Falling Skyward

Chapter Thirty-Four: Lithia's Isolation

After a while, Taren finally carried Lana away from the pounding water. He gently whispered, "Lana, tell me what you saw. Are you sure it wasn't a trick of the light? Maybe it was just a reflection in the water."

Lana shook her head. "I saw the forests surrounding my home, the fields of bitter wheat, even the surrounding oceans and mountains. It was all there—all so clear. What kind of mirage could be so detailed?" A hint of desperation filled Lana's voice. The world was a kaleidoscope, collapsing in on her before tumbling upside down and inside out.

Taren shook his head, his face blank, uncomprehending. "These stories you hear growing up, of lower worlds and gods, it is difficult to believe they are more than just stories or metaphors for something unknowable. And yet, when you started speaking of that woman . . . of Lithia."

"Who's Lithia?" Lana asked, shivering.

"She is the most hated and loved of the legends, the savior of our people and the mother of the shadoweaters. Everything good and bad in our world stems from her," Dawson said, startling Lana. In her shock, she hadn't heard his approach. Lana's face flushed as she suddenly realized she was curled against Taren's soaking chest, his clothes clinging tightly to his body. Her clothes had turned nearly sheer with moisture, causing her blush to deepen. She should step away, she should cover herself, but the cold sinking through her skin to her bones made Lana only huddle closer.

Dawson held out his coat to Lana as a shiver rippled through her, and she took the covering gratefully, breathing in his spiced honey sent. Dawson continued, gallantly ignoring Lana's embarrassment. "The myths say she lived back when the worlds were one with the man she loved, Trivium, but his brother, Shem, jealous of their love, pursued them relentlessly, devising every possible way to keep them apart or kill them. Shem burned villages, tortured people, all in the efforts of finding Lithia—not out of love but obsession.

"Lithia was the first mortal to be blessed with the gift of healing, so after homes and children were taken, after fields were burnt and limbs lost to torture, the people would come to Lithia to find peace and a respite from their pain.

"One day Shem disguised himself as a cripple and asked for Lithia near the mountains where she lived. The well-meaning villagers told Shem of the cave where Lithia and Trivium took in and cared for refugees. Once he knew her location, Shem brought his army to capture Lithia. But, if he could not have her, he was prepared to slaughter everyone in those caverns so that no one could have her. The people were given little warning of the attack, and Trivium and a select few stayed behind to hold off Shem while the others fled to the mountains.

"They say Shem ate the heart of his brother while he was still living, then sent a messenger to the mountains with the head of Trivium in a box.

"Lithia, for the sake of the unborn child she carried and the people who followed her, refused to fall into despair. She had heard from the people of the mountain of an underground spring, one with waters that would either consume the flesh of whoever entered it or grant the person eternal life.

"Either fate was equally feared by the people of the mountain, but the treasure rumored to lie beneath the water still caused many to attempt it. The waters held a substance purer, more intricate, and more beautiful than humans could create—tools that the gods had left after fashioning the world. And among them was a small, black box—a gateway to a world nearer the gods. Whoever opened the box would see a glimpse into the mind of the gods, but such a glimpse carried an unspeakable price.

"Lithia sought the box nonetheless, nearly killing herself diving to the bottom of the eternal spring. And when she opened the box, the power within tore the world apart. Lithia and her people were transported to a land nearer the gods where they could live out their lives in safety.

"But no one can ever know what Lithia saw within the box. As the world split apart, the gods tore out her vocal cords and burned her hands, leaving her voiceless. Unable to explain or write what she had seen, the knowledge drove Lithia to the brink of madness. Just before she delivered her unborn child, Lithia disappeared into the wilderness to make her isolation complete."

The gypsy woman's story reverberated in Lana's mind as Dawson quoted the tale from a new perspective, from a new world entirely.

Pressure and pricking needles of pain started constricting Lana's chest, growing tighter and tighter. Hearing the utter isolation of Lithia only compounded Lana's heartbreak. She would never see her family again. She would never be able to reach Gailen, to stop the pain and torture those creatures were inflicting on him.

Lana wanted to believe her dreams were merely nightmares, but the minuscule details, the ravaging emotion, and something else—something much deeper and wholly intangible and inaccessible whispered to Lana that these dreams were more real even than her walking reality.

But she could do nothing. After promising Gailen—after swearing to him she would be there for him, now all she could do was watch him suffer when the darkness descended night after night.

Lana fell to her knees, the pain of this realization forcing itself on her with such an abruptness Lana felt her rib cage would splinter. She was alone. Gailen was alone. Her family was dead. And nothing could change that.