Soul Song ~ Book One

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The song was more beautiful and sorrowful than Dania had ever heard. The notes felt as though they were destroying her and creating her all at the same time. The song was being sung by a voice in darkness, rising and falling, but never quite falling as far as it had been the measure before. Each refrain grew stronger and stronger, its sorrow becoming more powerful. It was almost a wail when it reached its final note. The wailing note held, growing in intensity until Dania thought her head would explode.

Gasping loudly, Dania sat up in her bed, filling her lungs to capacity. She squinted at the bright light coming through the window before finally closing her eyes. How did I get here? And, why? Sudden memory pushed into her mind. Putting her hand to her neck, she realized she couldn't feel a knife wound. How long have I been here? Dropping her hand onto her swollen belly, she felt a stab of fear at the stillness.

A scratching sound distracted her from her thoughts. Looking around, she tried to pin the location. She crept from her bed, slipping across the floor more gracefully than she had since her center of gravity changed with pregnancy. The scratching noise was coming from a small hole in the wall near the floor. A mouse? I can hear a mouse? It must be a large mouse, indeed. She recoiled. Or, it's a rat. Mice aren't this loud. She sat back on her heels to think.

A faint cloud of light shimmered out of the corner of her eyes. As she turned to look, it expanded, becoming brighter and forming shapes. Before long, there were fifteen individual shapes materializing into the shapes of fifteen women. Seeing each face, she recognized one as the young Healer she had watched be murdered that dark night so many years ago. Each woman looked at Dania with piercing green eyes, full of love for her.

"We are the essences..." one form began.

"...of the spirits of the Healers lost," another finished. One after another, they spoke, finishing each other's thoughts.

"We have come..."

"...and we accept you..."

"...as our vessel."

"When the time comes..."

"...we will stand..."

"...with you, and lend..."

"...you strength..."

"...when you need it."

"You are our..."

"...sister in Magik..."

"...and we love..."

"...you."

They women sighed as they spoke, their forms shimmering as though not truly there. Love radiated from them, overwhelming her, pushing tears into her eyes. Unable to speak, she merely nodded her head, accepting their gift. Smiling, one by one they stepped forward, entering into Dania's body.

When the last entered her, she heard footsteps approaching and turned toward the door. Her throat fluttered when she saw the girl from town, the Chosen one named Mirabella, enter the room. Feeling suddenly weak, she sat down and took her first, really good look at the young woman. About fifteen or sixteen, with wild brown hair, she stood a little shorter than Dania. She imagined this youthful, cheery face laughed a lot. There was a mysteriousness about her that drew Dania to her. There was nothing out of the ordinary about her, excepting her eyes. They were so strange. Green fire sparked from them, but underneath the green, other colors flecked as though feeding the green fire.