Page 181 of Rising Out of the Darkness
When I opened my eyes, his cheeks were stained with tears, and I could feel cool wetness across my own as well. However, that coolness warmed as I met his eyes once more. They flamed with heat and desire, but most of all an overwhelming amount of love. All of it directed towards me.
A grin spread across his face that made the bond thrum within me. “Well, Wildfire.” The deep timbre made me melt into the stone beneath me. “It appears our souls have been intertwined this entire time. We truly are soulmates?—”
Before he could say any more, I wrapped my hand around his neck and pulled him into my lips. We got lost in each other for a few moments before someone cleared their throat.
“Sorry.” I tossed a sheepish grin to the others. Even Declan’s cheeks had a rosy hue to them as he leaned backwards.
“It’s not the first time we’ve had to endure your displays of passion.” Alyth grinned.
Now my own cheeks flamed red.
“Alright, alright,” Arthur grumbled. “Let’s hurry this along. Time is running out before we send them back in.”
That was right—Ehora, the planet we were trying to save from evil trying to corrupt it.
“As you now know, our purpose is still the same—guarding worlds and realms as they ascend towards a higher dimension, making sure that evil doesn’t corrupt them. Only when there is a threat of a shift of balance are we allowed to intervene. We’re supposed to intervene only once as well.” Alyth’s lashes fluttered downwards, and she fidgeted with the fold of her gown.
“You were the first Light Phoenix, weren’t you?” I didn’t remember seeing it in my flashbacks, but the more we spoke, the more my memory was returning.
Alyth nodded. “I was given another chance to return, but when I came back as the Light Phoenix, I was blinded by rage. So much hate and distrust had begun to corrupt Ehora, and the night I died, they slaughtered so many of the people I had come to love. In my anger, I wiped out the evil entirely, breaking the one rule we are never meant to overstep.”
“Choice,” Declan whispered next to me. “You didn’t allow them the chance to make a choice to change. To decide to walk towards the light, instead of being pulled under by the darkness.”
“Exactly,” Alyth breathed. “After I died and returned here, I wasn’t allowed to return. In fact, I will not be allowed to intervene at all in the future until I’ve fully learned from my mistakes.” Arthur placed his palm on Alyth’s shoulder as a few tears sprinkled down her cheeks.
“This is one of the reasons why you both were sent down in her place,” Arthur continued where Alyth had stopped.
“What was the other reason?” I asked.
He brushed his hand through his thick black hair. “We always incarnate in pairs. It’s a part of the balance we bring as Divine Guardians.”
“The balance between love and wisdom, right?” Declan asked.
“Yes,” Valdarin answered this time. “Thus, our outfit selection,” he smirked, motioning our clothing. “Some of us are more prone to guidance and wisdom.” He pointed to Declan’s black outfit. “Others resonate more with the emotions and feelings that bloom from love and peace.” This time he motioned towards me. “Both are essential when uplifting others towards the light, and the reason we go together to maintain the balance between good and evil in each place we protect.”
Arthur began to speak as soon as Valdarin finished. “I was with Alyth and fell when she fell. Alyth begged to be given a chance to return immediately, but I argued that we needed to wait and give it some time before we returned. I felt there was something bigger plaguing this planet than we had originally thought. However, before we could come to a consensus, Alyth returned to Ehora … and, well, you know what happened after that.”
Alyth’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. When Declan and I had made the decision to use our combined power to wipe out the beasts, it had felt like it was necessary to save the ones that we loved. After hearing Alyth, I was beginning to question my choice.
As if reading my thoughts yet again, Declan asked a question to the group. “You said earlier that we’re expected to return to Ehora. Explain to me how what Alyth did is any different than what Elena and I just did.”
No one answered, so he kept speaking. “The beasts we killed were Elysians and humans. Souls that had been turned intosoldiers of evil against their own will. How are we allowed to return, and Alyth cannot?”
“Youdidn’t take away their choice.” Alyth spoke softly. “The evil one corrupting Ehora did. You both freed them from their suffering?—”
“We could have found a way.” I sniffled, suddenly overcome with emotion. “We should have found a way to change them back.”
Alyth gathered my hands within hers and pulled me into an embrace. “There’s no cure for this kind of evil, Elena,” she whispered into my hair, pausing to let the words sink in. “They would have been trapped in those beasts forever. You showed them mercy by unraveling their souls from the evil that held them in its clutches.” She gave me a squeeze before releasing me. I opened my mouth to speak when Arthur interrupted my thoughts.
“They’ve found your bodies. We need to hurry this along before we miss our opportunity.”
Our bodies?I shivered at the thought. Gods, which one of our friends had had to endure that sight?
“Yes, Arthur’s right.” Alyth winced. “Alastor must be stopped, and I believe you two are the only ones who can stop him this time.”
“Why do you say that?” Declan queried, and from the look on his face, it appeared that this truly must have been something that we hadn’t discussed in our prior lives.
“While you were on Ehora, we all tried our best to make sense of why we kept seeing this same type of evil. It’s like it keeps following us from place to place. We narrowed it down to where we think it all began. Pyraxia.”
