“Welcome back, dear child.” The goddess’s words reverberated through my skull. “I’m glad your conviction chose my guidance, even under expansive pressure.”

  This blindness was far different than my powers before. Before I could sense micro-changes in the atmosphere around me and absorb small amounts of ambient mana.

  This?

  This was completely different.

  It must have been a two mile radius of the world I could feel, every flutter of tree branches, the quality of soil, the life force of a blade of grass, everything.

  How?

  “What the fuck happened Nythris?”

  That was direct, but I needed answers this time.

  I could feel her body move, her aura shift, her mana trail change.

  “Straightforward, I like that about you Cade.” She began, and she approached me. “You were not chosen for some divine reason Cade. You were a nobody, destined to be a nobody. Reading my book set you on this path, changing your destiny forever.”

  Her words shot through me like arrows.

  “What are you talking about?”

  She raised her hands to my face to remove the blindfold.

  “Cade, I am the forbidden Goddess of the Hunt. I come from an era no other god can claim they originate from.”

  Yeah once again, that didn’t clarify shit.

  “You taking my book all those years ago made me interested in you. I watched through the astral plane and provided you the context clues you needed to understand the writing of my booklet. You kept reading, knowing it was illegal.”

  Her eyes pierced my scarred eyes. I couldn’t see it, but I absolutely felt her gaze.

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  “You set yourself on this path and for the first time in my entire existence my divine blessing did not kill the person.”

  This could’ve killed me?

  She continued. Still examining my scars.

  “The booklet was a test. If you kept reading it’d bring you up to speed with what my blessing offers so you don’t overwhelm your senses and kill yourself from an overload.”

  I jolted. “What?”

  She chuckled. “Relax. I knew my blessing wouldn’t kill you. If you had your sight it very well might have. Fortunately, even with just one of your senses intact my blessing still would have worked, thus is the power of the primal goddess.”

  Why is every conversation with this woman annoying?

  “Look, Cade. I know you’re upset but I really did do all I was able to do. My power is cut greatly due to something that happened three thousand years ago. I can’t quite tell you what yet, because we’re short on time. But just know I am always with you Cade.”

  That both made things better, and worse simultaneously.

  “Oh, and by the way. I’m sorry about your hair change, it seems instead of dodging those attacks or asking your shield friend to block the attack with shield magic, nerve damage ran up your arm and into your head fading your hair from black to white.”

  Great, another thing that’s changed. Wonderful.

  “Very well, Nythris. When will we meet again?”

  Before I got an answer I was shook awake.

  The person in front of me, I could feel everything about them.

  “Jerek?” I said softly.

  He smiled, the slight tensing of his muscles in his face shifted in warmth of the atmosphere in only a way a smile could.

  “You’re not dead yet, jackass.”

  I laughed. “We’ll have to see about that—more accurately, you’ll have to see about that.”

  He laughed but I knew a lot was on his mind.

  “It’ll be alright man.” I shifted to the edge of the bed and stood up.

  Clearly he was hesitant about my blindness.

  The blindfold was still on my head, implying the dream world was just a dream world.

  After catching my bearings and discussing the situation things were clear.

  We were forted down in a Cinderheart forge. Fenrick knew we were here but there wasn’t much good news. My parents were being held on trial, and the truth about everything likely would surface.

  Peace is not an option.

  Jerek also confirmed my changed appearance, he said it made me look cooler but I had no idea what I looked like.

  No sign of any Grand Marshals tailing us.

  But most importantly:

  “Where’s Mariel, Jerek?”

  He sighed and looked down at the floor.

  “She didn’t make it, Cade. Or at least it didn’t look good for her last I checked. Your mother had to reconstruct her bones, bone marrow, blood, and a few organs and shortly after you collapsed the place erupted in flames and more soldiers flowed in.”

  A mixture of blood and tears dripped into the blindfold.

  “So there’s a chance she—” I caught myself. There’s no point holding hope. Hope is a worthless thing here in this forsaken empire. “No, I understand.”

  As the world set in around me, feeling people walk on the grounds above the basement forge, feeling people’s vocal chords shift in conversation, the faint attraction people had for one another it sickened me that I could never have that again.

  But then it dawned on me.

  This isn’t about me.

  It never was.

  “Jerek.”

  His head jolted to me. “What?”

  “It’s time for this to mean something.”