Page 134 of Realm Walker's Awakening
“I think it means what it said. A female is shadowing herself and has been watching us closely.” He sighed and kissed the top of my head. “I’ll keep you safe while you sleep. Now rest,” he murmured.
My eyelids grew heavy, and even though I felt some fear about a woman in the shadows or being a shadow, I couldn’t stay awake anymore. I trusted Rune when he said he would keep me safe while I slept. But I felt bad that he wouldn’t sleep because he made it sound like he’d stay awake.
My chest squeezed, and butterflies flapped around in my stomach. Such an odd reaction to have.
I snuggled closer to him, needing every part of me touching him. I wanted the comfort that he was here with me, and he gladly responded by folding me further into him and laying on his back with me on his chest.
I mumbled something in my half-asleep state but couldn’t hear or remember what I said before I slipped further into a deep sleep.
ChapterThirty-Four
“It’s time.” Our voices blended together and became one as we talked at the same time. “No longer will I be in the dark.”
I stared at my reflection in the mirror across from me. It was a large crystal wall that stretched on in an empty room, reminding me of a void. My eyes were a more vibrant green than what I had ever seen before. They weren’t wide like a scared doe, which was one of my obvious characteristics.
My blue hair hung over my shoulders in slight waves. It was longer than the last time I saw it, which couldn’t be right. The time didn’t add up. My shoulders were more relaxed than I had seen as well. Like the stress I’d been feeling lifted off, and the weight of the world wasn’t weighing me down anymore.
I wasn’t wearing anything, and my hair covered my breasts like in the Alanis Morissette music video. The ends of the blue locks reached just below my waist and tickled the sensitive skin there. My body still had curves with the stomach pooch and wide hips. Stretch marks marred my tummy and thighs. Instead of feeling self-conscious like I had for so many years, I raised my chin with pride and confidence.
I was beautiful.
Raising my eyes back to my face’s reflection, I curved my pink lips into a soft smile. I ran my tongue along them, and following the action, my lips turned from soft pink to blood red. My eyes glowed a brighter green like an emerald sparkling in the sun, and my hair went from bright blue slowly to blond with Viking braids. Markings covered my face in red and black paint, looking similar to the runes and sigils I saw on myself when I said to go to Azola to prepare for war.
My lips moved as we spoke at the same time again, like we were on the same wavelength and knew what was going to be said.
“No longer will I be the victim.” I curled my lips into a feral smile. “We are the same. We are one. It’s time to rise and show them who they’re fucking with.”
I brought my hand up and touched my forehead right between my eyebrows with my finger.
“Unlock what is waiting. It’s there for the taking, and I. Will. Take.” A drum beat once, and a pulse that reminded me of an aura vibrated out of me with my last three words.
I will take.
My chest tightened with nerves. I wanted this, but I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing. I shouldn’t want to hurt others if I were to unlock whatever was waiting for me. But I was tired of being the victim and constantly under attack. I was tired of watching others get hurt because of me.
Slowly, my blond hair bled into the bright blue again, but my eyes still glowed bright, and the markings stayed on my face. Peace filled me as it chased away my anxiety. The new feeling wasn’t me, but at the same time, it was.
Was my earlier fear of my old self taking over finally happening? Was I going to lose myself and no longer be me?
Something whispered near me that didn’t come from me.
“It’s okay to be hesitant.” The words repeated in an echo, raising goosebumps along my flesh. I wanted to turn my head to search for the person who was talking, but I couldn’t move. It forced me to keep watching myself with relaxed eyes that were more sultry than the doe ones I sported. “You are gentle. Loving. But when threatened, you are brutal and unforgiving. What happened to you was an invitation for their destruction.”
My breath hitched, and I raised my chin as I watched my face morph into something darker. The black and white paint and runes gave me a witchy look. My eyes were like death. With one wrong move or word, if they landed on someone, they weren’t surviving what I would do to them.
“It’s time...” the crone-like voice whispered. “To unleash your wrath.”
My chest tightened one more time before I relaxed and accepted what she said.
I wasn’t changing as a person, and when I took down my enemies, I wouldn’t be a cold-blooded killer. The guilt I held onto for killing those people lifted off my shoulders, and I breathed easier.
I was gentle and loving. But they’d threatened me.
“It’s time to focus. Time to show the world the meaning of your name and its rune,” the crone whispered. Her voice was low and crackled like bones dragged across rocks. Her words drew out longer than needed, and wisps of my hair fluttered as a breeze danced around me.
Drums began beating and kept at a rhythm that had my heart beating to it.
Spiderwebs of ice ran up the large mirror, starting from the ground up. Lines branched out and wove into tiny patterns I couldn’t make out at first. When I watched it and looked harder, the patterns made an image of two sides of a war. One side was lighter, with soft swirls and men who looked like gods. The other side was darker and full of fire and beasts. In the middle was a woman with a sword in her hand riding on her horse toward the darker side.
