Page 180 of Rising Out of the Darkness
“Breathe, love. You’re safe.”His deep voice brushed against the walls of my mind. The rising anxiousness fluttered away.
A knowing smile twitched against the goddess’ lips.
Four beings approached from behind, flanking the goddess on both sides. When we’d first approached the stone ruins, my awareness of the sights around me was still adjusting. Now that they were only standing a few feet away from us, there was no doubt the beings in front of us were not Elysian. Declan squeezed my thigh, a quiet acknowledgment that the sight before us was shocking to him as well.
The group of beings stood before us giving us equally assessing stares. The man closest to the goddess towered above me and Declan by almost a full foot. His arms were folded across his chest, making his muscles more clearly defined. Short onyx hair adorned the top of his head, and thick black claw mark tattoos covered the side of his face and neck, matching his black slacks and shirt draped around him. When his violet eyes caught my gaze, he nodded in greeting.
Next to him was a much smaller woman with long, aquamarine hair that stood out against the black of her clothing. She pulled her hair back behind her ear, and I tried to make sense of what I saw. What looked like iridescent fish scales illuminated her rosy cheeks.
When my gaze met her molten amber eyes, she blinked, and both Declan and I jumped where we sat. Her lashes didn’t move, only a white film slid back and forth over her eyes. My lips parted as an amused snort fled from her. Realizing my rudeness, I slammed my mouth shut.
“Stop messing with them, Nixie.” Another woman snickered from the opposite side of the goddess. My eyes roamed over the points of her white furry ears, down to the feline-shaped citrine irises that were staring right back at me. She elbowed the chuckling man beside her, whose large, pointed ears peeked out through his long white-blonde hair. “Shhhh. Valdarin, they don’t remember who you are.”
Remember?
The hitch in my breath brought all eyes back on me, including Declan’s. I laced my fingers within his, to force my mind to think of that instead of the overwhelming nerves brewing.
“Wildfire, look at me.”Declan’s low, soothing voice pulled my gaze towards him. “I’m here, we’re together. As overwhelming as this all is, you’re not alone, love.”
“You know, it’s rude to have an entire conversation inside your heads while we sit here and watch,” the tall being with claw tattoos grumbled. The woman with the aquamarine hair—Nixie, I thought? —elbowed him hard enough to make him grunt with displeasure.
“Don’t mind Arthur. Even after all our time together, he still has problems…socializing.” Nixie walked towards us with her hand extended. “I, on the other hand, find the whole mind-talking gift romantic. Hi, I’m Nixie.”
When our palms met, an overwhelming rush of familiarity prickled throughout my body. It was as if we had done this before. Declan must have had the same feeling, because his eyes widened when she shook his hand. A grin spread across her lips as she returned to her spot. That was when the goddess finally spoke.
“And it’s time you know I’m no goddess. My name is Alyth, and behind me are just a few of the Divine. We are the ones you are most familiar with, so we wanted to be here when you returned.”
“The Divine?” Declan’s brows rose.
He was concerned with their title, but I was more anxious about her insinuation that we already knew these people standing before us. A million flutters rippled inside my stomach.
“We could all stand here and try to explain what is going on right now, but it wouldn’t have the same impact as it would if you just told yourselves.”
She approached us both, the others following behind. They circled around us, and she placed her hands on our shoulders, guiding us to face one another. The others placed their palms on us as well.
Declan had yet to let go of my hand. “Eyes on me, love.”
“As Divine Guardians, we can unveil your mind. We can help you regain your truths. This is very similar to your Ascension on Ehora. Just relax and let your souls do the guiding. Ready?” Alyth asked, and we both nodded, not once breaking our gazes. “Here we go.”
Chapter 76
Elena
All at once a rush of warmth radiated through my body. The overwhelming feeling of love wrapped itself around my soul and tugged on my heart. It was so all-encompassing, that it felt like it ripped the air straight from my lungs. I tried to keep my eyes open and locked onto Declan’s, but they slammed shut.
As soon as they did, I was blinded by a flash of light. Slowly, my eyes began to adjust, and images and memories began to flash in front of my eyes. I watched myself battling dark serpents in a world filled entirely made of water. Nixie was there, and we were surrounded by several others of her kind, all with shimmering tails that moved swiftly through the water.
In another flash of light, I was now helping others hide from the enemy on the other side of a wall. Blasts of metal ricocheted, sending pieces of the walls crumbling to the ground. The people surrounding me had tattoos on their arms as well, but unlike ours they were just a lengthy list of numbers. A blast broke through the walls, and I hurled myself over the frail bodies surrounding me, shielding them from the imminent attack.
The memories continued to flash over and over in front of my eyes. Different worlds, different realms, but in each one we were all battling the same darkness, the same evil as the one wefaced on Ehora. Though they might not have been wearing dark hoods, or the sinister face of Alastor Grimshaw, every fiber of my being could feel the darkness radiating off the enemies we were battling.
There were no spoken words in these memories, only emotions. We knew each of the beings surrounding Declan and me. Together, we had all battled against evil in each of these different realms. It wasn’t just them I had a strong familiarity with, however.
Shadowing me at every turn on every world was the man who appeared to have stolen my heart more times than I could count. Declan had been by my side for every battle, every triumph and every loss. There wasn’t a memory I had that didn’t include him.
No matter where we were sent, we’d found each other time and time again.
Love warmed my soul. Our bond tugged me back towards him. Slowly, my awareness of my body became heavier as I fell back into it.
