Ayden's mind swam through a river of dark and twisted dreams. Faces of his friends, bloodied and stiff, stared back at him with wide, vacant eyes. Body parts flung around him as he cut his way through a forest of adversaries, only to be stopped by a large, black shadow. But then, the music started. That beautiful, magical note--Nya's voice--caressed his mind. The gruesome images faded, replaced with beauty and light.
Ayden groaned and wobbled his head back and forth. Slowly he opened his eyes and the music echoed away like a dream as the nightmare of reality rushed him. His body was reluctant to move, his muscles were numb with utter fatigue. He drifted in and out of consciousness several times, not certain how long he slept or how long he was awake. Time seemed to have stopped. But the earth, at least, was still again.
Although he knew he was physically alive, inside Ayden felt dead. All of his friends, the people he loved, were dead.
Nya!
And, even if Freya had been spared, he could never face her knowing he'd caused the deaths of so many loved ones. Grief overwhelmed him. He wanted to return to his dark dreams, to escape from his dark reality, but his eyes seemed to be stuck open.
Thirst gripped Ayden's throat, and he was seized with a coughing fit. He turned his head toward the Glass Lake, but didn't move. He sobbed, allowing what little tears he had to make pathways through the dirt and blood on his face. Their saltiness stung the cuts and he welcomed the pain. If he'd had the strength, he would've found his dragon blade and thrust it into his own heart, simply to be freed from the anguish ripping through his body.
A movement on the lake caught Ayden's eye. He stilled and focused on a white--something--flowing across the surface as if it were skating smoothly across ice. It was no more than a white blob at the far end of the lake, but took form as it glided toward him. Maybe it's an angel. Maybe I am dead.
As the blob drew closer, Ayden could make out the bobbing heads and flying manes of white horses as they raced across the top of the lake. The water didn't stir, no ripples were made, but a swirling mist curled around the horses' legs as their hooves glided over the mirrored lake. The sound of plucking harp strings reached Ayden's ears and he watched the horses change direction.
Four rows of silver strings trailed from each side of the six horses' mouths and into the hands of a woman riding a crystal sleigh. The blindingly white horses snorted and tossed their heads as the woman plucked the strings, releasing a different tune. This time the horses thundered close to Ayden and stopped short, snorting and tossing their manes as if being still was intolerable for them. A few of the horses pawed at the stony ground with their silver hooves, causing sparks to flare beneath them. The woman, whose dress looked like ocean colored ice splayed over a window, plucked the strings again, releasing a calming chord that stilled the horses.
The woman laid the silky silver strings across the bow of the sleigh and stood. She alighted gracefully from her crystal vehicle and glided to where Ayden lay, mesmerized and absolutely convinced he was seeing an angel.
The woman's fair face was accented by tendrils of curly white hair; the rest of her hair was swept up in a mass at the top of her head, giving the illusion of a halo. Eyes as deep and blue as the sapphire sky behind her sparkled down at Ayden. A soft glow surrounded her body as she smiled.
"Who are you?" Ayden asked, his dry voice barely a whisper.
"One whom you have seen before, though not with gladness at my last appearance, I think," she said with a familiar voice.
"You're the enchantress?"
She nodded and smiled tenderly at Ayden. "My name is Sanari."
He scowled and said, "You look different. Your eyes, they're?"
"They are no longer bound, Ayden. Nor am I. You have released them, just as you have released so much by defeating Degus. I am no longer a spirit detached from my body. I exist now as I was meant to exist."
Ayden wasn't sure what to feel. He didn't want to think about his "victory" that felt nothing like a victory. He turned his eyes away from the enchantress, feeling angry and ashamed.
"What troubles you, Ayden Greenwillow? You have conquered the unconquerable. You have saved that which you set out to save."
"What does it matter? Everyone I love is gone. Nya," his voice broke and he closed his eyes, unable to continue.
Ayden turned his head and opened his eyes, hoping for some sort of comfort. Instead, Sanari was smiling widely, as if she knew some amusing secret. Ayden cursed under his breath. "Why do you keep smiling at me?" he shouted as well as he could with a raspy voice. "Don't you care that I've lost everything? I've lost?her?"
"Ayden," Sanari answered in an annoyingly calm voice, "Take the siren's hand. Hold her, let her know the love you feel for her."
Ayden couldn't bare seeing Nya's lifeless body. The very thought ripped through him like a serrated blade. He rolled his head back and forth. "Don't ask me to do that. I can't. I'm too weak to even get to where she fell. Just leave me alone!"
The enchantress chuckled, adding weight to Ayden's already darkened soul. "Silly boy, do you not realize that she is nearly touching you already?"
Ayden stopped feeling briefly. "What do you mean?"
"Look behind you."
Still unwilling to move, Ayden tilted his chin toward the sky and looked back. He gasped as he realized that the blast had thrown him so far that Nya's hair was nearly touching his. Their bodies were making an almost perfect line.
Ayden's bruised and battered body screamed at him to lie still, but his heart overruled, and he rolled over. He crawled on his hands and knees, approaching Nya's body. Her face was pale and peaceful, as if she were sleeping. Endia rested next to Nya with her head curled against her body as she lay motionless against her master's shoulder.
Ayden wasn't sure how he could keep producing so many tears when he was so spent, but they cascaded down his cheeks as he reached with a trembling hand and gently took the siren's. Without realizing that he was speaking aloud, Ayden sputtered, "It was the curse. She couldn't sing, or she'd die. She knew that. But she sang. Her voice was the note the prophesy spoke about--not the sword. She died saving my life. She died saving Shae Vale."
A soft hand touched Ayden's shoulder, but he felt nothing. Nothing existed but the form of the siren lying before him. But the enchantress' voice cut through Ayden's mind as she spoke, "Curses are often misinterpreted, Ayden. Yes, the siren was cursed, but Death has not taken her."
Ayden jerked his attention toward Sanari. "Her sacrifice would have saved her, even if the curse was deadly. No curse, not even the curse of death, can overpower the love that accompanies sacrifice. And your own sacrifice, combined with hers, created a powerful shield."
He stared at the enchantress, not wanting to believe her words, not daring to hope that what she spoke was true. A cooing sound drew his attention back to Nya. Endia had lifted her head and was cooing softly into her master's ear. Astonished, Ayden watched Nya's body lifted from the ground like a giant invisible hand lifted a rag doll. Endia flapped her wings furiously, now singing loudly, and flew directly in front of Nya. The bird's wings and Nya's arms stretched out to their sides as Nya's head snapped forward. The bird's song grew more urgent, and Ayden shouted with surprise as Endia suddenly melded with her master, sending shocking waves of color through Nya's body and clothes. Endia's rainbow colored feathers transformed into Nya's dress and the siren's now flawless skin shone like polished gold.
Slowly the brightness faded and Nya's body descended. Ayden reached out just in time to catch her as she suddenly crumpled to the ground. Ayden held his breath as he gazed at Nya's face. He exhaled slowly, and then whispered, "Nya? Son vule sen?"
She didn't move. Ayden glanced up at the enchantress who nodded. "This is your fairy tale, after all," she said.
Ayden's stomach tickled as he looked back at Nya. She's so beautiful, so peaceful. Lowering his face to hers, he kissed her tenderly on the lip
s. The same prickling sensation that he'd felt with the Sword of Songs washed through his body, and he felt magical energy draw out of him and pour into the siren.
Reluctantly, he drew away, but only by a hair so that he could feel Nya's beautiful, sweet breath on his face. His heart hammered against his chest as she fluttered her eyelids and slowly drew them open, unveiling the most amazing lavender eyes.
Ayden laughed as more tears rolled down his cheeks. Freya's words from what seemed like ages past sounded softly in his mind. "Sometimes, you have to sacrifice something precious in order to gain an even greater prize." Her words suddenly made a lot more sense.
Nya smiled, touching Ayden's wet face with her fingertips. "E' vule sen, Ayden." Then in nearly clear English, "Now, I am well!"
Chapter Forty-Nine
Healing