The Obsidian Pillar

Chapter Fifty-eight

I opened my eyes slowly.

I was lying on my back in a bed of soft, damp leaves, looking up at the swaying of the trees in the night air above me. The way that the branches knocked and the leaves brushed against one another mesmerised me. I watched with contentedness as a few of the leaves fell slowly down from their branches, to join the others that surrounded me upon the ground.

My eyes closed once more as I breathed in the earthy scents that were thick in the night air. A calming voice roused me moments later.

'You are awake then, Valla?'

I sat up and surveyed the clearing with curiosity. There was no one around but the trees that circled me protectively. 'Who are you?' I called, my throat dry and my voice hoarse.

'I am Hope, Valla.'

I could not tell if the voice belonged to a male or a female, but I soon forgot my inquisitiveness. The voice was gentle and calming. It reminded me of spring and lush green pastures. I lay back down gently.

'Do you know where you are, Valla?'

'Why do you call me that?' I smiled.

'That is your name.'

'It is?' I chuckled.

'It seems that your memory did not survive the brutality of your death.'

'I'm dead,' I yawned, digging my fingers down into the cool dirt.

'Very.'

'How did I die?'

'No one can survive the Rupture. It is a gateway between our world and yours. It draws out magic.'

I closed my eyes as I listened to the fairy tale, lulled by the soft voice in the shadow of the trees.

'The Gods want to give you a second chance, Valla.'

'A second chance at what?' I frowned, puzzled. 'Wouldn't I need to have a first chance before I can have a second?'

'This opportunity has never been an option before. Can you listen carefully to my proposition, Valla, before you decide?' The voice of Hope was gentle and kind. I nodded.

'Giving you back your life comes with conditions, Valla. The first is that, when you inevitably die again on earth, you will not be offered the chance of an afterlife in Paradise with us. We offer that gift to all of Fortitude's children for their service to the humans. You would have to die as a human would.' I smiled up at the trees and nodded. I had never had a dream like this before. Everything seemed so real.