The Beautiful and the Broken

Fifteen

I duck and fold my wing over my face just as the huge slab of wood slams into me. My left wing catches the blow, bruising it badly, but not badly enough to prevent me from flying. I rush downstairs and find Caltha rushing towards me. "I was just coming up to get you! Lassie, your wing's bleeding! Are you alright?" She exclaims. I open my mouth to explain, but she interrupts me. "There's no time now, follow me!" Caltha grasps my hand and leads me to a small room with a trapdoor in the center of the floor. Next to the trapdoor there is a rug that has been pushed aside, almost as if it had been hiding it. We climb down into the darkness and I am instantly afraid. "Follow me," Caltha whispers, leading me by the hand. We walk through a pitch black tunnel for a few minutes before coming to a small, lit room.

The room is a twenty foot square with a low ceiling and has various vegetables hanging from the ceiling. There are carrots, onions, potatoes, string beans, and rutabagas, among other things. Along the back and side walls, there are ledges about two or three feet tall; I am assuming they were made as benches, since Shadow is sitting on one of the ledges holding the baby in his arms. Suddenly, I remember Feather. As if she'd been reading my mind, Caltha says "Feather is in the barn with the rest of the animals. She should be fine, and we are going to stay down here until the storm passes just in case the roof of my cottage doesn't hold up. We haven't had a storm like this in years."

Caltha's voice trails away and her brow furrows in concern. She looks at me, then at Shadow. "Is something wrong?" I ask. "Things have been different since you came here. Shadow has been here many times, but as soon as he brought you here, the winds have changed. There is a new solemnity in the air, as if something is wrong. It seems as though you two are going to bring a change to this world. I knew you were here with the purpose of bringing peace and reuniting our worlds, but I wasn't sure if you two were completely crazy or if you were right. Maybe you two can restore Terra Indivisa. But how? What force will be strong enough to unite our worlds and break the magical bond that separates us?" Caltha replies, her voice suddenly filled with fear.

I open my mouth to reply, but no sound comes out. I honestly have no idea how we are planning to accomplish this insane task. Suddenly, Shadow's voice breaks the thick silence. "We don't know. Eclipse and I are not completely sure that we will even be able to break the bond and restore peace, but we are both determined and we know that we have to try. All we have to do is find out how, and once we accomplish that, there will be no stopping us," he says firmly. I am moved by his words, and Caltha and I remain silent. Caltha closes the door behind us and we are completely closed in, alone in this underground shelter.

I sit down next to Shadow and look at the baby sleeping peacefully in his arms. She is so beautiful, so innocent and pure. I love the way her soft blonde hair curls over her forehead. She is so fragile, so special. I smile when I see her tiny hand wrap itself around Shadow's thumb. I glance up at Shadow's face, and he is smiling as well. In a world that seems to be turning upside down, we have found peace even in the darkest place. I cherish this moment now, and I always will. "Have you named her yet?" I ask Caltha, who is sitting on the opposite wall, peeling a carrot. "No, I thought maybe you and Shadow would like to name her," She replies, raising an eyebrow. She doesn't even look up at her work, and her tone of voice is serious.

I look back at the precious infant sleeping in Shadow's arms and suddenly, I feel dizzy. The room around me seems to be spinning, and I see the same golden haze as in my dream. I immediately hear voices, so many that it is impossible to tell them apart. I feel as if I should be afraid, but I am not. Instead, I am completely calm. I take a deep breath, hold it for a few seconds, then exhale. I close my eyes and hear one word, loud and clear, rising above all the other voices. "Epifania." "What?" I say aloud. "Epifania." The voice has a very urgent tone to it this time. With that, as soon as they had come, the voices were gone. The golden haze disappeared, and I was standing above Shadow and the baby, looking down into her eyes. Her golden eyes. Instinctively, I reach down and pull her blanket away from her neck, and gently turn her over in Shadow's arms to reveal the marking on the back of her neck. The bronze feather. Then, I know. I understand. This is her. This is the key to breaking, unlocking the magical barrier separating the two worlds.

"Her name is Epifania," I say firmly, and as soon as the name escapes my lips, I feel renewed. "What does that mean? Why?" Shadow asks curiously. "It means the manifestation," I say softly. Shadow seems to understand, and he bows his head. I look at Epifania, and she laughs. With that, her eyes fade back to their pretty blue color. "She's linked with Custos, isn't she?" Shadow asks, as more of a statement than a question. "Yes. I'm not sure how yet, but we will find out soon enough," I reply with a smile. Shadow smiles back, and I sit down next to him again, leaning my head on his shoulder. I am still exhausted, so I close my eyes. I feel Shadow wrap his free arm around my shoulders underneath my wings, pulling me closer.

A few hours pass in almost silence, the only sound being Caltha's knife on the vegetables she peels endlessly. Suddenly, she stands up and gathers all her peeled vegetables in a basket that is hanging from the ceiling, taking the basket down and walking towards the cellar door. "It's over, come now," she says calmly. Shadow and I follow her through the dark and narrow corridor until we reach the trapdoor leading into the cottage. Shadow places Epifania into my arms and climbs up into the light, followed by Caltha. Then, Caltha reaches down and takes Epifania while Shadow helps me climb out. I thank him and brush off my skirts, which are now edged with brown from the dust and mud lining the floor in the cellar.

Shadow and I follow Caltha through the cottage, which has a few broken windows and various object blown about the room. As far as I can tell, the cottage has held up very well considering the amount of wind there was when I got hit by the shutter. I look outside and my heart skips a beat. Caltha's cottage should not have survived the power of the storm. Across the yard, there are branches and leaves strewn about haphazardly. A few of her smaller trees are fallen, looking as if a giant hand had reached down from the sky and grasped the tree, twisting it until it broke. I am also surprised to see the barn and stable still standing, and I wonder how they survived a storm of that magnitude. I could almost swear Caltha can read my mind, because right then, she answers my unspoken questions.

"The cottage, barn, and stables were all built back when Terra Indivisa was still standing. They were built with the help of your kin, the winged ones. They are set upon a firm foundation of stone, and molten rock and metal was poured to seal any gaps and create a frame for the structures. The mixture dries and leaves the buildings virtually indestructible. Even if the exterior wood and siding of the buildings were to get torn off and destroyed, I would still have the frames. All that would have to be done is to redecorate, rebuild the exterior. The architecture of these buildings is brilliant, and I am blessed to have been gifted with such a favor," Caltha says.

Suddenly, I realize that she is speaking as though she was alive way back in the time of Terra Indivisa. That should be impossible, no human could live that long. Even us winged beings have a lifespan of only 150 years. I'm not exactly sure how long ago the war was, but I do know that it was several hundred years ago. I turn around to ask Caltha how she knows all this and why she speaks as if she was there, and I am not expecting what I see. She is smiling at me, a smile full of wisdom and knowledge - and her eyes are a brilliant, liquid gold. The exact same golden color as Epifania and Custos' eyes. The color in my dream. The color of the sun.