Destiny's Awakening

2. TWO

TWO

Gritty earth bit into my skin, and I shivered from the chill in the air. I blinked, looking around me.

I didn't know where I was.

The colors of the landscape surrounding me were strange—muted, dulled. The edges of the trees and shrubs looked as though they'd been smudged; the artist moving on before finishing their strokes. Hills of grass rolled far into the distance. And on the horizon, tucked in the shade of a stand of ancient oaks, was a cluster of small, thatch-roofed houses. With no better idea of what to do, I pushed off the ground and headed for the hamlet.

My bare feet smarted from the occasional stone along the path, the sensation authentic enough to make me question if I was dreaming or not.

When I reached the cluster of homes, there was a stillness in the air that spoke to their being abandoned. All the same, I lifted the latch to the gate and walked up to the door of one. For reasons I can't explain, I knocked on the door. Not unexpectedly, no answer came. I moved on to the next. Then the next.

At the last dilapidated home, I lifted my fist to knock, but a voice called from inside, "Come in, child. We've been expecting you."

I jumped back from the doorway with a gasp, heart racing. A moment later, the same female voice called, "Don't dawdle, child. It's bad luck to linger in a doorway."

My hands shook as I pushed the door open, revealing a small, dimly lit room. Five women sat casually in rocking chairs, their assessing eyes on me as I entered the room. Not uncomfortable, but heavy enough that I didn't feel guilt about openly studying them in return.

They wore identical dove-grey shifts with darker grey robes draped over their shoulders. Even their hair was in the same tight buns atop their heads. At first glance, it would be easy to dismiss them as unremarkable, a simple gathering of friends. But the longer I stood inside the small room with their eyes on me, I knew: these women were not human, and I wasn't dreaming.

On the heels of that thought, my gut twisted and the little hairs on my arms stood on end. I swallowed down my unease as a tingle ran up the side of my neck, along my left cheek.

My head whipped toward the sensation, and my eyes collided with the amber eyes of the youngest of them. Her head tilted slowly—predatory—unsettling enough on its own, but her fiery locks were shifting around her, caught in an impossible breeze.

"What in the name of Monassa is happening to me?" I mumbled, and the eldest of the women lifted her chin. "Monassa is exactly where you are, girl."

Blood rushed from my head, leaving me dizzy. If I were in Monassa… if this was Monassa, the sacred realm that held the spirits of our ancestors… that meant…

"Am I…" I choked on the words. "Am I dead?"

"No, child," said the middle-aged woman to my left, voice gentle. "You are merely a visitor. Our first from the living realm, truth be told."

"Tell us, girl. What do you know of our realm?" asked the eldest, voice crackling like fire over logs. Her eyes settled on me, and I felt myself wanting to shrink away from her attention. The odd glow in her veins—shifting and ebbing beneath the surface of her ebony skin—unsettled me. She radiated raw, ancient power. Far stronger and more intense than the other four.

I realized I'd been staring and hadn't answered her question when she cleared her throat. Shaking myself, I recited everything Mama had taught us about the ancestral realm.

The eldest nodded in appreciation. "Your mother taught you well. But there is much left for you to learn."

The woman with hair so pale it was nearly translucent beckoned me forward. "Come forward, child,"

Hesitantly, I did as asked, and when she held her hand out to me, I accepted it. As soon as her fingers wrapped around my hand, images and names inundated my mind—Zephyra, Avani, Indra, Nahara, and Vahni. The Mothers of Monassa, keepers of the path between the living and ancestral realms, and protectors of the elements: wind, earth, water, light, and fire.

In those images flooding my mind, I saw them wield their power. Saw them without the visages they presented to me now—Nahara, a being of pure light and energy; Zephyra, as wild and free as a cyclone; Indra, moving with the tide and bringing the rains; Avani, the thread connecting every living thing growing from the earth; and Vahni, fearsome in her embodiment of the flames. They were…beautiful, terrifying. Magnificent.

Nahara released my hand, and Vahni said, "We have a bargain to offer you. If you agree, your life will never be the same."

Meeting Vahni's eyes, I said, "You have my attention."

Vahni explained how each of them had been born of a prayer of need—a fire to warm a chilly night, rain to feed crops. They were caretakers from their origin, and that included the souls of our dearly departed. In the beginning, it was easy for them to keep the way open and to grow the planes to house the spirits.

"But then your realms grew, and our power alone was no longer enough," she said. "We cannot sustain it alone, and if the gateway fails…"

"That is why you're here," Avani cut in, casting a wary glance at her sister.

I blinked at the Mothers.

"This cannot be real," I mumbled, pressing my fingers to my temples.

"We assure you, it is," Avani said. "The afterlife your ancestors have enjoyed for millennia is in jeopardy, and you can save it."

I scoffed. There was no humor in their eyes, only determination. My head spun.

A chair materialized behind me—I hadn’t seen it appear, hadn’t felt it—and I dropped into it before I could question how.

My fingers twisted into the fabric of my nightgown. "What are you saying?"

"We require a conduit," Indra answered in her lilting voice. "A bridge between the living and ancestral realms. If you agree to our bargain, we will bind you to both realms."

My stomach dropped. "Bind me?"

"Yes. Your life-force will maintain the balance."

"This is an honor, girl," Vahni's raspy voice told me. "In turn, we will elevate you among your people. You will be their Consari and unite them under a single banner. Yours."

Though not fractured, Monari was not united. Much of the country comprised ancient tribal borders; the leadership of the people within those borders passed between only a few bloodlines. The villages in the mountains still sacrificed food and cloth under full moons to appease the entities sitting before me.

My head shook. "But how?"

Vahni's eyes flared, and I saw the flames dance in them. "We will make it so."

I waited for her to explain. She didn't.

Though it made little sense—though every instinct in me told me I should hesitate—I nodded.

"You will be mother to a line we will call the Consa," Avani told me. "The bargain will pass on to your daughters..."

"If they agree, right?" I interrupted, looking at each of the Mothers.

I already felt overwhelmed. If the Mothers offered me a choice now, then they should also offer that same choice to future generations.

Silence filled the room while I watched the Mothers engage in some sort of telepathic negotiation. After a few minutes, Avani met my eyes and agreed that each generation would have the option to either renew the vow, or allow it to pass them over. Five pairs of eyes settled on me, waiting.

I nodded, finding it agreeable enough.

"As part of renewing the vow, we will establish two rites," Indra explained next.

The first rite would occur on the night of a Consa's twenty-first birthday, and would be called the Unwinding,

"As part of the rite, we will offer three Gifts," Avani continued. "Access to a piece of our power. The knowledge of Monari's history. And we will name a life partner—a Chieftain—to aid you in your destiny."

That last detail had me putting my hand up. "Wait. You'll name a life partner?" I questioned. "With no input from me?"

Without missing a beat, Vahni answered sternly. "Your input is unnecessary."

The room fell terribly silent.

My jaw tightened to the point of pain. "How can you say that?"

"Because, girl, we know the nature of your spirit, your heart. We will know your partner's as well." Her sleek brow lifted imperiously. "You will be well-suited. The perfect counterbalances to each other."

"And you mean for me to have no choice?" I seethed.

"There is always a choice, daughter," Avani soothed. "We are aware of the human concept of love, and the weight it holds in your realm. That our naming a partner for you may seem incongruous…"

"But we will name the man Chieftain, and only the daughters of your union will be Consa," Vahni concluded, brooking no further discussion.

I pressed my eyes shut and sighed. "Very well."

The Mothers were quiet a beat longer, and then Indra pressed on, describing the second rite—the Sojourn—during which the Consa would fully ascend to the role of Consari.

"Ascension in future generations will follow either the voluntary abdication of the role by the former Consari, or her death," Indra explained. "The title shall pass from you to your firstborn daughter, and so on. In the event that a firstborn daughter has not renewed the vow, the duty shall pass to the next in line."

The Mothers let me absorb everything they'd told me. What they were offering was so much more than I'd ever imagined for myself. Yet it was also so much for one person to carry alone. And who was I, a farmer's daughter, to lead an entire nation of people? Surely the other women of Monari were just as deserving of the Mothers' favor as I.

"May I make a suggestion?"

Vahni's brow lifted, but she nodded—just once. "We're listening."

"Extend the vow beyond me, to the other women of Monari. Bless them, too, with your Gifts. If my life-force is enough to keep the way into Monassa open, then the combined life forces of every woman in Monari will bolster your power far into the future."

Once again, the Mothers descended into the eerie silence of their telepathic communication. Heads tilted. Eyes narrowed, and hands waved as if in argument. When Indra folded her hands in her lap and looked at me with her sea-foam eyes, I knew they'd reached a decision.

"We have a counteroffer," she told me, and pride bloomed in my chest.

I'd never considered myself a skilled negotiator, but the Mothers of Monassa were listening to me, were making adjustments to their plans because I had crafted a sound argument.

"We will include your sisters in our bargain. They will lead beside you—three coleaders."

Giddy joy flooded my veins at the prospect of sharing this with my sisters.

"As for the women of Monari," she continued. "We will extend a single Gift to them, binding them to Monassa as well."

A wide smile broke across my face. "Thank you."

"You will join us tomorrow, on your birthday, to complete the Unwinding," Vahni announced. "Weigh your choice, girl. Once you seal the vow, you cannot undo it.

I understood well enough the enormity of entering into this bargain with the Mothers.

I nodded.

Vahni waved her hand, and I was plunged back into the familiar darkness of sleep.