City of Secrets

Chapter 26: The Angel's Gift

She was lying in a meadow, the blue skies spread in all their celestial beauty above her. Flowers of all colors surrounded her, and a gentle breeze blew through them, filling the air with their sweet, fragrant perfume. She could hear them whispering as they swayed in the gentle wind if she closed her eyes and listened close enough, and she wondered if the Fair Folk heard the same thing from the The Land Under the Hill, or wherever else they were.

Ember, a voice said, waking her up from her pleasant daydream.

She pushed herself up from the ground and looked around her surroundings, expecting to see the person who had called her, but when she looked around to search for the source of the voice, she saw no one. All she saw were the meadows of the Brocelind Plain. Lake Lyn was located to her right. If her estimation was correct, she assumed it would only take a fifteen minute walk to reach it, though somewhere in her mind she remembered that the Lake was not in the plains, but hidden deep in Brocelind Forest. The thought slipped from her mind, like water slipping through fingers, and she directed her gaze towards her left, where she could see the adamas towers of Alicante glimmering in the distance.

Ember.

The voice was oddly familiar, triggering something deep inside her mind, yet no matter how hard she tried she could not place it. Her feet barely made a sound as she glided through the tall grasses, and she suddenly came to a stop in front of the Lake as she followed the voice.

Ember.

She peered into the waters cautiously, not knowing what to expect, but her reflection was the only thing that greeted her. She pressed her hands to the lake's surface, expecting her hands to submerge beneath the waters, expecting the waters to ripple and her reflection to contort, and she was surprised to find that the surface was cool and solid- like a mirror. Her reflection's lips suddenly moved, forming a single word—her name.

Ember.

She stared at the reflection in amazement and unconsciously brought her face closer to the waters. Her reflection suddenly reached up, and a hand broke the surface of the water. It reached for her, seizing her by the shoulder and yanking her into the lake.

The water was warm and blue. Her hair floated around her head like dark pieces of seaweed, and suddenly she was being dragged down. The hand had wrapped around her ankle and was tugging down, though she could not see the face of her captor. It was until then that she felt a weight in her hand.

It was a broadsword, too heavy for a girl of her stature, yet it felt comfortable in her hand. Fragmented pieces of sunlight broke through the surface of the water, making the dark silver sword flash, and Ember felt her heart thud loudly in her chest as she saw the pattern of stars etched upon the ridge of the blade.

Light-bringer, she recalled, but the words echoed in her mind.

You know what you must do, child, another voice said, ancient and awe-inspiring, the same voice that had spoken to her as she knelt in the burning circle of runes. I will show you the way.

A golden light appeared within the blade, growing brighter and spreading throughout it rapidly with every passing second. The same golden light burst from the blade, bright and blinding, making the hard surface of the lake shatter and splinter like glass. The hand on her ankle loosened in surprise, and she kicked it away forcefully and started for the surface, her nails digging into the sand as she pulled herself to land. She pulled Phaesphoros to lay beside her. Its golden glow was gone, and it seemed to be nothing but a regular sword, but deep in the back of her mind she knew it was anything but normal.