Born of Flames

Chapter 46 ~ The Emergence of Gods

There was no pain. Only peace, and a gentle mist caressing her face. Water rippled beneath her bare feet, cool, but not wet, as though she stood upon liquid glass instead of this eternally winding river. A thin veil surrounded her like a gossamer web preventing her from moving deeper into the mist or picking out her surroundings.

Only the sky above her was clear, painted in hues of coral, aqua, and amethyst, the dawn bathing the world in its morning light despite the stars that still twinkled. She lifted her own translucent golden hand and waved it towards the sky. The stars answered her beckoning call and floated down from the heavens to waltz around her, glimmering at her fingertips.

She smiled as the stars lifted her hair on a silent breeze and twinkled across her skin before spinning back out of reach. But one star remained. She watched curiously as it touched down on the river and began to lengthen into a figure like her own. A Fae woman met her gaze as the star's glow faded, leaving only the faint light from their translucent flesh.

The female held out a slender hand and she slipped her own into it without question. The moment their hands touched, her astral body became flesh and blood once more, her skin pink and freckled.She looked at her companion in confusion and found that the female's body had changed too.

Long blonde hair hung down to her waist, speckled with wildflowers and starling feathers. The female's brown eyes were lit with warmth as she gazed back at her. A smile graced her delicate lips as she lifted a gentle hand to her cheek. "You look so much like your father," the female murmured, stroking her cheek, then threading her fingers through her caramel tresses.

"You have his beautiful gray eyes." She poked at the corners of her mouth, coaxing her lips into a smile, then mirrored it. "Ah, but there I am." Tears rimmed her eyes before the female pulled her into a tight embrace. "You've become so beautiful, my darling Little Bird."

She drew a sharp breath, the words jarring her mind into action. Memories came flooding back, bringing her own name to her, and the name of the woman who held her. "Mother," Morana rasped, hooking her arms around her and returning her embrace.

This was her mother. She was hugging her mother. But that meant... Morana tipped her head back, horror blanching her features as the last of her memories filtered through her mind. The flames that had burned her away and the cries that had followed her here.

One of her hands flew to her chest and curled against her sternum where waves of pain had begun to crash through her. Pain that belonged to another. "Tarion," Morana breathed. He was still facing Astaroth. They all were. They needed her! "I have to go back. Mother, they need me. Send me back. Please, I have to go back!"

"Patience was never your strong suit," a gruff female voice chided as two more figures emerged from the mists. Morana's gaze slipped from her mother's and her arms fell limp at her sides. Neriah drifted beside her as Koen and Vesna Nellthore joined them.

"She's right, Little Bird," Koen said. "Would you disrespect the gods by leaving before they arrive?"

"The...gods?" Morana echoed. But she didn't have time to ponder their meaning. More people were appearing beyond the mist, and she recognized every one of them. Friends she had made throughout her life. Loved ones who had helped raise her and sacrificed themselves to keep her safe. And...Arlon. "What's going on? Why am I here?"

"You are here because Asterria still needs you, but they no longer need the Phoenix."

Morana turned abruptly, coming face to face with a female who looked almost exactly like the male she had left behind. Her dark hair was long where his was short, her eyes were sapphire where his were garnet, but those were the only differences.