made of two lines that crossed together at an angle.

Was this to be a reminder for my actions?

“Eminence Lasaro, how did you and Neara reach Locksin?” I asked as I fixed my clothing.

“We swam, though that won’t be an option for Melinde,” he replied softly. I turned to face him. “We would draw attention if we traveled by land. Three people with white hair and weapons? The warriors of this land would be wary of us.”

“We can still swim, I know of a way,” I said.

“Ok, what are you up to?” Melinde said. “You were just healed and now you’re planning on rushing into danger? Why don’t we go back to my house, besides we need to take Neara there anyway.”

“Agreed,” Lasaro said.

“Ok,” I replied. I took Neara by the hand while Melinde led the way back to her house. I looked down at the girl. Her hand seemed so small and frail in mine. I was reminded of how small Aur’s was. Why did someone choose to create someone so fragile. I shook my head. This girl was not as fragile as others. She had a powerful god to protect her. I had seen her crush cannons with these same small hands. Children could grow up to be strong; hadn’t Neoma and Arlen?

“How are you, Neara?” I asked softly.

She looked up at me with a bland expression. I felt my heart break inside. Children should smile, and giggle, and race everywhere they went. They shouldn’t be quiet or have an emotionless face. Lemuete had robbed her of her innocence, but the Mistress had given her strength. I was no better than demon for I had asked this child to help me tear apart a Landwalker ship.

Melinde’s choice to keep her here in Locksin was wise. Maybe this was why the Bone God chose the child to act as the woman’s helper.

“I’m ok,” the girl said and shrugged her shoulders. “Are you still going to find my parents if I stay here?”

I nodded my head. “I made a promise.” The girl nodded as well and turned her head forward. I sighed.

“Eminence, you never told us how you planned to assist Melinde in swimming,” Lasaro said. He was walkingin slightly behind me and Neara.

“When I escaped from the Landwalkers with Ryaa, I had given him my Grace to wear. We then jumped off a cliff and landed in the sea. I prayed and the Gentle God, or maybe it was the Bone God who answered…” I said. I tapped my lips with my index finger. While it had made sense at the time that the Gentle God had blessed Ryaa, maybe it was the Bone God who had blessed him instead. Afterall I was her handmaiden. “Either way, he was blessed and turned into Waterfolk and I was gifted a new Grace which I am wearing now.”

‘It was weird waking up under water and realizing that I wasn’t drowning,’ Ryaa said as he floated to the left of Lasaro. ‘I wish that I could have had the chance to try out the tail.’

“I’m sure you would have looked ridiculous,” Melinde said. Ryaa made a hand gesture which I assumed was rude.

“So, you think the same thing could happen again if we give a Grace to Melinde?” Lasaro replied.

“It’s possible… I don’t know. It may have been a random blessing or it may not work a second time with my new Grace.”

“Then let me attempt to give her a tail.”

‘Are you sure that’s wise, Eminence? You are a champion!’ my mother, who had been silent most of this time, said angrily.

“What other choice do we have, Mama? It will take longer to go by land, not to mention it would draw attention to us, like Lasaro said.” I sighed. “It won’t hurt us to try.”

‘If wishes became fishes…”

“We would all drown; I know. We still need to try.”

We walked the rest of the way in silence. When we filed into the kitchen we were greeted by a half dressed Arno gripping a candle and a mace. “Mel, there you are!” he said in a piqued voice. “I thought someone carried you off!”

“Don’t be ridiculous; I carried her off,” Melinde said pointing to me. I rolled my eyes before I could stop myself. Arno sighed and shook his head. Melinde broached the distance between her and her husband. She wrapped her arms around his waist and nibbled his chin. “You know you’re the only man that I would allow to carry me off?” Her grip tightened and she stunned us all by lifting her husband off his feet before setting him down gently. “Don’t you know that honey,” she said in a smug voice.

“A-a…” Arno sputtered and dropped his mace. Melinde picked it up and tucked it into his waistband. “A… sorry… Please introduce me to your new guests?”

His wife smiled and gestured to Lasaro. “This is Eminence Lasaro of Nadir, and this is Neara. The girl will be staying with you and Rolan.”

Arno bowed deeply. “Eminence, it is an honor to have you in our home.”

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Lasaro said. “We came here in search of your wife and Eminence Sol. Our Mistress as an important mission for us.”

Arno looked at his wife. “Did you agree to be a champion?”

“Yes,” she said in a soft voice.

“What about us? What will I tell Rolan if something happens to you?”

Melinde scowled. “The same thing I would tell him if something happened to you; they fought with honor!”

“I’m not letting you go by yourself!”

“Yes, you will! I can’t fight to protect us if I have to look over my shoulder worrying about you.” Melinde slammed the butt of her spear against the wood floor causing her husband to flinch. His eyes glistened as he cupped her chin with his free hand.

“I should have trained you to protect yourself. Now it’s too late…” Melinde hooked her arm around his.

“Excuse us,” she said and led him out of the room.