Behind My Shadow - Book Three

52. All We Are Is Skin & Bone

I slowly sit up, my head feels a little fuzzy and my vision is a little blurry, as if I'm looking through gauze. It's nighttime now, and instead of being blinded by the beacon-like sun, everything is completely painted in darkness. For a moment, that is.

My vision instantly clears as my eyes zero in on the dizzying lights dancing above my head. I can't help but smile with enchantment. A spectacular lightshow -every bit as awesome as the aurora borealis but twice as resplendent- glows across the starry sky, painting everything in hypnotic rainbow hues.

The endless Falls of Life themselves look like they're made from dark, clinquant rainbows as they pour into the basin, a nacreous glow makes the depths of the ocean around me as clear and as captivating as the dancing sky above me.

What time is it? I can't help but wonder as I scramble up to my feet. I have my fifteenth Labor to complete! The only problem is I don't exactly know how...

The only thing the Judge said was I have to sacrifice my blood in the Pool of Power or something to be rewarded with an invincible weapon I can use to kill the Jabberwocky. And the only thing my dad told me was this Labor won't require as much blood as I'll think it does, which -predictably- doesn't help soothe my mind running wild with questions and concerns.

I quickly trudge farther up the beach, disappearing into the jungle sprouting out of the middle of the island. Miraculously, the deafening roar of the Falls is instantly muted and replaced by the softly humming breeze and the quiet calls of early morning birds. The entire jungle is aglow under the flashes of light waving across the night sky.

I guess I'm looking for a pool of some sort, but I walk for what feels like an impossible amount of time considering I thought this island was tiny, but just now that I'm starting to question myself, I suddenly see something.

At first I think it's a woman standing in the middle of the jungle with her hands cupped above her head but now I realize it's actually just a statue of a girl. I breathe a sigh of relief and anxiously press closer.

The nacreous marble keeps changing color under the lights, and as I stop in front of the statue, I see now how it's actually covered in words. I tilt my head curiously as I look the language over. I think it's in ancient Raetri, I've only recently started getting the hang of it but I don't think I'm good enough yet to read it -

Oh! I startle with the realization that these words -despite being a language I was still learning- suddenly makes sense. I mean, all of a sudden it's like ancient Raetri is my second language. Whoa! I smile with a shake of my head. I guess after completing my fourteenth Labor, my connection with Raetri truly has deepened. I can understand the language of the world now! I laugh with disbelief.

OMG, this is so freakin' cool!

I try not to get too giddy though and remind myself to focus and now quickly read the writing carved into the statue of an Alice.

In time, all shall unravel in truth...

In death, all shall be renewed...

In life and the next, all love will be final...

To know Power, one must have felt the Weakness...

To Rise, one must have first been the Fallen...

To Gain, one must first have Lost...

To Learn, one must unlearn Everything...

To be Loved, one must first love thy Self...