Page 91 of Morning's Light

Karsia slapped her away. “You’re not helping.”

Astix stared awkwardly at the scene before patting Karsia on the shoulder. “Glad to see you’re back up and running.” She rubbed her nose on the sleeve of her jacket and sat back.

“What did you do to me?” Karsia patted the stones beneath the newly minted skin. She winced. “What did you do to me?”

“You jumped in front of a death sentence meant for Aisanna! We kept you on this plane of existence. A simple thank-you will do.”

“Yeah,” Karsia said slowly. “Thanks.” She sent them a curvy, sardonic smile. The moment hung heavy in the air.

“Hold on a minute. Look at me.” Aisanna grasped her sister’s shoulders.

“For what?”

“K, your eyes.”

The other girl scowled. “What about them?”

“They’re…they’re black.”

There was something strange about Karsia’s eyes, something too fluid. The color caught the light and swallowed it.

“Well, maybe that’s the price I paid for saving your life. You think about that?”

Aisanna removed her hands quickly, shivering. “I’m sorry.”

“Forget it.” Karsia turned away and struggled to her feet.

“Here, let me help.”

“I can do it myself. Thanks.” She walked over to stare at the Telos Amyet. “So, this is it, then? What the fuss has been about?”

“Physical proof of the world behind the veil.”

“I don’t need physical proof. I’ve got it right here. Where my heart used to be.” She thumped a fist on her chest and laughed under her breath. “You have no idea how it feels. Like electric eels swimming in my blood.” She let her gaze drift to the hole in the cavern ceiling and shivered. “This is power. Real power.”

“There’s nothing I can say to thank you for what you did.”

“A life for a life, Aisanna. There may be a time I need a favor from you. That’s when you’ll repay me.”

“If you say so.”

Karsia turned, her lips pulled back. “Oh, I do.” She walked toward the mouth of the cavern, stared down on black trunks and white snow, a monochromatic wasteland. Every color leached from the landscape. A minute earlier, she would have panicked and wondered if there was something wrong with her.

Now, when she closed her eyes, she drifted in and out. There was nothing there, no light, no dark, no pain or feeling. Her body had fallen away and left the rest of her insubstantial. She was the mist, floating along in an unseen wind. It tugged her wherever it wished, in any direction.

Once or twice she thought she heard the voices of her sisters. A weep, a moan, a sigh, and a person calling her name.

Power crept along in this world, two strings of it like separate lightning bolts. One bright and full of clout for good, the other dark and twisting. Both called to her while only one reached out. It clasped her heart, her soul, and pulled her down into a world of obscurity.

Karsia Cavaldi…

The voice was neither male nor female, loud and quiet at the same time. It knew her, knew every single detail good and bad.

You have been chosen.

She cried out from a throat she did not have, begged it to stop though she felt nothing.

Prepare to take her place, forever a guardian.

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