The Broken Song

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The Minokawa took flight, its golden feathers catching beautifully in the light. Ori turned, hoping to see the rift still open and waiting for her, but it was gone, and with it her chance to have her questions answered. She shook her head. It was ridiculous to think the rift ever would have given her answers in the first place. More likely, it had been a trap by the Sorceress, or even just a trick of her mind.

She was the Savior to so many. But, there was no one to help her.

The thought passed through her mind and instantly she felt a sharp tug at her navel, dragging her forward. The world blurred around her, a sudden, disorienting rush that ended in seconds. Ori started in fright. The door in front of her—it couldn't be. But, her hand reached out all the same, fingertips hovering over the weathered metal handle, desperate to wrench open that door. No, her mind screamed, the door couldn't be opened. She had closed it long ago for a reason.

"I can't be here," she whispered, though, who she whispered to she had no idea. "Take me away. Please. If I stay..."

"Teryn?" Ori heard her father's voice through the door and she wanted to cry. How she missed his deep baritone voice. "What's wrong?"

"Orianna," her mother's voice drifted through the cracks in the doorway, and this time, her tears couldn't be stopped from spilling down her cheeks. Four long years since she had heard her parents' voices, since she had felt the warmth of their hugs, basked in the sound of their voices. Ori felt her eyes close, a bittersweet smile crossing her features. Her mother knew she was here.

Then, the sound of rushing feet toward the door, and Ori ripped herself away, her body propelled back to the place she had been. She felt the air rushing past her just as her mother opened the door. A breath later, and it would have been too late.

When Ori opened her eyes, she was back on that blackened, dead plain, and her family was gone, worlds away, unknowing of the hell she was being subjected to. Ori bowed her head.

"What could you need more than the warmth of your mother's embrace?" the gentle feminine voice returned, but this time, it didn't brush past her. Instead, it came from directly behind her, clear as a bell.

Ori whirled around to find a tall woman there, her form wreathed in golden light that was almost too bright to look at. But, as the woman stepped closer, the light slowly began to fade until it was only a soft glow emanating from the center of her chest. She was tall, perhaps as tall as her father, or even taller, long, dark hair resting effortlessly behind her slender shoulders. Her skin was a warm brown tone that gave a softness to her already kind looking features. Her eyes were brown as well, seeming to dance with gentleness as they gazed upon Ori without a hint of malice or deviousness. Her full lips were tilted upward in a smile as she addressed her.

"What could the words of a god you've never met give you that your mother could not?"

"Who are you?" Ori stepped back, her magic displaying in electric sparks dancing between her fingertips as a warning to this stranger.

"The Forgotten One," the woman answered, showing no outward signs of intimidation. She didn't even seem to notice Ori's magic at all. "But, I am not here for myself. I'm here on another's behalf, one who wishes with all His heart to speak with you, but is silenced in an unforgiving void."

Her brow furrowed, but there could be no mistaking who the stranger spoke of. "The Creator?"

The woman nodded. "You believe the Creator has left you to suffer this path alone, but nothing could be further from the truth, Aeralie. He walks with you, every day, though you may not know it."

"Then, why is He silent when I need to hear something, anything, of encouragement?"

"It was the price He paid to ensure you would be delivered unto these worlds. In exchange for your life when you were but yet a few cells in your mother's womb, the Creator surrendered His voice unto the one whom now walks in your shadow."