Page 138 of Requiem of Silence

No spirits penetrated the obelisk room, even with the doorway smashed open in invitation. All the same, Varten never once let go. His hands kept a firm but gentle grip on her waist. He’d moved to brace her this way when she began shaking. Shehadn’t thought it would take great effort to whisper the words of the blood spell over and over, pouring her heart and soul and Song into its execution, but it had. Varten’s touch might be all that was keeping her upright.

Her Song was full—and while blood spells didn’t require Songs, the magical workings necessary to undo what had been done by the True Father was something more than blood magic. Not quite the amalgam magic Gilmer had spoken of, but similar in its way.

“My sister Dahlia first discovered how to combine the magics in this way,” Gilmer had told her back in his Archives, as he stood just like this while Zeli watched and listened and learned.

“In the north, they were also putting together this knowledge, so I suppose we’ll never know who was really first, but Dahlia had followers, acolytes of her own whom she taught. We, her sisters and brothers, warned her against it but she did it anyway. She was the healer and wanted her followers to be safe and healthy.”

As he spoke, the red of the obelisk appeared to deepen, and the caldera itself—the solid, gem-like substance—shifted like liquid beneath the surface. Gilmer repeated the words of the spell slowly, over and over, for what seemed like hours until she could repeat them, too. Until her tone and intonation were perfect though she didn’t understand the language she spoke. The demonstration, the transfer of knowledge had gone on for a long time, during which, she’d focused on her fear. Imagined it leaving her body, freeing her.

Gilmer told her that the sacrifice would take on an avatar or embodiment. Something to represent the loss in the material world, for that was the way of this type of magic. For Zeli, the form of that avatar was breath.

As her lungs worked, mouthing the words of the spell and pulling in the needed oxygen, the air expelled from her lips hardened before her. It solidified into a small, round object, colorless but still visible hovering before her. She longed to reach out and touch it, but didn’t dare.

Gilmer’s words grew stronger and louder. They vibrated her bones, making her shake and shake, and as he spoke, the colorless, floating ball turned as red as the obelisk.

Zeli’s heart was beating so fast, it made her chest hurt. She gulped for air as her skeleton rattled inside her. Then the embodiment of her sacrifice shattered into a million pieces, which all dissolved back into air.

She wobbled on her feet. Then fell to her knees. And just like that, it was back.

Her Song.

It snapped back into her body like a magnet drawn to iron, and filled up all the empty spaces in her soul. She reached for it tentatively, not quite believing that she was whole again. Earthsong was there, its infinite sea swelling and rocking, waiting for her, it seemed. So she sucked the energy into her Song, filling herself to the brim, testing her limits the way she used to do as a child.

The air against her skin felt different. Its moisture invisible but tangible. Heartbeats thundered in her ear: Gilmer’s, Varten’s, and Yllis’s—or at least the body he wore.

Pushing out further, she sensed the acolytes still hovering outside the Archives’ door. In the streets beyond, the Rumpus’s revelers’ joy and merriment and frustration and doubt and hope and fear swirled in an endless dance.

It was like she could touch the birds overhead, the nocturnal ones hunting for their evening’s meal. The prey scuttling acrossthe earth. Creatures she hadn’t thought of for so long were now imprinting themselves on her senses. The world was so loud.

The life and vitality of every living thing that existed was energy that mingled to form Earthsong. Zeli had risen then, eyes closed, once again connected to life itself. And it had felt glorious.

In the obelisk room, in Varten’s arms, she began to weep as Song after Song snapped back into place in Lagrimari people all across the city. All across the country, reaching into Lagrimar and all of the citizens still residing there. Connected as she was to Earthsong via the obelisk, using its enormous, magnifying power, the indescribable joy of every man and woman and child who received their Song back was palpable for her.

She became one with their wonder. She sank into their delight as the broken were healed. Her people were whole once more.

In her hand, the dagger became too heavy to hold and she dropped it to the ground, where it clattered. It was a simple thing, not ornate or gilded. Something innocuous that a soldier might carry.

Not a single Song was left inside.

She thought of Yalisa and Eskar so far away, even now receiving their magic again. Gilmer had said that proximity was needed, but as Song after Song was returned, the obelisk grew in strength and reach, now able to send Songs back to Lagrimari wherever they might be. They would not know how or why, but what had been stolen was now returned to all.

Zeli released her hold on the obelisk next. She tore herself away from the power, and fought to stay on her feet. Varten’s hands tightened around her waist, a band of safety keeping her up, and then easing her down to sit resting against him.

Now, her own Song was spent. Varten was vulnerable to thespirits without her protection. She opened her mouth to say as much, but couldn’t get a word out. Exhaustion overcame her.

“It’s okay,” he said, whispering. “Just rest. I’ve got you. I won’t ever let go.”

She couldn’t physically move her body to protest or pull away. And so she decided to believe him.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

What’s broken can be mended.

A shattered spirit’s remedy requires

close attention and undivided time.

—THE HARMONY OF BEING

---