Dawn of Chaos and Fury by Melissa K. Roehrich - 61

58

S he blinked in the bright sunlight, her bare feet in the surf as waves gently rolled to the shore.

“Where are we, little storm?”

Tessa turned, seeing Luka and Theon walking down the beach, and she smiled. Even in her dreams, they found her.

“I don’t know,” she answered, turning back to the endless glittering sea. “It’s beautiful though.”

“Better than the last vision I was pulled into,” Luka muttered, and she sent him a flat look.

“I can’t control them, Luka.”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t change the fact I’ll take this over your other visions of death and destruction.”

She rolled her eyes, feeling the sun’s warmth seep into her soul. For several minutes, the three of them stood there, taking in the tranquility. It didn’t last long, though. It never did.

This time was no different, as several figures appeared. Not on the beach, but on the sea, walking atop the waves and making their way towards them. They all wore robes of varying colors with the hoods up, hiding their features.

Theon and Luka dragged her back, sand sticking to her wet toes, and they made sure there was several feet between them and the newcomers when they stepped onto the shore.

There were five of them, but one stepped forward. Tessa could only assume she was the leader of the group as she pulled back her hood. Honey-colored eyes skimmed over them, her loose ashy-blonde hair flowing in the sea breeze, and the sun highlighted how pale her skin was.

“Tessalyn Ausra,” she said, her voice as smooth as silk.

Tessa tilted her head. “If you know my name, surely I should know yours?”

The woman’s lips curled into a smirk. “Avana,” she answered. “My name is Avana, and I am one of the Fates.”

Tessa lurched back, but Theon had already looped his arm around her waist, dragging her back farther. She could feel Luka fighting a shift into his dragon form as they stood face-to-face with a threat they thought they’d contained.

“What do you want?” Theon demanded.

“We simply wanted to meet her,” Avana said, lifting a hand and gesturing to the four behind her.

“All the Fates came just to meet me?” Tessa deadpanned. “Somehow I doubt that.”

She smiled again, sharp and knowing. “This is not all of us. Only a few,” she replied, clasping her hands before her. “In truth, we wanted to meet all three of you. We were…unable to interfere with you.”

“The genesis bond,” Theon said.

Avana nodded. “That was part of it, yes.”

“And the other part?”

“We are forbidden to interfere with the gods again,” she said. “But we still watch, hoping things unfold in particular ways.” She paused before adding, “Although the addition of Luka Mors was unexpected. You seem to share an inclination for creating your own fate with your Arius bloodline.”

“I still don’t understand,” Tessa said, her fury starting to creep in. “Are you here to thank me? Because that should be the reason you’re here.”

Luka snickered at her side while Theon tightened his grip on her.

“A born being of Chaos,” Avana said, looking her up and down. “It is interesting, really. Not something we could have foreseen, and it created an issue.”

“Which we have solved,” Theon retorted. “I am her balance.”

“Not just you,” Avana answered. “But the two of you together, yes. We have discussed it at great length and have decided we do not need to interfere here anymore.”

“As if we would have let you,” Theon snarled.

She gave him another knowing smile. “Keep that tenacity, blood of Arius,” she said, pulling her hood back up. “You may have altered your fates once, but that does not mean destiny will not find you again.”

“Is that all?” Tessa demanded.

“For now,” she agreed. “But we all know the future is ever-changing. Enjoy the calm moments, Tessalyn. They are as important as the storms.”

“You’re sure you won’t come with us?” her mother asked as they made their way through the Dreamlock Woods.

The woods housed the Serafina Kingdom mirror gate, and she should have known, really. Of course the mirror was in the center of woods where nightmares came true.

Tessa had left this one intact, along with the one on Ekayan Island and the one in the Underground. The Falein Heir had helped them find two upstanding scholars to be the sentinels of the Ekayan mirror mate, monitoring and reporting any activity immediately to Tessa. Cienna and Rayell monitored the Underground mirror, and here? Corbin and Lange were the Dreamlock mirror gate sentinels. They had a home with the woods in their backyard just outside of Sanal, the Serafina Kingdom capital city, and Corbin also served on the Serafina Council.

Tessa gave her mother a weak smile. “My place is here. With Theon and Luka.”

“But…Temural can’t come here,” her mother said with a frown.

No, he could not. Because gods and goddesses still couldn’t set foot in Devram. Whatever Accords were in place were a magic that could not be broken. If she’d learned anything this last year though, it was that the gods weren’t the ones they had to worry about. Or rather, it was who the gods sent to interfere.

“I’ll be all right, Akira,” she said.

Her mother nodded. “Because you’re not alone anymore.”

“That’s right,” she whispered, watching Akira struggle to keep her magic in check. Tessa sent a wisp of her own magic to calm her soul, and she sucked in a shuddering breath.

Ultimately, this was why it was time for Akira to go. She had stayed these extra months, and Tessa had been grateful. They weren’t close by any means, but there was…something for them to build on. Not that it would be easily done when they were in separate worlds, but maybe it was another reason she’d wanted an excuse to not destroy the last of the mirrors. She would have —to keep the realm secure—but she was also a little relieved to still have them.

“Welcome back,” Xan said with a sad smile when they emerged from some trees.

She’d gone on one last walk with her mother. One last moment to soak in having her here, and now they were facing another goodbye.

Or, more accurately, three of them.

Because Xan and Aiyana were leaving too.

Scarlett and Sorin stood next to the mirror once more, and her cousin was far more subdued than last time. Perhaps it wore on her to be the one to ferry others across the stars and constantly have to be present for these farewells.

Aiyana was hugging Luka, tears on her cheeks as she murmured low to him. Her husband’s features were emotionless as always, but she could feel the pain down their bond. So much more than her own. Luka’s relationship with his parents was far different from what she shared with Akira.

“How is Tristyn?” Tessa asked her cousin.

“He is well,” Sorin answered. “Spends most of his time in Avonleya with Razik.”

Tessa nodded, tipping her head back as Xan stepped before her.

“A path to salvation by way of death,” the dragon said, sapphire eyes searching hers.

She gave him a half-hearted smile. “Thank you. For keeping me company when I was too…” She swallowed thickly. “Just thank you. It may not seem like much, but it made a difference.”

He was pulling her into him then, and she embraced him back. “Those visits were just as valuable to me, Tessa. After years of silence, you were a welcome reprieve. And thank you. For loving him.”

“You will come back?” she whispered. “He will miss you both deeply after just discovering you once more.”

Xan released her, stepping back as he said, “I think you know more of what the future holds than I do, do you not?”

“The future is ever-changing,” she retorted.

“That it is, my dear,” he said with a huff of laughter. “That it is.”

Tessa caught Scarlett’s eye and nodded, and her cousin called forth her magic, funneling the power into the Temural symbol. Minutes later, a male stood among the swirling darkness and white embers.

He was tall, like all the gods and goddesses seemed to be. His long black hair was tied back at his nape, and there were twin swords at his waist. A crown of gilded leaves and feathers sat atop his head with a black eagle at his shoulder, and his pine green eyes were pinned on Akira.

“Vixen,” Temural greeted, and Akira was before the mirror, her hands under her chin as she looked up at him. The god’s gaze flicked up, landing on his Guardian. “Xan. Well done.”

Xan bowed his head. “Like they were my own.”

Tessa wasn’t sure what that meant, but she suddenly found those pine green eyes on her. Theon and Luka were at her back, but she lifted her chin as she beheld her father for the first time.

“I’m Tessa,” she said lamely, because what else was she supposed to say at this point?

“I know who you are,” he replied. “The fury of your mother and the wildness of the untamed.”

“She was alone, Temural,” Akira said, fingers in her hair. “All alone this whole time. We could do nothing.”

His eyes flicked to Xan, who sent a swirl of dragonfire to Akira a moment later.

“I know, Akira,” Temural said, far more softly than he’d spoken to any of them. “As soon as I found a way in, I sent Auryon and the Trackers.” His eyes came back to Tessa. “I sent you every advantage I could and bargained with the High Queen of the World Workers to send additional aid.” Tessa nodded, still not knowing what else to say. “Will you be coming home with your mother?”

“ This is my home,” Tessa said. “So, no. I will be staying where my home is.”

Temural nodded as Nylah and Roan appeared, slinking to her sides and lowering to their bellies. “Keep them close then, daughter,” he said. “And know should you ever need it, there is always a place for you here.”

“Thank you,” Tessa said softly.

“I’m sorry,” Scarlett said around a grimace. “But it is getting difficult to keep the mirror gate stable. They need to go.”

Aiyana hugged Luka one more time, and Xan did the same. Tessa hugged her mother, and then Akira was breezing through the mirror gate, headed for the calm to her storm. The one who could silence her Chaos and let her breathe.

Aiyana went next, and before Xan stepped through, he met Luka’s gaze one last time. “We are proud of who you’ve become, Luka, but more than that, know that we love you, even across the stars.”

Then he was gone, and Tessa was stepping back into Luka as he pulled her back to him.

“No offense, but I hope I don’t see your faces for quite some time,” Scarlett said, drawing from Sorin before she opened the mirror gate one last time.

Tessa huffed a laugh as Theon said, “The feeling is mutual.”

The female tossed him a smirk over her shoulder. “Until next time, lordling.”

Then they were gone too, the mirror gate once again a stagnant piece of glass. She turned in his arms, looking up at him when she said, “Luka?”

But he just pulled her back into his chest.

We can be lonely together, she whispered down the bond, and Luka held her tighter.

For a long time, they stood there like that in the middle of the Dreamlock Woods until they heard footsteps and the chattering of a little girl.

Corbin winced, finding the three of them still reeling from the goodbyes.

“Sorry,” Corbin said, a glass box in one hand. “She was getting restless.”

“If anyone understands that, it’s me,” Tessa said, wiping the last of the wetness from her face. “Hello, Priya. Did you find the perfect place like I asked you to?”

The girl nodded her head, eyeing the wolves still on their bellies. They’d perked up at the sound of their approach, but they’d since relaxed once more.

“There are trees and flowers deeper in the woods. The Sprytes showed me,” Priya said. “Lots of flowers.”

Tessa gave her a sad smile. “That sounds perfect. Can you lead the way?”

Priya smiled again, grabbing Lange’s hand and pulling him down another path.

“She has adjusted well,” Tessa said, falling into step with Corbin.

“She likes living near the woods,” Corbin said with a grin. “We just had to set up rules about not going into them without one of us.”

“I don’t think the woods will hurt her,” Tessa said in confusion.

“Not her, no, but when we have to go looking for her?” He dragged a hand down his face. “It only happened once, and once was more than enough.”

“Does she know? Whose ashes are in that box?”

“No,” Corbin sighed. “Eviana asked us not to tell her. Didn’t want her to remember that she was present for her mother’s death.”

That made sense. No one understood making hard choices about children better than her. Eviana didn’t get the choice she was given though. A daughter she was forced to carry. A daughter she chose to love when she could have simply not cared.

Some time later, they emerged in a small clearing deep in the woods. Truthfully, the only way Priya could have found it was if a Spryte had shown her. That’s how far off the path it was, but by Silas, was it beautiful.

Trees with low-hanging branches made her feel like they were stepping into another world. There was a small pond in the center, water lilies floating on top, while wildflowers of all colors surrounded it. Bright oranges and purples, pinks and yellows. Moss covered fallen logs, and ferns and other small plants were everywhere.

“Will this work?” Priya asked, turning to Tessa. There was a hardness in her turquoise eyes that Tessa wasn’t sure would ever go away, but there was also a glimmer of hope. Something told Tessa she was worried about disappointing them.

Tessa crouched before her, holding out a hand for the glass box. “This is perfect, Priya,” Tessa said softly. “Thank you for helping us find it. Can I ask for your help one more time?”

She nodded slowly, eyes darting from Tessa to the box.

“Someone very special died to save someone she loved very much,” Tessa said, her voice wavering on the words. “She loved the flowers and the trees.”

The child’s eyes went wide. “Like me?”

“Yes,” Tessa said, trying to swallow her cry. “Yes, Priya. Just like you. Which is why I was hoping you could help us return her to the trees and flowers she loved so much. You’ll know which ones are the best.”

“I can do that,” she said seriously. Then she looked up, searching for the males who loved her. “Lange? Corbin? Can you help?”

“Of course, bellana ,” Lange said, flashing her a sad smile. “Let’s find the prettiest ones, okay?”

Tessa stepped back, and Theon pulled her into his side as they watched the three of them give Eviana’s ashes back to the element she loved so dearly. Priya may not know who she was giving a resting place to, but they did. They knew, and her sacrifice would be remembered always.