Chapter 294: Her Bleak’s Path

Nolan didn’t move. He was laid on a bed inside a cottage house. His eyes were staring at the ceiling. His soul was a candle that was barely lit. Ciara sat on his side, holding his hand. She wore a brown shawl around her shoulder. She had replaced her worn-out robe with a finer one with embroidered flowers on the side with blue linens and gold.

The wind blew gently the curtains to her face. She swiped the curtains off her face and turned her attention to kindling Nolan’s soul. The lights of the sun shone on her face, the other half obscured by a shadow. Her lips were pinkish-red, and the bag on her eyes was like eye shadows.

“Miss,” said Einar who stood with her daughter, who was sucking on her thumb. “You should rest.”

“No,” Ciara mouthed. “I, I might not be able to see him awake again.”

Ciara saw Einar fix his gaze on her with her peripheral vision. “Did you know already that this will happen?”

“No,” she shook her head. “I assumed that his copy would live long. I remember that before all of this he was taken by the Eon-Father and was thrown out of this bauble. You saw it, right?”

“Not far,” Einar said. “But the power that the Old Man wielded at that moment was breathtaking. He wielded too much power that the Eon-Father had sent him away. Eons of knowledge on how the runes worked have allowed my Old Man to know how to wield them as if pulling strings.”

“I see,” said Ciara.

“Why do you do this? How did this even happen?”

“I…was trapped in an abyss where fragments were lost. Time in that abyss was strange and all I could do was to keep moving forward. That abyss had no time and I felt no hunger. Suddenly, I was out, and I took my own life at the thought of living without him. I wanted to save the world at that time. I was a fool who was too afraid to let her children live in a world that was devoid of light. I feared the ifs that would have happened. What if the world won’t be saved? What if the world won’t be able to take down the enemy? What if I failed and my children live? I feared that to the point that I saw it as mercy not give birth to my child. Deep down, a part of me died and I accepted that deathblow in hopes that would be my punishment. By what right did I have to do that? In the end, I wasn’t dead, and I lived only to see him buried before me. It hurt so badly.”

Einar did not speak. The little girl beside him watched with a tilted head.

“When I awoke into a new body I thought that it was time to change. But who knew that I would meet him again in this new body? The worst part was that I was hesitant. I was afraid, and I still am. I don’t want to lose him after meeting him. We’ve spent years traveling here and I should be happy. But I am not. I cannot imagine it. The thought of seeing my beloved and being with him and then losing him again. It’s a sick joke. It’s a blessing that we’ve been longer than a normal lifespan? No, please, I can’t accept that. I’ve helped save the world. Wouldn’t it be just fair if I get something that I want? I like the me that loves. I like the me that wanted to be with him.”

She placed her cheek on his left hand. “It hurts so badly. It hurts. I can’t take this. I don’t want this. Not when we fail at even rescuing the children. I am a failure of a chosen.”

“No you weren’t,” Einar mouthed. “In the memories of my Old Man, no, my stepfather. To him, you were his hope and shining light. When the sun was lost he turned to you. You should know by now that my stepfather had no place in this world. He originally only wanted to help you shine brighter, but in the end, he fell for you like a fool. I understand why he would. You shone so hard that it was hard not to follow you into the jaws of hell itself. If my Old Man could hear you, and I think he could. He would have not allowed you to say that. You were always his hero. That won’t change…but my Old Man wanted to save as well. He knows that he was not fit for such a role, but he tries despite having no qualities of a proper savior. That’s why when you say that even I disagree.”

Ciara didn’t respond. She stared at Nolan whose appearance resembled closely to what she remembered. He had many scars in that timeline, and all of them were because of his stalwart protection. An arrow that was meant for her. A spell that was supposed to take her life. He always mouths how he was a nobody. How he was nothing compared to the others who were far stronger than him.

“But you don’t know didn’t you?” Ciara whispered. “You are my hero as well. My guardian and my shield in whom I trust.”

She traveled her gaze on Einar. Her eyes were clouded with a haze of emotions. “Can you leave me to be with him alone?”

Einar opened and closed his mouth before nodding. He dragged the little girl with him who looked back. In her eyes reflecting the cloudy gaze of a storm in Ciara’s eyes. The girl tilted her head again and paced along with Einar.

Alone in the room with Nolan, Ciara placed herself on the bed and used her lap as a pillow for him. Caressing his forehead, she smiled, and two drops formed around the side of her eyes. The wind blew for a second, and then she said to Nolan with such a calm voice that would even silence a crowd of heroes.

“Nolan…I think understand her now. Someone asked me once.. Have you ever loved someone so much that you’d be willing to destroy the world?”

She pressed her forehead on his.

“I do.”