by Dark, Raven
He blew out a breath, looking thoughtful. “I wish you could have been there. It’s like… In every person’s life there’s at least one experience that changes their whole outlook. It changes who they are, know what I mean?”
“Yes.” Falling for the Four was that to me.
“Well, I’ve been lucky to have three experiences like that. One of them was being in that temple.”
We walked on, both lost in our own thoughts. “Setora, I know I’ve said this before but… I’ve been such an ass. I don’t even know why you would want a damn thing to do with me now.”
“And you’re not anymore?” I teased.
He grinned and pinched my nape. “I… It’s just that now, I see things differently. The whole thing was just so…transformative, it’s hard to put into words.”
I wanted more, but I knew he needed time to process, so I let it be until he was ready to tell me. “You said there were two other life altering experiences. What was the first?”
“I’ll have to tell you about that sometime, yeah.”
“What was the second?” I didn’t expect him to tell me that one either.
“You,” he said simply. “I think you’ve had that effect on all of us. Hell, I think you’ve done that to everyone you’ve met. Even Ivek, otherwise I don’t think he’d have let someone’s visions bring him here—for a woman, no less.”
My cheeks flamed. I smiled. “I don’t think it was me. The way Ivek talked about his sister, she sounds like a very powerful woman in her own right. I can’t wait to meet her.”
For a good stretch of the path, there wasn’t much to guide around, so we talked for a while until we reached a crest on the mountainside. Ivek’s camp spread over a large field in the distance to the left, with twenty some odd tents erected, and small, flickering fires blazing in the night. A larger tent separated from the others had one of those banners on it, the stylized purple Eye, fluttering in the breeze.
Looking at it now, knowing what it represented, made my insides squirm. Sheriff had always gotten irritated with anything that implied I was a hero, and I wondered what he’d make of that banner.
“So, these ladies have been here all this time, just a hike away,” Pretty Boy said, shaking his head. “Unbelievable.”
We headed right, where the path wound upward around the side of the mountain. Judging by the distance, I guessed it would take us about three hours to get there.
“We’re gonna be banging on these Ladies’ front door pretty late,” Steel said.
“They will not care, Mister Steel,” Ali’san said.
I didn’t miss the ominous lilt to her tone.
“They know we’re coming, don’t they?” Doc asked.
“They will have known before you did, Doctor, yes.”
“What exactly are they?” Pretty Boy asked. “I mean, they’re Violets and priestesses, but who do they worship? There is no god named Shana Ra, is there?”
She didn’t answer. Until now, her secrecy hadn’t bothered me. Now, it grated.
No one said much after that. The night grew darker and a lot colder the higher we went.
Almost three hours after we’d left Ran Tama, we crested a cliff halfway up the mountain Hawk had indicated earlier.
Suddenly, that familiar pulling sensation slammed into so swift and hard it almost yanked me forward off the cliff. Grabbing onto Hawk, I couldn’t sense anything other than the Violets, dozens of powerful minds within. Dozens upon dozens. And something else.
Ineffable and vague, I could only think of one word for it.
Truth.
I glanced at Ali’san. A light shined in her eyes that had nothing to do with the flame from her torch. We connected for a moment, and I knew then that she hadn’t betrayed me. It was truth that I was feeling, a truth that she was leading me to. She raised an eyebrow, wordlessly asking me if this was what I wanted. I nodded in return.
Ali’san gave a nod back and led the way. I followed beside her, and so did the rest.
With every step I took, that pulling sensation grew. The buzzing started in my head, intensifying until my head felt like it was going to spit apart.
Out of the corner of my eye, Ali’san gestured to the men to stay behind us. Twenty feet from the temple, pain stabbed through my head and I clutched it.
Hawk grabbed my shoulder. I shook my head and he let go.
“Julian better not be in there waiting for us, She-Warrior,” Pretty Boy said.
“He isn’t,” I hissed through the pain. It’s someone else.” Maker, would it always be like this when facing other Violets? It wouldn’t surprise me if my ears were bleeding by now.
I was ten feet away from the huge open gates to the temple when they emerged.
“Holy hell,” Pretty Boy’s voice sounded strangled.
“This is impossible,” Doc said.
A long procession of women strode out. All of them were dressed in flowing white robes, each emblazoned with a black sunburst on the right breast. As soon as they walked out, the horrible pulling buzz cut short, making me stumble. Ali’san caught my arm long enough for me to regain my balance before she dropped her hand.
I straightened.
“Maker of Light.” I stared at the procession in wonder. The robes the women wore made them look like violet-haired angles. The material was long and flowed softly with wide arms that fluttered in the breeze. The woman in front was a little taller than the rest, her hair a complex and beautiful crown of braids. She looked a little like my mother, with the same soft features and warm, maternal eyes.
It couldn’t be my great-aunt Rae, could it? My mother talked about the Ladies of Shana Ra, and she’d said the high priestess was a queen, a Cama Di. But surely she had to be dead by now, right?
The women slowly took up positions to the left and right of the door in neat, almost war-like rows, except they weren’t warriors. Everything about them looked warm and peaceful, even the ghostly way they moved, graceful, almost floating.
The woman in the lead strode up to me and Ali’san. “Sister Ali’san. Thank you for bringing her at last.”
Ali’san returned the nod and, surprisingly, joined the line of women, a lone warrior in a crowd of peacemakers.
Then the woman smiled at me and gave me the customary Violet’s bow before I could do so to her. “This has been too long in coming. Welcome, Maker of the World.”
I swallowed the huge lump in my throat. Maker of the World? Oh my…
Behind me, I could feel the men watching intently. Unsure what to say to the woman’s words, I just nodded.
“I am the Layana, High Priestess of Shana Ra and First Lady of the Order of Your Eye. You must have so many questions.” Her eyes danced with a knowing light.
“That’s putting it mildly, High Priestess. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
“All of them will be answered.” She held out her palm. “Come with me, Worldmaker. It’s time you learned the truth about you are.”
My chest tightened with adrenaline, half excitement, half fear.
Ever since I’d seen my blood turn blue after that surgery in the Grotto, my head had spun with questions. About the visions, about the buzzing I could feel when I was around other Violets. Now that I was about to understand those things, I was terrified.
I cleared my throat, feeling a little awkward. “Priestess Lanaya, may my men join us?” Lanaya’s eyes danced as I continued, “It’s just that…whatever you’re about to tell me, I want them to hear it. Whatever I am, they have a right to know.”
I expected her to refuse, and I fully expected her and the other women to balk at letting five strange men enter their domain.
But they didn’t.
“They may accompany you if you wish.
Until then, Layana and the other women had ignored the men, probably out of the same custom Ali’san had been following when we’d arrived at the Temple of Umbi. Now she nodded to them politely.
Politely, but a little distant.
I looked back at my men.
They all stood there, waiting. Even Sheriff. Leaving it to me. Maker. Life changing experience indeed.
I gave them all a gentle smile, letting them know it was okay. Then I turned, and with my Four and Doc behind me, I followed Ali’san, Layara, and the other women inside the stone temple.
As soon as we were inside, I wanted to spend hours exploring. The place was breathtaking.
We’d entered a well-lit, immense front hall with pillars connecting floor to ceiling, rising so high I couldn’t see the tops. Each pillar stood five feet wide, with scales carved into them, and each eerily familiar. Large brass lamps hung above our heads, the flames giving off the faint scent of jasmine and casting a low, warm glow on the cool white marble floor. Huge gates stood at the other end of the hall, open and inviting.
“This place is fascinating,” Doc whispered, his voice echoing faintly.
“It’s awesome,” Pretty Boy said.
Nearly all the women left us at the doors we’d just entered, with bows and murmurs of welcome, except Lanya and Ali’san. The rest disappeared, leaving Lanaya and Ali’san to lead my group across the floor toward the doors.
There was an incredibly old, ominous feel to this place, as if everything in it was a part of some ongoing ritual.
“Priestess, I don’t understand,” I said, speeding up my pace to keep up with her wider treads. “What or who is Shana Ra?” Like Pretty Boy, I wasn’t aware of any god by that name.
We passed through the doors and entered a room that smelled of books and wax. The doors closed with a resounding groan and a thud.
“Someone needs to oil those doors,” Steel quipped.
I suppressed a smile at his attempt to alleviate the tension and glanced around. Old maps and scrolls lined the walls, most in glass cases, some on dedicated stands. Ancient books stood on shelves, all remarkably well-preserved, along with glass bottles that looked like herbal potions in a sorcerer’s den.
In the middle of the room, Layana put her hands together as if in prayer. “Dark Legion, I must ask that you never tell anyone outside this room what you are about to see until the Worldmaker deems it time. She may tell whomever she wishes, but you may not speak of it without her say. The world at large is not ready for what is beyond those doors.” She gestured to a set of brass doors across the room. Each bore an engraved sunburst in black.
“Trust me, these men understand secrecy, Priestess Lanaya,” Hawk said with one of his Yantu bows. “We have our own secrets, and so do the Yantu.”
“You are Yantu, then?”
He nodded formally.
“Your Grotto has been hidden from the world much as what is beyond those doors.”
“How—” I heard Sheriff start to ask. When I looked back, he shrugged. “Violets. Right.”
Lanaya smiled. “Your secret is safe with me. We trust you because she trusts you.” She nodded to me. Then she focused on Sheriff. “Now, before we go beyond this point… Sheriff, come forth.”
My heart bounded. What could she possibly want of Sheriff?
Sheriff looked just as startled as I was. He made his way forward until he was standing at my side.
Lanaya touched his forehead, glancing at his eyes. She looked at me. “Do you wish to restore his sight, Wordmaker?”
Behind me, a few gasps met my own.
I turned to Sheriff. He expression was of annoyance, and I didn’t blame him. Why would she ask me that? What game was she playing?
“Lady,” Steel growled, “If you have the ability to do that, then do it.”
A hint of an enigmatic curve touched her lips, but otherwise she ignored him and kept her eyes on me.
“Of course I do, but—” I said emphatically, politely smiling but confused, still not understanding.
She lifted her shoulders in a placid shrug. “Then do it.”
I blinked. “Pardon?”
Lanaya spread her hands. “I do not have the ability to heal his eyes, Worldmaker. But you do.”
I swayed, my throat suddenly painfully dry. “How?”
She gave Sheriff a nod. “Sheriff of the Grotto, take a knee.”
His lips pressed together in a mutinous line—for an instant. He’d probably never would have dreamed a woman would order him to kneel. He dropped his shoulders…
And went down on one knee.
Lanaya waved for me to stand in front of him.
I gulped. She really did think I could heal him. “Priestess Lanaya, I assure you, I don’t have the power you think I do. I heal faster than most, but only the way Violets heal. I…”
“Have you ever tried?”
“What? Well, no, but…it’s…” I sighed and slowly moved in front of him, shaking. The last thing I wanted to do was give him more false hope, but my heart was beating fast and something about this felt right.
When I stood in front of Sheriff, with all the men looking on, holding their breath, Lanaya stepped back a pace. “Hold out your hand,” she commanded to me.
Shaking, I put my palm out to the side.
Sheriff’s jaw muscles flexed.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ali’san move near me. There was a flash of steel, and a sharp sting across my hand.
While the men started forward almost as one, Ali’san held out her hand, stopping them. I winced at the pain and jerked my hand back, staring at the gash across my palm. Glowing, blue blood seeped from the wound, which was already knitting together.
“My blood?” I stared at the Priestess.
She nodded and spoke softly. “Concentrate. Touch what needs to be healed. Find the damage, connect with it and heal it. Make his eyes strong again, Setora.”
That’s it? my mind shouted. After all this time, I had the cure inside me?
It was absurd! It couldn’t be.
Hand trembling, focusing all my energy on healing him, I reached out to Sheriff’s face and pressed my hand over his eyes. He jolted, as if he’d been shocked.
I held my breath, connecting with my love, my Master. After a moment, I drew my hand slowly away.
Sheriff shook his head jerkily as if his eyes hurt. He blinked up at me.
Could he see? Time seemed to stand still. The room was so silent, my heart sounded like thunder in my ears.
Sheriff blinked again, and a slow smile spread across his face as he reached up and ran his fingers slowly over my jaw line in an unmistakable way. “You’re still beautiful, sweetheart.”
My eyes slid closed. Deep, hard sobs wracked my whole body, drowning out the men’s words, the whoops, the joyous laughter. Sheriff pulled me to him in an embrace that I felt all the way to my soul.
“Maker, Sheriff, you can see!” I opened my eyes and kissed his face all over.
Sheriff laughed, kissing me back, still in shock. “Yes, I know…Setora, you healed me…”
I pulled away a bit and stared at my hand. The cut was almost gone, only a faint raw mark remained. I glanced at Lanaya. “I don’t understand.”
Instead of answering, she nodded to Ali’san who answered.
“Your blood has healing properties. All True Violets can heal themselves, but only the ones with staris, the strongest of Violets, can heal others but—”
My teeth clenched. “Wait. You knew?”
“—only if they learn how,” she finished.
Ah. I relaxed a little. “How did I do it?”
“Today your abilities become strong enough,” Ali’san explained. “Only when you shut yourself off from the Hive for the first time. That is when we knew it was time for you to be brought here.”
I barely registered what she said through my shock.
“But how did I do it? Where do these powers come from?”
She looked to Lanaya who nodded and gestured to the bronze doors she’d mentioned before.
“The answers you seek are beyond those doors.” She crossed the room to them, and Ali’san followed. “Worldmaker, Legion, come with me.”
&nbs
p; I gulped again.
Here we go.
I crossed the room to the doors, my men following, Sheriff’s hand in mine.
Lanaya nodded to Ali’san, and together they opened the doors.
Once inside the room, I looked around and blinked, confused.
I’d expected to walk in and find something that brought a world-shattering epiphany, but the room looked ordinary, small—and it was empty.
“Well, this is a bit anti-climactic,” Doc muttered.
I smiled wryly, privately agreeing with him.
Sheriff snorted, and it occurred to me it was a lot less fun for him, being as this was the first time he could see in over a month.
If the men’s irreverence bothered the Priestess, she gave no sign. She and Ali’san crossed the room, gesturing for us to follow.
A few paces from the middle of the room, Ali’san drew the small knife she’d used earlier to cut my hand and sliced across her own palm. “I require your blood again, Liberator.”
Anxiety ate at me. I sighed and held out my palm as she sliced, my blood weeping, blue and glowing.
“Do as I do.” Ali’san squeezed a few drops of blood over a tile in the middle of the floor. They splashed onto the marble, the blue drops standing out against the snow white floor.
As soon as my blood hit the marble, the tile lit up, the whole underside of it shining white. Then a low, quiet, electrical hum emanated from it.
“What the… fuck?” Steel.
The men shuffled back, and so did I.
“That compartment has not been opened since the temple was built around it,” Lanaya said solemnly as the glowing tile slid slowly aside. “It has not been open in five hundred years. Until now.”
As soon as the tile had moved aside, a pedestal rose slowly up from within. Made of strange, smooth stone that looked like something between marble and ivory, it measured at least several feet wide. The smooth, flat top had a strange looking dark glass pane across most of it. It continued to hum as it rose up, and then settled in place at waist level with a hollow, reverberating thud.
My heart beat so hard it felt like it would burst free of my chest. I stepped back another pace, and my eyes caught Lanaya’s.
She nodded. “Touch the screen.”