Hurrying through the gardens, I make my way down the steps and toward the tomb we built over the Blood Well to keep it secure. The soldier that stands watch doesn't hesitate as I approach. He has been standing there since Drogaem returned, and did not abandon his post. He grips the edge of the door and pulls the large slab over, moving back to attention as I hurry through and down the stone steps into the darkness.
The hollow cavern beneath the ground echoes my footsteps as I rush toward the well. At the end of the stone hall, a room opens up. It is dark, with slick cave walls and a pool in the center. The blood inside sits as still as ice, and I slow my steps as I approach. There is a power here, one that is greater than any other magical place in the underworld. It's stark and stiff, and it weighs heavily on my chest. I walk to the well edge, and bend down, gently lying Briar's body in the well.
Keeping my hands beneath her, I look around. I expect the usual process to occur. I expect her soul to come to me and request passage to the next world, but nothing happens. The cave stays still and silent. I search my intuition, my powers, feeling out for Briar's soul. I think perhaps she may be scared, hiding in the shadows, but my reach extends to every crevice and corner of the cave, and still, there is nothing.
I look down at Briar's body and shake my head. "You're still clinging to your body. You have to let go."
I wait a moment, but still nothing. My frustration climbs. Not only will this be the end to Briar, but if I do not revive her, Lux's bloodline will end here, and she will never be reborn again. She did not survive through centuries in the human world to die now. Beyond Lux, my heart is beating for Briar. It's my only chance to have her back. I know deep down that this is not meant to be the end. I can feel it.
I think about the last time that I saved her life, the tethering. Maybe that's the answer. I kneel down and lift her up to me, pressing my lips against hers. They're cold and lifeless, but I don't pull away. Gently I breathe my power into her and watch her chest swell with my breath. I use my magic to search for her soul, moving in and out of every empty space within her. My magic searches, diving into her depths, but unlike last time, I find nothing. That hum of energy, that spark of life that once hid in the dark corners of her soul, is not there. There's nothing for my magic to latch onto. There's nothing to grow.
With quivering lips, I lower her back down and hold her in my lap. I search my memories for stories of the Blood Well, trying to figure out what I need to do. The only one I've ever been told says that the old beings that were resurrected in the Blood Well tell that sacrifices are asked. That the Blood Well requires absolute trust. That means I have to let her go in order to get her back.
My breath shutters as I think about the possible repercussions of releasing her. But I have no other choice. If I don't, she stays gone, but if I do there's a chance. I leaned down one last time and kissed her lips before laying her back in the well and stepping back. I watch as she floats effortlessly to the center of the well before slowly sinking, until she's out of sight. I stand perfectly still, closing my eyes, and handing my trust over to the Blood Well. I have to believe that it will bring her back, whole and alive.
"Tam in mitto illam speravi integrum. Vivifica huius bring eam immortalem animam meam, et armis. Propter hoc sacrificium gratias mea." I say the oath of the well over and over again.
The words flow for me without thought or care. I give the Blood Well my complete and total trust, and pray to it that it gives me back what I ask. As the words come out of me, repeating, I can feel my own magic pulling through my body. I am Death, and I stand here before the Blood Well asking for life. I am defying my own nature, and I can feel it in my bones. But it doesn't matter what it does to me, I just need Briar back.
"Tam in mitto illam speravi integrum. Vivifica huius bring eam immortalem animam meam, et armis. Propter hoc sacrificium gratias mea. Into the well I send her, my trust intact. Revive this immortal soul and bring her to my arms. For this, I give my sacrifice."
Chapter 25
Briar
There is a stillness to the afterlife. I have always wondered what it was like, traveling from my human body into the next existence. It's not as quick as I would've thought. Or perhaps it is, and I just cannot move forward. It's a void, a silence that goes on forever. I no longer can feel my body, just the existence of who I am. It's a curious feeling.
"You are not meant for here."
I turn, staring into the face of Lux. She's just as beautiful as she is in my visions. "Lux. If I don't belong here, then neither do you."
She smiles, her hair golden and flowing around her. "Where I belong is yet to be seen. You defeated Drogaem, but that is not the end of your story."
I put my hands out to the sides, suddenly realizing that I have a body again. "It seems I don't much have a choice in any of this. Here I am, in this strange place."
Lux walks forward and stands just
