Page 78 of Requiem of Silence

She opened her eyes to witness this shape rise from the water and float upward. The figure was difficult to make out, appearing to her eyes to be made of air and wind and steam more than solid flesh, but a face resolved into a bearded form—a man, with long coiled locks flowing down his back.

Kyara stared as he drifted closer, a man of air—of Void?—but visible nonetheless, and the power coming off him… Her knees began to shake as the presence approached. Standing before the Goddess Awoken had been awe-inspiring; this was bone crushing.

“Kyara,” the figure whispered in a voice that was both many and one. These were the whispers she’d heard in the desert, leading her to the crystal city and through the tunnels. She’d thought it was the Cavefolk speaking to her, but if so, they’d used the voice of this… whoever this was. The nameBreath Fatherstroked her mind and she shivered.

“Why have you come to me?” The voice was timeless and, this close, pierced her marrow.

“M-Murmur said it was a rite of passage.” She shivered and thought she might vomit. “That you could help me control my power.”

The figure flickered, sometimes more visible, sometimes less, but the sensation of its presence never let up. “Your power is vast. And yet your training is stagnant. Why is that?”

She clenched her jaw to stall its shaking before being able to speak. “I don’t know. I don’t want this power.” Her voice was tight and small.

“Then why come at all?”

“For the girl.”

The figure drew even closer, nearly nose to nose, and Kyara looked up into ancient eyes—the only solid-looking thing on him. Just as colorless as the rest of his form, but somehow substantial. “No. You came because you require balance.”

She wanted to draw back, but remained motionless, conscious of the still-bubbling lake. “What do you mean?”

“What do you know of the power you wield?”

“What I was taught. To kill, harm, control. To manipulate the energy of death.” His face shifted and changed too much to hold a single expression, yet she sensed disappointment from him.

“And what of life?”

She shook her head. “I have no provenance there.”

“Do you not?” he asked archly.

“I—I don’t understand.”

“That is because your people have lost the way. The universe exists because of balance, tip the scales too far outside of equilibrium and a restoration is required. Life, death, Void—it must all equal out.”

“So we’ve gotten out of balance?”

“Oh, certainly. The coming war is a way of righting the scales.Youare a way of righting the scales, and your part is to ensure that life, death, and that which lies between exist harmoniously.”

“Me?”She could barely even respond to that.

“There should be more, but there are not. So it falls to you.”

“But I don’t… I can’t…”

“There have always been sentinels,” he continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “Those who monitor the three worlds. Mooriah was one. But now those places have been left without their guardians. This is part of what must be corrected.”

She was still confused, but didn’t say anything as he floated around her, inspecting her from all sides.

“The stone you bear, the trapped Song of the Nethersinger. Why are you afraid of it?”

She fingered the outside of the pocket where the death stone lay, nestled against her thigh. “It’s nothing but more death. I had no choice in what kind of Song I was born with. Had no choice about the lives I’ve taken. This caldera… I don’t know what it does and I don’t really want to. I just don’t know what to do with it.”

He stopped his perusal and settled before her once again, his form flickering and changing slightly with each breath. “You have been done a disservice.” He lifted a ghostly arm and a wall of water rose to the side of them. Kyara gasped and tried not to lose her footing. Rainbow-colored light danced in the waterfall that flew up from the lake and then arced back to crash down again. The light formed an image with a multicolored tinge to it. As it solidified, her stomach lurched. She closed her eyes.

“I don’t want to see that.”

“Open your eyes, my child,” the Breath Father said. “Bear witness.”

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