A Shade of Vampire 84 A Memory of Time - Bella Forrest Page 0,25

dangerous son, and he’d gone ahead and done the worst with them. At least I understood what Death had been holding back, and why her ego had prevented her from admitting it before now. I tried to put myself in her position. Sadly, I had to accept that I probably would’ve done the same thing, given the damage that Spirit had done.

“Is there any connection between death magic and Word magic, since you use these so-called words and sub-words and sounds?” I asked, the connections falling into place in my mind.

“The Word, as you call it, functions on the same elements. Words, sub-words, and sounds. A collection of spoken elements in a language known only to its disciples, with the power to alter the fabric of time and space and beyond,” Death said. “Death magic is dark. Not evil, but dark. Bound to the shadows and the nothingness that exists outside existence. Word magic—or as I prefer to call it, life magic—is light. Not necessarily good, but bound to light and fire and energy, to existence itself. Various other forms of magic stem from these two.”

My head was reeling as I tried to grasp this new information. “What about the witches from the Sanctuary? The jinn? The Lamias and the Druids and their magic?”

“Most of them are distant descendants of the Word. The Sanctuary’s white witches and the jinn are born as such, but they’re bound to life and connected to the Word, even if it never speaks to them,” Death said. “The black witches—now extinct of course—were the same, but with threads from death magic. The combination was dangerous, and it corrupted them over the years. It transformed them. Druid magic also stems from the Word. But like I said, their origins are deeply buried in the past, in a time that no one remembers. My brother was generous with his powers. He handed them out to the living. I only had reign over the dead, and I didn’t see the point of magical ghosts, so I kept death magic to myself… at least until I made the Reapers.”

“So all the witches from all over this cosmos, regardless of their type and power… they’re all linked on an ancient level to the Word. Like the swamp witches,” I said. “Consider my mind blown here.”

Time scoffed. “Death and the Word have been around since the beginning of the universe.”

“Since before, actually,” Death corrected him. “But these are details. Purely trivial and unimportant. What matters is that, in the end, there is nothing I can do to help you against the Darklings, Taeral. I gave Spirit too much knowledge, and I don’t know what he did with it.” She paused, the corners of her mouth dropping. “I’m sorry.”

It was all too much for me. I felt the need to just crouch and take deep breaths as the winter winds intensified, the cold biting my cheeks. Groaning, I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to figure out what else there was to do. My friends on Visio were in trouble, and they needed all the help they could get. But what sort of assistance could I provide now that Death had finally come clean and told us the whole truth about Spirit?

“They’ll have to find a way to set Unending free without killing everybody else,” Death continued, her gaze fixed on the ice at her feet. “Until I have my freedom and Thieron in my hand, I cannot fix anything. And there is no number of Reapers that can help, either. I gave Spirit too much power without considering the repercussions until it was far too late.”

Suddenly, Death started shaking as if lightning surged through her. Gasping, she fell on her side, her whole body convulsing, her limbs twitching. Dream and Nightmare rushed to help her, but they didn’t seem to know how.

“What is going on?” Dream managed, her galaxy eyes wide with horror.

“Why is she… what is this?” Nightmare asked, looking at Time, then at me. I offered a shrug in return, since I was the last person on Aledras who might provide an answer.

Time, on the other hand, was smiling. “Do neither of you recognize this?” he replied.

“What did I say about cryptic talk? Out with it!” Dream snarled.

“Someone is praying to her,” Time said, hands slipping into his pockets. “I haven’t seen this in a very long time. I’ll admit… it’s astonishing.”

Nightmare sucked in a breath. “Holy smokes, Time’s right.” He sat back, watching Death’s convulsions with calmness