Troublesome and bitter news. Maeve shook her head, taking the goddess’s hands. “No, you can’t leave now. We need you! There is so much to be done, and the Warlocks will need your strength now more than ever!”
“Do not fear, I will not leave them helpless.” Paki caressed her face, and her calming energy eased her distress. “We have spent eons harvesting the vital force harnessed in us. The power of this world is the power we hold. Now we are to leave and go back to the heavens, and we do not need to take it with us. I will bequest my remaining power to the Tree, and with it, every Warlock will be able to aid the Forest, for centuries to come, as it has been done.”
“I will leave my power with you, as well.” Maeve turned to Pouri, who timidly stared at her from the safety of Hua’s embrace. “Ever since I can remember, I envied my siblings for their capacity to create all these pretty beings.” The child’s cheeks flushed, and she blinked away her tears. “I didn’t understand their love for them. They were cute but unintelligent. They caused nothing but unbalance and made my siblings worry.”
The little girl studied Hakken, her face somber and sorrowful. “I did not know how important you were for each other. How his death would hurt you.” Her stormy eyes landed on Maeve, filled with emotion. “I am sorry.”
Maeve nodded. If nothing else, it was for her own well-being to forgive Pouri. Resentment would eat her away.
Nevertheless, she was spent. She longed for solitude. It was time to say goodbye. “I wish you all a safe trip. Thank you for everything.” Taking a few steps back, she vowed to the Ancients, wholeheartedly wishing they could rejoin their kin. “Farewell.”
“Young Maeve—” Hua gave her a kind smile— “I have one parting gift for you. I also have the world’s energy in me, and I owe you a birthday present. You showed remarkable courage this day, and I’d hate to leave you with nothing but pain.”
The last three Ancients, creators and shapers of the Forest, stood together under the morning sun, sharing a loving embrace. After his cryptic words, Hua kissed his little sister’s forehead, beaming at her.
“Pouri... you’d always wanted to know how it felt to give life.” The little goddess smiled, and he poked her nose. “Let me guide you.”
As those last words faded, a blinding light surrounded the gods while they looked up to the sky. Maeve covered her face, shielding herself from the raw power surging from them. A gentle and overwhelming force.
Challenging the brightness, Maeve took one last glance, witnessing their bodies rendering to dust. With one strong blast, three light orbs shot for the heavens while a mighty force spread throughout the valley, into the Forest.
The wave of energy made her falter. The hill where they stood was now empty, and a pleasant warmness covered her body. Maeve watched in awe as the wounds in her hands healed, and when she looked around, it became clear Hua and Pouri’s energy had been spent on healing everyone on the battlefield.
A little ray of hope kindled in her chest when Maeve remembered Hua’s last words. “...to give... life?”
CHAPTER XXXXVI
THE DARK RIVER
Hakken
He was floating. Above him, the sky lit up with stars, but those did not resemble the stars he remembered. Not that he cared. It was the most glorious night sky he had ever seen. An unfathomable pool of blackness, strokes of blue and purple molding vast clouds, hoarding the twinkling lights.
Nothing else surrounded him but that sky.
He was floating. The lukewarm water scurried around his skin, the current gently carrying him towards an unknown destination. His body felt fresh, full of vigor even. Considering his recent stabbing, he had never been better.
“Right...” He had been killed. He knew it because he clearly remembered Maeve by his side, and he was alone now. “She wouldn’t leave me.”
The pleasant sensations disrupted when he remembered Maeve’s tears and her frightening words. He broke his promise. He told her they would both survive and return to the village. “I’m sorry, beautiful. I was not strong enough,” Hakken whispered.
“You keep saying that! After twelve years, you’ve hardly changed!”
Hakken snapped to the voice. That one voice he would never forget. The dark water covered his face, but he did not need to breathe. How convenient, since the shock would have made him swallow a bucket of water. Right next to him, the face that used to haunt his dreams beamed at his befuddled expression, her golden eyes reflecting the light of the stars. She looked exactly as he remembered her, her youth frozen in time.
“Hello you...” she smiled.
Speechless, Hakken gaped at her, analyzing her body for any wound or blood or simply to confirm if she was really next to him. But then... he was dead. So it made sense for her to appear by his side. He noticed out of the corner of his eye how they were now surrounded by others, silently floating in the same direction.
The men and women who had fallen in battle. Only a few dozen warriors, but every life was precious. He looked around, trying to recognize anyone. Hakken hoped their preparations would spare their lives, but he failed to fulfill yet another promise. “Hakken... you need to stop,” she pleaded.
“What do you mean?”
“Not every bad thing that happens is your fault. You did your best. They did their best. Death reaches us all.”
She floated by his side, so serene, so unaffected. She sounded wiser, and Hakken couldn’t help to wonder how long she had been floating in this emptiness. “I’m sorry.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “What for?”
“I let you die. Now you are stuck here.”
The young woman snorted, rolling her eyes and shifting her gaze to the stars above them. “The only one to blame for my death is myself.” She grew quiet for a moment. “I acted recklessly... I wanted to prove myself to my father, to you.
