the center of a flame.
When the pegaeae lifted the sword from the pool, the waters parted so fast that not even a drop remained as she turned to present it to him. She met his eye, her expression hard as she laid the sword on a cloth woven of white fleece beside the fountain. He’d not seen where it had been procured from but wasn’t surprised that she would have such necessities for attending the cleansing.
“Nocis is restored. Beware, Selvans. Even when you are have returned to your full power, and the miasma separating you from your divinity is washed away, Nocis will be a terrible burden. It was not forged to be a companion, but to be a weapon to destroy that which threatens the cosmos. It is not evil, nor does it attempt to deceive, but by its very nature it cuts through the rational mind to lay bare the primal instincts of the one who holds it. You know this. The logic of your mind and the truth of your heart will suffer when you hold it without a counterweight. Even the darkest night is not without life as the celestial light of the multitudes of stars and the moon shines down from the vastness of the cosmos beyond.”
He flinched as she reached and gripped his forearm in a hard grasp. She ran her fingers over the fur covering his arm, her regard intense as her eyes met his. “You are a primal being. You bring life and vitality by being a creature of death, thus you are born white, that which contains all the colors but is none. Death washes and cleanses all things, restoring all to their original state. You feed and sustain through decay, and it has kept the Eternal Forest thriving when the balance is not disturbed. That harmony has been torn away. You need to find your light so the life of the forest can thrive, but also so your nature doesn’t consume you and destruction become absolute.”
“Riddles, Thera? Do you see yourself a vegoia now?” he asked, his jaw clenching.
He was frustrated with his inability to understand what she spoke of. It was similar to what the goddess had spoken of to him in the mountains, which made him his entire being go still. Something tickled his awareness, but when he tried to touch it, it slipped away from his grasp.
Silvas exhaled. “What light, and where do I find it?”
The nymph shrugged with an apologetic smile. “Despite your accusation, I am no seer. I only know the nature of the sword through my contact with it during purification. Just as I have a glimpse of yours because you stand in my pool. Insight is not foresight. These are two different matters. It seems prudent when dealing with Nocis to warn you that you require an anchor to the world of the living.”
“Consider your advice heeded then, as much as I can,” he said.
A source of light to anchor him? He thought of the lamp of the infernal gatekeeper, but he doubted that Charu would offer it, not when it was bound to his mate. He hissed low between his teeth. He could inquire of Dorinda, but he already felt like time was growing short with the forest withering all around him. Even in the pegaeae’s grotto, he could see the touch of death everywhere.
She noticed the direction of his gaze and her expression turned sad. “Yes, even here in this holy place, you can see the devastation.”
“I will right it,” he vowed “On my oath, I will fell Cacus and restore the Eternal Forest. I can do no other. It is the purpose of my existence. If the Eternal Forest dies and takes with it all the forests of the living worlds… I don’t know what would become of me without it.”
“I know what you would become because I see it dwelling within you,” she whispered, her body leaning toward him as if there were a secret to be shared.
He swallowed and inclined his head. He didn’t want to know, but at the same time, he couldn’t not know. He had to consider not only how his decisions impacted the forest, but how they might affect all of existence.
She drew closer, her breath touching the bottom of his ear. “Your destructive nature without purpose would be as a plague on all the worlds, Selvans. Everything you touch will wither and die, every place you set your feet will decay all around