Page 42 of Crowned By the Shadow
“Transformation,” she corrected, her voice almost gentle. “Change. Evolution. The weak call it corruption because they fear what they cannot control.”
The space between us rippled, and suddenly I was no longer alone facing her. Two figures materialized beside me, a man and a woman, their features familiar yet strange.
“Mother?” I whispered, recognizing the woman’s face that was all too similar to my own. I glanced at the other figure. “Father?”
Sebastian smiled sadly. “We tried to protect you from this moment, daughter. We failed.”
The woman, Aravae, reached for me, her fingers stopping just short of touching my face. “The burden should never have fallen to you.”
“What burden?” I asked, my voice breaking.
“The choice,” the Empress answered for them. “The same choice all Eclipse Children must make. To join me or to fight me. To embrace transformation or to cling to stagnation.”
“Don’t listen to her,” Sebastian urged. “She twists the truth, makes it sound reasonable. But there is nothing reasonable about what she offers.”
“And what does he offer instead?” the Empress asked, her voice dripping with contempt. “More war? More division between the courts? More centuries of fear and suspicion?”
“Unity,” Aravae said firmly. “Hope. Love. All the things you can never understand.”
The Empress laughed again; the sound sending shivers through the fabric of the dream. “Love? What did love ever bring you but pain and separation? What did it bring your daughter but abandonment and struggle?”
“Strength,” I answered, surprising myself. “It brought me strength. And purpose. And people worth fighting for.”
Something flickered across the Empress’s inhuman face, frustration, perhaps? Or respect? It was impossible to tell.
“So you choose as they did,” she said. “As Fiona did. As all who came before.”
“I choose my own path,” I replied. “Not yours. Not theirs. Mine.”
The Empress studied me for a long moment, her ancient eyes unreadable. “We shall see, Eclipse Child. When the moment comes, when you stand at the threshold of true power, we shall see what choice you make.”
She faded; the stars reappearing where her massive form had blocked them. “Until then, dream of what could be. Dream of the power I offer. Dream of transformation.”
As she vanished, Sebastian and Aravae moved closer to me.
“You’re stronger than we ever were,” my mother said, pride shining in her eyes. “But the road ahead is darker than you know.”
“The artifacts will guide you,” my father added. “Trust them. Trust yourself.”
“Wait,” I called as they faded too. “Don’t go. I have so many questions. What’s the choice? Tell me so I can prepare!”
“We are always with you,” Aravae’s voice echoed as she disappeared. “In your blood. In your mark. In your heart.”
“Remember who you are,” Sebastian’s voice lingered after his form had gone. “Remember what you fight for.”
And then I was alone again in the void, stars spinning around me as I dreamed.
Finally, after watching the tormented visions the Empress had left behind in my mind for altogether too long, I fell back toward consciousness.
I gasped awake, my body jerking upright as if pulled by invisible strings. Sweat soaked my clothes, and my heart hammered against my ribs like it was trying to escape.
“Easy,” Thorn’s voice came from beside me, his hand steadying my shoulder. “You’re safe.”
I blinked, taking in my surroundings. We were in a small clearing, a fire crackling nearby. Night had fallen completely, or maybe this was a different night entirely? I had no sense of how long I’d been unconscious.
Wyn sat across from me, her transformed appearance still startling, silver hair streaked with purple, skin marked with balanced patterns of light and shadow.
“How long was I out?” I asked, my voice raspy.
