"Why would she do that?" I asked. I couldn't understand it. How could she leave me, with nothing?
"She had no other choice. You know about Phosphoros. He was called the Lightbringer. He was the most beautiful of all the fallen. I believe he did truly love her, but he also craved power. His desire for it was greater than his love for her. He wanted her to join him, to rule over the unseen realms with him, but she refused. She confronted the balance of things every day and knew that it was not for her to disrupt the order of things. She could see that he had become something else, something out of control." The woman stopped in front of a series of ornate carvings. It showed Phosphoros and my mother embracing. She continued the story. "So your mother had to do something. She saw the darkness in him, and she sought to bind him. He would not be bound like the demons for he was no demon. The only way to keep him from finishing his plot would be to bind him to the physical world and kill him. Then he would be unable to regenerate. She created a special weapon, forged from moonbeams to accomplish this task." The woman looked at me.
I pulled out the dagger the Djinn had gifted me. "Is this the one?" I asked.
"Indeed, It is." She stared in disbelief. "I have not seen that blade in a long time.
"So why didn't she use it on him?" I asked.
"You have to understand, Esther. She loved him too much. And she had not been able to wield it in the physical world. It had to be used by a human."
"I'm supposed to kill him aren't I?" I asked.
"Yes, that was your mother's plan." The woman explained. "Except that there was a problem. Phosphoros found out what she had done. He sent his demons to track you. He wanted to take your life. In his mind, He wanted revenge for her death. So your mother tried to protect you the best she could. She kept you hidden until your powers were undeniable. Only then did she bring you into the Magical World." She said finally.
It was hard to take in. I was the only Guardian of the Gates left. My mother had given up her life for me. The carvings on the wall, showed everything, Lord Morningstar building up an army of demons. It even showed me.
"How am I supposed to kill him?" I asked. "I'm just one person."
"Yes," she agreed with me. "But your blood will call to him. You can summon him here to this place. His demons will not be able to follow him here. That is when you must do it. Your blood is part human. It will tie him to the physical world."
"Like an anchor?" I asked. "Yes, but you will still have the ability to travel between worlds. It is he who will be trapped. Then you will have to travel to the physical world and defeat him one final time."
"I have to open the gates don't I?" I asked.
"I think so." She said. The woman left me for a while and I sat in the cave. I had to think. This felt like a terrible nightmare.
After I had rested by the shrine for a while I traveled back to the castle. Lucian was waiting for me in the room with the long table.
"I'm sorry," He said simply.
"Thank you." I nodded. "What am I going to go?"
"I think whatever we do, we don't have long to wait. Things are getting bad at the academy and your friend Sybelle is still missing. Kairn has been trying to contact you for a while, but he wasn't able to." He explained.
"What?" I pulled out the mirror. It looked like a regular fragment of mirror. I couldn't see any swirling shadows or anything.
"I think it's because the link between the worlds has grown so thin." He said.
"I didn't even know," I said. I felt helpless.
"I know," He comforted me. It was no use. What if Kairn needed me? What if he got pulled into the Wild Hunt before I got to see him again.
"The only option then is that we have to move fast. I don't want to get stuck here or something worse." I said, breathing out a sigh. "Besides I'm tired of running. I'm going to have to face Phosphoros head-on."
"You've changed a lot since the beginning of this year," Lucian said, smiling at me.
"Yeah? Getting stuck in the Liminal World will do that." I laughed, with only a hint of bitterness.
After taking me to a room, with a large feather bed, the old woman invited me back down for a meal. I joined her and Lucian. We ate thick brown bread that tasted lightly sweetened with honey. It was served with a stew. I recognized some of the spiral mushrooms from earlier in the soup. They were savory and delicious. We ate in relative silence.
I spoke first. "Lucian, can I ask you for a favor? Can you bring a message back to the Mage's Academy." I asked.
His face fell. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to do that. I was only bound to the physical world as long as I resisted the pull to my final destination. When I came here to bring you a message, that was my only shot. I can't go back now. I will have to move on."
"Oh," I didn't know what to say. "I was hoping to speak to Kairn before... well, you know," I said. I didn't want to think about having to face Lord Morningstar.
"I'm sorry Esther,"
