Empire Island, Exile the First

Chapter 29

The darkness was absolute, as was the pain. Nothing I'd ever felt before came close to this. It was like every cell in my body was on fire and I had lost everything to the flame.

I allowed myself to disappear and I reveled in it. No more earthly concerns, no more emotional angst or past to correct. No more feelings of shame or fear, I was free of it all and it was powerfully addictive. I never wanted to be Kairos Empire again. I was free from memory and sorrow and everything that had held me down and held me back.

I was soaring now as one memory after the next melted out of me, wafted behind me like flower petals on the wind.

I didn't think I'd ever stop now that I was flitting and dancing, free of everything that had weighed me down before.

I felt the last pieces of my conscious self begin to dissolve and dissipate along the column of light and I didn't fight to keep them together anymore. I relaxed the last of me and simply let go.

I streamed along the light without a care in the world until I hit a wall of solid matter. It startled me, I opened my eyes and was shocked because I hadn't realized I even had eyes anymore. I faced the glorious golden goddess of light herself.

I staggered and fell to my knees in front of her, her mere presence overwhelmed me beyond my comprehension.

"How am I here?" I managed to gasp, trying to look up at her, but couldn't so I looked away.

"It is not your time," she replied, her voice booming and echoing in my ears while vibrating my teeth and bones. I felt her inside me, throbbing and drumming in my very veins like blood pumping. "You will go back."

"When can I return?" I begged, never wanting to leave her side. "Please, don't make me go."

"You are meant for bigger things, Kairos Empire. The world still has use for you, so return to claim your place among your people."

"I don't want to be a guardian," I said, finally looking up at her, forcing myself to gaze upon her beauteous perfection. "I can't handle it, please don't make me go back."

"Your people are not Empire," she said quietly, shaking her head. Her golden hair flickered and embers fell down upon me like stars streaking through the night sky. "You will find your people, Kairos. This isn't your time."

She lifted her hand and extended her finger towards me. She pressed the pad against my forehead and pushed. I felt a searing pain against my skin and I fell backwards, away from her, desperation growing with the distance as I left the circle of her firelight.

I hit the ground hard and woke with a gasp, dragging icy cold air into my lungs and bringing my body back to life.

"She's alive!" a man's voice called out. I opened my eyes and found the kind brown eyes of a stranger looking down at me. He knelt next to my prone body, his black hair glowing in the residual light of my flesh as the goddess receded, leaving my body.

"You're going to be okay," he said as he scanned my face. "Your burns are already healing, it's a miracle."

I felt my blistered skin cool and knit back together and my bones settled back into place. I blinked again, taking another deep, gasping breath as if I'd forgotten how to use the body I was in.

"Are you Kairos?" he asked and I didn't know how to respond at first, I couldn't tell if I was or not. I'd been so detached and fractured from who I was, I couldn't definitively say one way or the other. "What happened here?"

I struggled to sit up and he helped me by sliding an arm behind my back, lifting me. I shook my head and looked around, gaining my bearings so I didn't feel like I'd float away every time I blinked, becoming untethered for a moment again.