due to me not liking how I ended this book- I rewrote this chapter. enjoy!
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Lost time.
The blind Voltaris paced back and forth. No one had seen Achillean since he had gone off to fight Ingressus.
And Amaya was fearing the worst.
The Voltaris felt her daughter hug her leg. "he will come back to us," Ember paused. "he promised he would."
Amaya knelt down, gently grabbing her daughter's hands, "Som- sometimes promises are made to be broken,"
The chance that Achillean had been killed was a high one.
Amaya then hugged her daughter. The child had started to whimper slightly, she had started to think of the Nestoris as her father.
"Is he gone?"
"I-" Amaya swallowed her cry, "I don't know, I- I hope not,"
"If he is, I'm going to miss him," Ember replied sadly.
Amaya felt tears stream down her face. She inhaled deeply, drying her tears.
"Let's go down to the pier," she told her daughter, wanting to cheer the child up.
"Ok.."
...
The child followed her mother and Aperion through the Nestoris village. Most of the Ardoni gave her a friendly smile and a wave.
The sun had a few more hours and then it would set, engulfing the sky in darkness.
Part of her wondered that if Achillean had died- had he met her older brother, and father in the Stars?
sadness fell over her. Almost everyone Ember had loved was dead.
It seemed the Stars were not in her favor. She fidgeted with her hands. The Voltaris wanted to cry, to just let out all the built-up loss she held.
First, her brother had been slaughtered.
And now Achillean-whom she had started to think of him as her father, might be dead.
It hurt.
It hurt a lot.
The sound of the roaring ocean, she padded out into the sandy ground, she was not used to the feeling of the sand under her feet, or the warm weather Nestoria was blessed with, she looked back at her mother and Aperion, both Ardoni seemed to be silently mourning, but never letting it show- to stay strong.
Aperion said something to her mother, though Ember wasn't sure what she had said.
The child spent the next half hour playing in the sand. Though she didn't see it, the fact that she was being carefree for once made her mother smile.
Not much time had passed when the sun had completely set, Nestoria at night was even more stunning than during the day, the noisy birds had all gone silent leaving the soft whispers of the wind and the cry of the ocean.
Fireflies drifted around, their lights softly flashing.
even in the calmness of the surrounding areas, there was a sense of loss that hung in the air.
a male Nestoris wielding a diamond staff stopped them. His expression was heartbroken as he talked to them.
"They found both Ingressus' and Achillean's songs.." he paused, shutting his eyes for a moment almost as if he wished it was a dream. "It is safe to assume they are both dead," his voice had dropped to a low whisper.
...
Amaya's heart shattered right there and then.
he was gone...
he was gone, and he wasn't coming back.
She was hurting.
And this pain was far worse than what she had suffered in the Nether.
The walk back to Aperion's hut was silent once they got there Amaya sat down on the carpet both she and Achillean had sat next to each other on the day before.
she took a few deep breaths still comprehending what the Nestoris had said.
He was dead.
It came crashing down on her like a wave. She brought her hand up to her mouth to try to stifle the cry but it did little.
she cried.
She cried until she had no tears left to shed.. she felt numb, with each breath she took her body shook.
She felt Ember crawl into her lap, in an attempt to comfort her mother.
"Think of it this way," Aperion began. "He died fighting to protect Ardoni, to protect the ones he held dear to his heart," she paused. "You were near and dear to his heart Amaya, he loved you both."
the Voltaris did not respond, though Aperion had a point, he had died fighting the good fight, he died fighting for them.
A great Ardoni had died that day.
Or so they thought.
... (154 years later)
The smoke choked her lungs, Amaya fell to her knees it felt as if she couldn't breathe. she staggered back to her feet and continued to cry out for Ember.
It had all happened so suddenly, they had both been walking back from one campfire when the Attack had begun. As soon as the fire had starrted chaos erupted as Ardoni fought and ran.
Amaya and Ember had been separated in that chaos.
"Ember!" She shouted, the roar of the flames almost drowning out her desperate cry.
that's when she heard it, a screech of pain from her child, adrenaline rushing through her blood she ran to the source of the sound. She may be blind but her other senses had been sharpened.
She followed the sound, silently hoping it wasn't too late.
The Stars were merciful tonight.
She could imagine what was happening, just by the sound alone.
An older Voltaris had attacked her child.
"Amaya, what a present surprise," a scratchy male voice spoke up as he addressed her. In return she froze- she knew that voice.
Tygren.
The Voltaris who had tortured her in the Nether.
Amaya took a step back. Her blind eyes widened in fear.
She looked to where she figured her daughter was, a silent plea to run across her face.
And so Ember ran.
Tygren circled Amaya, like an animal circling its prey.
They fought.
However it didn't last long before Tygren had thrown her to the ground, pain seared throughout her body, the moment she found out the Ardoni was Tygren, she knew death would come to her.
Amaya coughed up clots of blood. Her mind was hazy from breathing in so much smoke. "Go to hell," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"Been there," Tygren replied. His voice was dripping with venom. "Not my favorite vacation spot,"
A few more long seconds had passed and the roar of the fire seemed to be growing farther away. Her orange-red markings flickered softly.
"I'm coming, Achillean," she uttered.
Tygren's sword pierced through her body, sending shock waves of pain through the Voltaris.
Her ears started to ring, louder and louder until she couldn't hear anything else.
her once bright markings turned blacker than the night.
she was dead.
...
Achillean had been tracking Ingressus for the past six months- during that time it did not seem like Ardonia was in the middle of a war.
he had his thoughts that the portal brought him to a different time.
This only confirmed it.
A few feet away stood Galleous Sendaris. He was much older than Achillean remembered.
"Where has the war gone?" He asked.
The Sendaris sighed. "It's been one hundred fifty-four years since the first Great War ended,"
"I traveled forwards in time," the Nestoris spoke with realization.
"Yes..."
Achillean started taking deep and detached breaths, panicking slightly for him it had only been a few months but for the rest of Ardonia it had been over one hundred years.
"Are you alright?" The Sendaris asked him concern laced his voice,
"Yeah-yeah, I'll-ill be fine," he paused. "This is just a lot to take it.."
Galleous only nodded. As a silence fell over the small group, Achillean wanted to ask about Amaya and Ember, but he feared what Galleous might say.
"What- what happened to Amaya and Ember?"
"Ember is alive and well... Amaya.. has joined the Stars,"
She was dead.
Achillean's spirit shattered right then and there. "How did she die?" He tried with all of his might to keep himself calm- to hide the rising cry in his voice.
"the Voltaris attacked one village from each clan, Amaya was killed in the attack on Nestoria,"
Achillean could only nod, Ingressus had tried so many things to shatter his spirit.
But when it came down to it, the simplest of things can obliterate someone's spirit.
Achillean followed Galleous back to the Knights of Ardonia; they were a small group, about eight members in total.
But a familiar Voltaris caught his attention.
Ember stood a few feet away talking to a younger female Sendaris. She wasn't the tiny child he knew, she was an adult now, her once stubby horns had grown out, curling across the top of her head, her hair was also much longer, it was tied up in a tight ponytail, and she also now wielded a spear- which was across her back.
The Voltairs' expression softened at the sight of Achillean- but she also looked surprised to see the Tidesinger.
Without another word, Ember practically tackled him into a hug. The Nestoris hugged her back, happy tears streaming down his face.
"How- how-?" Ember asked, her voice was slightly muffled.
"It doesn't matter," he responded, letting her go.
When he had left to fight Ingressus, he had thought of Ember as a daughter of sorts.
To come back- and find out it had been one hundred and fifty-four years since he had seen them- to find out Amaya was dead and Ember was now an adult.
That is what broke him.
He hyperventilated, taking huge gulps of air; his lungs burned slightly,
Ember hugged him again. She held sympathy in her eyes.
It took awhile for the Nestoris to calm down- and to just breathe. He felt as if his mind was going into overdrive- just trying to comprehend all of this.
He sat next to Ember- asking her lots of questions about the past hundred years.
At the moment she was telling the story of how her mother- Amaya had died.
"And they attacked. It all happened without warning and, during the chaos we got separated," she started. "I was attacked,-"
"By who?"
"I don't know," Ember replied, Achillean could tell she was growing more emotional by the moment. "But they- had no restraint in attacking me, Amaya through some will of the Stars found us, and he spoke to her as if... as if he knew her, like" Ember paused, "like he had waited to end her life for so long, like he had hurt her before, and was itching to do it again- just to see her suffer,"
Achillean knew at once who had killed Amaya. He clenched his fist, his blood roaring in his ears. "Tygren Voltaris," " the Nestoris shut his eyes tightly, when he had rescued Amaya from the hell that was the nether, she had told him all that had happened- how the Deathsinger had blinded her- how Tygren shoved a glowing hot metal rod down her throat.
"She did not speak to me during that time, it was all silent but she told me to run, and so I ran, I turned at the last moment to see him drive his sword through her chest," the Voltairs had started to slightly cry, no doubt she still missed her mother.
Achillean rested his hand on her shoulder. He himself had tears gathering inside, this hurt mentally, had Amaya- died believing he would be there in the Stars?
Probably.
That thought hurt.
It all hurt. Like a thousand swords being driven through his chest. Over and over, with no end in sight to the pain.
Achillean had gotten used to the Idea- that the Stars did not hold happiness in the path they had chosen for his life. Sure, he had little moments- a period where he was happy- like he had been with Amaya, like he had been with Ingressus.
Ember opened her mouth to speak again, "mom used to tell me, that we learn to value heaven because we go through hell,"
Achillean smiled sadly. That was one of the things that he loved about Amaya, her ability to speak softly, while telling a harsh truth.
We all go through hell.
Some more than others.
...
The next few months flew by, he had taken to training Ember, however he was always wary about letting her take part in the fights, the Knights had also grown in numbers and were now a strong fighting force.
Within the next few weeks they would start collecting the Primes- to keep them away from the Deathsinger.
Achillean was currently in Ataraxia, in his hand he held Amaya's horn ring, it still looked the same as he had remembered it. He ran his finger over the cool, carved metal.
He bit his lip, tears rolling down his cheeks.
He still missed Amaya.
It was like his heart was shattering. Every Single. Day.
He wasn't sure how much more he could take. He wiped the tears from his face, only for more to take their place, he sat on the edge of the floating island.
"I miss you,"