Legacy (Daughter of War #2)

Chapter 25: Seeking Guidance

Gilbert settles into the proceedings quite naturally, his muscles relaxed and shoulders free of tension. I suppose that my explaining of how the experience works helps aplenty. In fact, I'm sure that he could have dived into the pool by himself, but Maya had insisted on acting as an anchor for him. "I will not take risks," she had said, eyes blazing so fiercely that none of us had dared to question her authority on the matter.

So here we are now: Gilbert and Maya sitting on opposite ends of the pool, with Alvina and me standing aside, watching the scene captured into stillness.

A warm, red glow engulfs the cavern. The traditional colour of Pst. Ailith. As with the time I'd first headed into the centre tunnel, a sear of magic had greeted us at the entrance. Gilbert had doubled over, clutching at his abdomen, wheezing. But he'd recovered surprisingly quickly. Meanwhile, I'd been lamenting at how I'd conveniently forgot to inform him that his guide would be forcefully ripped away from his being.

Then again, he hasn't achieved the level of transcendence. Perhaps he won't feel the emptiness as keenly as I do.

"How was—" Alvina abruptly speaks, before cutting herself off.

Unfortunately, she has already dragged me out of my thoughts, so I can't let the unfinished sentence slide. "How was what?" I ask, leaning against the cavern wall.

She purses her lips. I see a thousand words waiting to burst forth—held back by hesitation. In the end, she takes in a deep breath and rephrases her question: "How was Kendra?"

I blink in response.

She laughs. "My apologies if I'm being too straightforward," she says, "but I feel like I have to know. You mentioned back there that you were drawn into Lord Hubert's memories. I assume that you must have witnessed the scene of Diomedes's first death. Which means that Kendra was there too."

Indeed she was. Wielding Miraterciel and the shadows so effortlessly—as though she had walked through all the layers of the etherworld and survived with her soul intact. A true Deathslayer—the image of what I'm supposed to be.

"Oh. You didn't see her." Alvina forces another laugh. "Truly, I apologise. I just...assumed. Comes from being a Seer."

I must have been absorbed long enough in my memories—Lord Hubert's memories that quite some time has passed. I shake my head and say hastily, "No, no. She was there. I mean—yes, I did watch Diomedes's first death through my predecessor's eyes. And Kendra was there."

"How did she look like?"

How do I answer that? I'm sure that Alvina already knows what her eldest sibling looks like—dark red hair that is similar to her own, a slim nose that my mother possesses, but with a strong jaw that is reminiscent of Alvina's. A strong, unbreakable face—the face of a leader.

One that even the Champions of War bow to.

I wonder if it's because Kendra was the Champion of Pst. Zorah, or if she was the Deathslayer—or if it's because she's both of those, and so much more.

"She looked...well," I say, aware of how pathetic the description is, yet unable to come up with anything else. "Why don't you ask Maya? I'm sure she'll be able to understand Kendra better."

"Unfortunately, in case you haven't noticed, we have quite a bit of a language barrier in between us," Alvina replies. "You and I don't."

I pinch my nose between my fingers, thinking of a suitable follow-up. "Well, she... She certainly was the Deathslayer—no doubt about that," I say slowly. "Miraterciel looked right when it was with her. And from what I've seen, I think it's safe to say that she was the strongest necromancer at the time, sans Diomedes."