Chapter 138 : Witnesses
The smoke had thinned. Ash floated like snow in the dawn light, settling over fractured stone and scorched moss. Somewhere beneath the ruin of the ancient thrones, the power that once bound Isla now lay broken, dormant, but not dead.
Damian moved beside her like a shadow, silent and alert, but Isla was observing all that was coming. That is when she heard them again.
“ISLA!”
That voice… it was raw, angry and trembling. Brienne.
She broke into a run. Isla had seen them at a distance and could perfectly differentiate each of them… however they were coming closer and closer and she could now begin to discern tired yet determined expressions on their faces.
The weight of her exhaustion slowed her, but her body pushed forward, driven by something deeper within her. That fire that represented her so clearly and that is when she saw them all, like it was the first time she was seeing them in a clear light.
Brienne burst from the tree line first, her braid half undone, a blade still in her hand, dirt smudged across her cheek. Her eyes landed on Isla and her knees nearly gave out.
“You’re…” she choked. “You, idiot!”
Isla barely had time to brace before Brienne crashed into her, arms tight, voice muffled against her shoulder. “I thought you died. I saw how you both dissapeared in a flash. I saw you fall and all this smoke appeared accompanied by a thunder. The earth wouldn’t stop shaking.”
“I didn’t fall,” Isla whispered, hugging her just as fiercely. “I flew.”
A second later, Leo arrived, his arm in a sling, his chest heaving with every breath. Behind him, Alaine moved like lightning, scanning Isla from head to toe, her hand paused on Isla’s stomach, checking her niece. She made sure through her empathy that the baby was well. Next, she checked up in her brother.
“You’re bleeding,” Alaine said.
“It’s not mine… I’m not too sure who’s it is,” Isla replied.
Marcus, Rohen and Lucia stepped forward and arrived, still keeping their vigilant stances. Not trusting anyone nor anything. Vincent appeared last, his golden eyes unusually dark, his jaw set in grim determination.
“We tried to reach you. The ground split, light tore through everything…” Leo began, running a hand through his hair. “And then... after a while there was absolute silence.”
“Since the thrones are gone,” Isla said. “We don’t have much time. They must of felt it the same way we did. The rupture and change.”
That silenced them.
Brienne pulled back, blinking. “What do you mean?”
“Isla turned to face them all. Her people. Her pieces. The ones fate had pulled from bloodlines and prophecy and pain, and still, they stood by her side. It was like pieces of the puzzle coming together.”
“We need to call the others,” she said. “Rohen’s outposts. The rogue cells in the south. The packs that refused to bend the knee.”
“Some won’t come,” Vincent warned. “Some still believe the Elders are eternal.They don’t understand what is coming for them… Maedor, the Sombrosi … Cassian”.
“Then let them stay chained,” Isla said. “We don’t need all of them. Just the ones who remember who we are.”
Leo crouched near a patch of scorched earth, running his fingers through it. “What do we tell them? That a girl born of forgotten blood woke the Gate and shattered the stars?”
Isla’s mouth twitched. “Tell them that the future is no longer inherited. It’s earned.”
Brienne exhaled, her smile crooked despite the tears in her eyes. “You sound like someone I’d follow into hell.”
“You already did,” Isla replied. “And you pulled me back.” Isla looked directly at Vincent, making sure to acknowledge that he will suffer from the consequences of what he had done to all of them but especially to Brienne. She certainly didn’t trust him. But they needed his skills and knowledge of their enemy. Brienne seemed to be clinging on to her sanity for dear life. She avoided looking at Vincent and kept herself at a fair distance. She also noticed how he gravitated around her… that was weird… or not?
Isla was busy in her own thoughts when Damian’s hand found hers. She squeezed it once, silent gratitude, and turned to face the fractured horizon. Behind them, the Gate’s light faded into a soft, pulsing glow. It seemed it was no longer a wound and no longer a threat. Now, it simply waited.
Alaine spoke first, her voice low. “What now?”
Isla looked at each of them, Brienne with her bruised loyalty, Leo with his silent questions, Vincent with his ancient blood and past betrayal, Alaine with her fierce gaze, Marcus with his warrior strength, Rohen with his silent knowing gaze, Lucia with her eternal wisdom and Damian… with her heart.
“Now,” Isla said, “we gather what’s left and we build what comes next. We will determine the world we choose to live. Tyranny and power struggles have now met their end. It is the dawn of a new era and you are all witnesses to this moment.”