of writing along the foreheads. Stepping closer, I discover that the writing is more hieroglyphic looking than words, but something about it feels familiar.
I can feel tension from the guys at my back, but I also feel their support and faith that I can figure this out. When I’m right in front of one of the skulls, I reach out and brush my finger across its marking that resembles my scythe. The moment the pad of my finger comes in contact with it, a rush of images bombards me.
Instantly, it’s as though I’m watching a movie that only I can see. I watch as Abdicated fill the caverns of this realm and start to build. They establish Hell rock by rock, laying down everything it would be responsible for. I witness battles occurring over time, while winners rise and the losers get set upon by Annuli just like me to reset the balance.
I get a front row seat to the work that Nefta mentioned we were created to do, and then I get a front row seat at the Hellgate being built. An Annulus with stunning blood-red hair and wings to match stands before the completed bone gate and slashes her hand. She presses it to the skulls—the same marked skulls I saw in the doors. She goes to each one, and every time, she closes her eyes as though she’s praying or doing some sort of ritual. After she’s touched the last one with her bloodied palm, she steps back, and in a whoosh of heat and fire, flames suddenly crawl up the bones as the Gate comes alive.
As I watch, the red-haired Annulus turns around, and it’s like she’s looking right at me. She’s so close that if this were real and not just a vision, I’d be able to reach out and touch her. She offers a knowing smile at me that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. And then, just like that, it’s all over, and I’m once again just staring at the gate, all the memories of the past gone, my palm still pressed to the skull.
A smile takes over my face, and a thank you comes from my soul, both directed at the bones for showing me the way.
I turn to the guys with a wide grin. “I know what to do.”
Their answering smiles anchor my soul and fill me with heat, and I turn back around to face the Gate with newfound confidence. This is my legacy. This is what I was created for. I got this.
I walk over to the curved blade of my scythe and run the palm of my hand against the sharp concave line of it, making one of the guys suck in a breath behind me. But I focus on my task, watching as blood immediately pools in my palm. I move to the skull all the way to the left and quickly press my palm against it. Thank fuck the Annulus who did this before wasn’t too tall, or that would’ve sucked to need a step stool. Luckily, these skulls were arranged where I’m able to reach them easily.
I close my eyes just like the other Annulus did, and gratitude washes through me. Thank you for your sacrifice and for showing me the way, I tell the skull, in what I can only explain as pure instinct. When warmth kisses my hand, I pull it back and move on to the next skull in the sequence. I share my blood and thanks to each one on this door before heading to the other one on the opposite side and working through those as well.
With the remaining drops of blood leaking out, I place my hand on the last skull and thank it for the purpose it’s serving and the protections it offers. When I feel the warmth greet me for a final time, I open my eyes and step away. A sense of peace and rightness moves through me, and I reach up and yank my scythe out of the bones of the door before stepping back as the guys return to my side, and we all watch the Gate with bated breath.
“Do you feel that?” Jerif asks the others, his voice bleeding awe, and I smile serenely because I do.
It feels like healing.
We watch as my blood soaks into the bones, and just as the last drop disappears on the last skull, the Hellgate ignites anew, and it’s better than