The Crystal Keepers, An Overseers Novel
Page 43
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Loki woke, not knowing how long she had been asleep. The night was chilly and, even though it was dark, she sensed a presence nearby.
“It’s me, Loki.” Waysu didn’t want to startle her so she announced herself.
Loki sat up. “How long have you been here?”
“Awhile. We bumped into each other in the cave and I hollered after you but...you didn’t hear me.” Waysu touched Loki’s arm. “I heard about your mother.”
Loki ran her fingers through her hair to push it back off her face. “What did you hear? Is there more news?”
“I heard that she went after the journal, that one of the Brethren was following her and that Silas went to meet up with her. I’ve been out here since then so I don’t know if there’s more.”
“I guess I fell asleep. I have a bad feeling about this. I should have told someone.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve been having dreams that my mother was in trouble. Plus, I overheard conversations between her and Silas. She was up to something and he suspected it but she wouldn’t tell him.”
“What would have changed if you had told someone? Think about it, Loki. If your mother was that determined to go off on her own, I doubt anyone could have changed her mind.”
Loki remained silent for a few minutes. Then she quietly uttered, “But I could have tried.”
Waysu sighed. She looked up at the velvety black sky, dotted with stars. “I know what it’s like. When you think you could have done something, anything, just to have things end up differently. It eats at you. You blame yourself. There’s no end to it, unless you’re fortunate enough to desire a new viewpoint. Then you start to think more clearly and realize that you really couldn’t have changed anything. Things happen for a reason. You may not understand the reason but you’ve got to trust that.”
FORTY THREE
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Elwyn
Grasslands, East of the Desert
Elwyn didn’t want to open her eyes. There was a buzzing sound and her head hurt like hell. She was afraid her head would hurt even more if she opened her eyes.
Her mouth was so dry; there wasn’t enough fluid for her to swallow.
Something cupped her head and lifted it. Her lips were met with something cool and wet. Instinctively, her lips parted and fluid dribbled into her mouth. It was as if she had been gone so long that her throat forgot how to swallow and she coughed. But where had she gone? Where was she?
“Is she awake?” a voice asked.
“Partially,” another responded.
Then the voices grew distant and Elwyn found herself fading. She felt herself being pulled back into the dismal, barren land; a land with no hope and barely any life. She moaned. She didn’t want to go back there. She didn’t even know where there was.
Images flashed across her mind: rocks falling, crystals quaking, dried up land, starvation. She squirmed. She didn’t want to see this again. This is where she had been. She didn’t want to see it again. Her hand hurt. It wasn’t from physical pain. It was from a piercing energy, an energy that entered her hand and gave her devastating images in her mind. This has to stop. This has to stop. She moaned. It can’t go on like this.
Finally, the images quieted down and she drifted deeper into sleep.