Chapter 193: The Answers I’ve Been Waiting For pt 2
>>Tala (Centuries Ago)
The silence in the room was heavy, broken only by the occasional creak of old wood and the far-off echoes of death.
I stood slowly, pushing away from the wall, and let my eyes sweep over the room, over the six people who still lived because of luck, or mercy, or maybe just delay.
"I know what you’re all thinking," I said, my voice low. "That we can’t survive this. That it’s only a matter of time before the soldiers find us. Before we’re hunted down like the others."
No one spoke. They didn’t need to. The fear was written on every face.
I turned my eyes to Salem, standing near the hearth with her arms crossed tight over her chest. Her eyes burned with worry, but she didn’t flinch.
"But if we die," I said softly, "if they kill us all, then the seal on the Abyss will break. Maybe not today. Maybe not for decades. But it will break."
Zanaka’s voice cut through the stillness, bitter and sharp. "What can we do, Tala? We’re cornered. We can’t run, not unless we can somehow hide the mark that betrays us."
She tapped her forehead where the golden sun still shimmered faintly beneath the skin. "This mark follows us everywhere."
I fell quiet, staring down at my hands, at the light still pulsing faintly under my skin. The others turned to me, waiting.
Then, from the shadows, a quiet voice broke the silence.
"You have something in mind, don’t you?"
I looked over.
It was Runuka.
She was staring at me, her eyes full of dread and love all at once. She held Leo tightly, his little face tucked beneath her chin, her body curled around him like armor.
I nodded slowly.
"The magic we’ve used," I began, my voice just above a whisper, "it’s ancient. Powerful. But it won’t work on us. Not anymore. Our magic is fully awakened, fully formed. There’s no way to hide it."
Then I looked at Leo.
Runuka’s arms tightened around him immediately. Her whole body tensed.
"No," she said, voice hard. "Don’t even finish that thought."
"This..." I swallowed, my heart aching even as I spoke the words. "This is the only way we can save him."
She shook her head, glaring at me. "You want to use what on him?"
"We seal his power," I said, voice steady despite the knot in my chest. "Use an ancient spell. A holy one. One that binds our light, our legacy, into him. A spell that will let our power accumulate... generation by generation."
Runuka’s lip trembled. She held Leo like he might vanish from her arms.
I took a shaky breath, eyes locked on my son. "And when the time is right... when the Abyss rises again and the old seal breaks..." My voice dropped to a whisper. "So will ours."
Everyone stared.
Runuka looked down at Leo, his tiny, peaceful face nestled against her, and I saw the tears building in her eyes.
"I don’t want to lose him," she whispered.
"You won’t," I said, stepping closer. "He’ll live. Hidden. Protected. And one day... he’ll be the spark that ends all of this."
She didn’t answer.
No one did.
Because deep down, we all knew it:
We were already ghosts.
And our son was the only hope.
***
>>Aelin (Present)
I quietly listened to his story.
"My baby, the only surviving one of our kin, was taken and his powers were sealed. We used everything we had in ourselves to use this spell."
"To seal the baby’s power?"
"Not just to seal, to reserve." He said, "We couldn’t do the final seal because we needed to gather our magic. And we knew we wouldn’t be able to achieve it when all of us are dead. The temporary seal of the abyss was bound to break at some point in future."
"So... The seal on the baby was to reserve power so that the magic accumulates?"
"Yes," He smiled, "So that it accumulates generation to generation. Till-" he pointed at my forehead, "The abyss comes to spread its darkness again."
My skin stood up
"So, over the years, the magic has accumulated in me?"
"Over the centuries." He smiled, "My sweet child. You may be one person, but you have enough power to seal the abyss for good."
My chest tightened
"But how did a baby survive?"
"I told you didn’t I? The townspeople came to help. Although many of them were slaughtered for helping us..." He looked down and let out a quiet sigh, "There was this one woman who was with us when he sealed baby Leo’s power."
"Once sealed, the symbol disappeared from Leo’s head and we handed him over to the woman and told her to run, to leave us in her home and protect Leo. We told her to go as far as she could go."
He smiled, "We gave her a book of ours, filled with spells we used and a binding scroll. Both things were designed to only be read by Solwyn blood, and we told her to keep the things safe as long as needed. Because in the future, the savior will need guidance." He looked at the sky, "We used the last bits of our power to make sure the savior would survive, live and come to learn all of this."
Goosebumps
My eyes went wide at his words.
"Who was that woman?" I asked softly
"Salem? She was someone special," He looked at me and then pointed at his eye, "She had purple eyes."
!!!
Seraphine’s ancestors!!!!
"Oh My!" I smiled, "I see,"
"You look happy about something," Tala said and I nodded
"Yes," I looked down at my hands, "Purple eyes," I smiled, "My husband is a descendant of Salem it seems."
He chuckled, his voice was quite warm, "Oh not only him." He looked at someone past me, "There is someone else too."
"Yes?" I turned around while still sitting to look at who he was referring to and saw a child standing by the pillar
A girl, golden hair, purple eyes.
"Yes," Tala said, "Your daughter is Salem’s descendant too." My skin stood up and I shot up from the chair
"My daughter?!" I looked at Tala and then at the girl again
"Yes," Tala stood up too, "Your daughter," He came and stood beside me, "Asha,"
