Morana knows she's different from other people in more ways than one. Firstly, she's sixty-seven years old but stopped ageing in her twenties. Weird things have also happened around her right after she's wished for it. But most importantly, no matte...
My head was empty except from things Alejo had told me during one of our first conversations.
They have the ability to bring people back from the dead. At a cost though ... I would assume that there is some sort of a life for a life thing.
I looked down at Alejo. His body had grown so cold in my arms. His eyes were still open, and I moved my hand to close them. Unable to take looking into the emptiness of them.
I can bring him back?
That seemed like a dream come true. But then more of what I had read about the Death Shadows came to mind, and the impossibility of it seemed certain. Or at least something that made me not trust them, that made me sure they had to be bad.
"You feast on the souls of the dead," I said. My eyes were still on Alejo. "Are you feasting on Alejo as we speak?"
They hissed in anger again, but not an as fierce anger as before.
"We do," they answered.
"We feast on the life energy of those that died."
"But we're not yet able to access his."
"Why not?" I demanded. My eyes shot up, but since they were nothing but shadows, I had no idea where to look, so my eyes wandered around the living room. As they spoke, my eyes darted back and forth to the different places their voices sounded to come from.
"For those who die, but aren't ready..."
"...they need some time to adjust."
"Before they adjust, we cannot begin..."
"...to prepare them."
"Prepare them for what?" I asked before they had any time to elaborate.
"For what comes next."
"For living again."
"We consume and live on the energy they still have."
"And once we are done, their souls are clean."
"And they can walk on earth again..."
"...in a different life."
"So after death, we are all reborn, and when you feast on the life energy, that is just a part of the cycle?" I summarized what they had said to make sense of it.
"Yessssss!"
I looked down at Alejo again. So if all of this was true, then I really could have him back.
I brushed away my tears from his cheek. Traced my fingers up to his now closed eyes. Then down to his lips. Imagined a smile there. A smile I would be willing to give my life for.
As he had told me during that conversation ages ago, what would it cost?
"If I want you to bring someone back, what would the price be?"
"Blood for blood. A life for a life," they purred and I could feel their excitement all around. I would be willing to give my blood, give my life, to have Alejo back. But that deal would not do. It might be what I would be willing to do. Alejo, however, would never be happy if I gave my life for his. Just like I wasn't happy he had sacrificed himself to save me.
But their words also stirred something else in me. That memory of the Shadows talking, which felt like it didn't belong to me but definitely did.
"The blood of three for the ever-flowing. Three lives for the everlasting," I mumbled to myself, and their excitement seemed to increase. It also made me aware of something else, something that felt terrible and shocked me to my core. "I've died and come back."
"Yessssss!" Their excitement was so thick it pressed in on me, and though I still felt numb and in pain, that excitement rubbed itself off on me. It made for a weird mixture of emotions. The cold, dark emptiness with spots of shining light. Almost like a night sky, and the more their excitement affected me, the more stars appeared.
"How?" I asked.
"Your father was a necromancer...
"...and he and a faerie made a deal."
"To make so that you would be resurrected every time you die...
"...until the day that you are ready to move on."
"What was the deal?" My mouth was completely dry.
"The blood from three magical creatures."
"And three different lives."
"What lives? Who's blood? What faerie?" The questions came one after another and for each of them, my fear increased. I was unnatural, I shouldn't be alive. What exactly had been sacrificed for my life? What guilt did I not know I should carry?
My grip on Alejo tightened again, and I wished he was there and alive. That he could hold me and tell me to not worry, to not feel guilt. That I held no responsibility for whatever lives had been given since I had not been asked what I wanted.
The Shadows were silent for a long time, and I could sense that they thought things over.
"We'll take it from the beginning," they finally said.
"A faerie came to our realm telling of a child necromancer that was soon to die. She asked to make a deal that would ensure the child survived. The blood from three magical creatures and three different lives."
"We didn't believe it would be possible at first, for the blood and lives have to be willingly given. But we care deeply for all necromancers. You are our friends, after all. So we gave her a chance."
"She gathered the blood and the lives. Ask for consent and received it. She then brought us to you and your father, where you had just died."
"We accepted the blood of the faerie, your father, and your mother. We accepted the life of your mate bond, the life you would have had with your parents, and the life of your mother. And in return, we gave you the protection from death until the day you decide you are ready."
My head overflowed by the information, and it caused more questions to come. I had no idea which to start with, but as I looked down at Alejo, it seemed obvious.
"Who gave their consent for you to take the life of my mate bond?" I asked and felt anger surge. There had been so much uncertainty in mine and Alejo's relationship, so many issues caused unnecessarily because of the lack of that bond.
"Your mate."
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