Chapter 7

Jeremiah shook her in his arms, but this time she didn’t move at all, he couldn’t tell if she was breathing, and she felt colder than before. The black veins began growing before his eyes, creeping up her neck and down her arms, slowly covering her further. He screamed her name and tried fruitlessly to wipe at these black marks to get them to stop, drops of his tears landing on her face as he held her closer.

Nymia had been the one excited to come and help him, she’d convinced Sara to come, and when she was hurt he promised she would be ok. Now he was losing someone else, and they were right there. She had died in his arms.

He couldn’t speak anymore, just letting out ragged sobs as he hugged her body tight to his, tears blurring his vision as he looked around. Trying to figure out what to do, what could he still do? But in his desperation he didn’t notice the wisps of silver energy and light from the fire beginning to close in. It started to swirl around the two of them like leaves caught in the wind. Swirling faster and fast until finally Jeremiah noticed them. He tried to stand with Nymia’s body, but found some force keeping him kneeling.

With nothing else to do, he simply called out, remembering what Sara called their goddess. “Sahra! Moon Goddess, please! Help her, bring her back, heal her please! I don’t need anything else, just bring her back, she didn’t deserve this. She just wanted to help me…”

As his vision was taken up almost entirely by the silver blurs of these moonlight shards spinning around him, he heard a soft voice. It came from all around him, and he knew instinctively who this was. The goddess heard him, she was replying to him, directly to him.

“And why should I? Who is she to you, less than a day and you seem so connected to both these young women who have risked and are risking so much. Tell me, Jeremiah, why should I return Nymia to life?”

Jeremiah found his voice catching in his throat for a moment, he had to convince this god to bring Nymia back? This morning he was dreading being on his own and now he was bargaining for the life of his new vampire friend. So much had happened so fast, and if so much wasn’t riding on him opening his mouth, the terror and shock rising in his chest at the fact that god just spoke to him might have overtaken him. But it couldn’t. He had to save Nymia, he had to save her.

“I suggest not waiting too long, Jeremiah, even with my power and in this place there is not much time to return her to life.”

He stuttered as he began speaking, words rushing out faster than he could think. “Because she didn’t deserve to die! What other reason could there be that matters!? She was helping me, she was fighting for me and her best friend. She’s funny and daring, Sara needs that and…I think I really need that and that means we need her! We need her back, I want her back! Please, don’t give whatever being gives those Shade Wolves power that satisfaction of taking Nym away from us!”

For a few moments there was silence. He looked around, still the silver light kept him from seeing clearly past him and Nymia. “Sahra?” He called out, not hearing a response he called out again “Sahra!?” His voice louder but his tone falling, had he failed to convince her?

“You want me, huh?” A weak voice replied from his arms. He looked down and saw Nymia’s eyes fluttering open, the red of her eyes shining with a few tears that didn’t quite yet fall. Jeremiah smiled wide and laughed, sobbing along with it, and hugging her closely.

Nymia let those few tears stream down her fast as she wrapped her arms around him, feeling strength return to her body. Hugging him tightly as she pressed her head into his shoulder. “Thank you, Jeremiah, thank you…”

He shook his head “I wish I could have saved you in the first place…if I could have fought with you then, this wouldn’t have happened.”

She furrowed her brow a bit and moved so she could look at his face, his eyes were close, and she could see just how much he had been crying. She could see the guilt written all over him. She put a hand on his cheek gently and wiped some of the tears away softly and spoke.

“Me getting hurt was not your fault, but me being here and alive? That you did do. You did save me. Jeremiah, open your eyes. Look at me…” She scooted a bit in his arms, getting closer to him.

When he finally listened and opened his eyes, she actually gasped just slightly. There was a glimmer in his eyes, a determination, she wasn’t sure if it had always been there but being so close, she could see it now, and she could feel the moisture of tears on her cheeks starting to be accompanied by the warm sensation of blushing.

It took Nymia a second more to speak again, but when she did it was soft and gentle. “You did save me. And I…thank you.” She leaned in close, and nearly had the thought to kiss him right here, but just pressed her forehead to his.

Jeremiah for a short moment felt a similar feeling pulse through him as when Sara and he nearly leaned into each other to kiss, this feeling of elation and anxiety, excited for the possibility and confused as to how he felt about how fast it was. But when he felt her forehead on it he smiled a little and sighed, leaned against her a bit. “Well, you saved me too, so it’s only fair right?” He joked.

She laughed and squeezed him a little “Yeah, we’re even now, I guess. So…” She cleared her throat and tried to stand up, her legs a bit shaky but Jeremiah helped steady her as he stood with her. “What are we supposed to do? I can barely see past this silver stuff flying around us.”

Jeremiah nodded and scratched the back of his head “I’m not really sure but we need to hurry up, Sara is still holding those monsters off back there and we need to help her, and it’d be nice if I could have my powers. Though I did say I uh…I didn’t need anything else from Sahra, just you back.”

She looked away and nibbled nervously on her bottom lip “Well let’s hope she didn’t take you seriously huh?” She said, trying to distract herself from how sweet that is, and from how much she loved it.

“Yeah let’s hope so.” He said with a sighed and nervous chuckle. He thought for a moment about the only evidence of his power that he has so far, the fight where Nymia was hurt. The wires of energy that stopped the attack from the Shade. They were bright and now that he thought back they weren’t white. They were shining silver. He took a deep breath and reached out towards the swirl of light.

Nymia looked over at him and raised an eyebrow, stepping closer out of concern “What are you doing? Be careful we don’t know what touching that will do…”

He nods “No we don’t, but I have an idea.” Jeremiah quickly reached his hand out and made to grab part of the silver swirl, and the moment he did, each swirling ribbon of silver stopped in its track, so they were standing in this orb-like pattern of stretch bands of silver light before suddenly they expanded and covered the room. They began showing them visions of other people.

They would see visions of a Shifter changing into a powerfully built silver wolf, standing atop a grand hill overlooking a beautiful valley village. They would see a Vampire performing blood magic like when Nymia created the dart, but as the blood formed into weapons it lost its red color and shined almost like liquid mercury. A monster that looked quite human at first glance until you saw the silver sheen of his skin and eyes, like a man sculpted from solid silver. A nature spirit surrounded by silver flame and vines of moonlight stood next.

Then, the last one, and perhaps most surprising, was a human. A human with a slight resemblance to Jeremiah, wielding magic. Spells rippled out of her hands casting a moonlit glow around her as it did.

Each of their shapes froze after a few moments, and then from each of them, spiraling and sprawling lines began forming. Showing nearly endless branches and connections until eventually one by one they started tying together, closer and closer until just above Jeremiah they all converged.

He knew in that moment the secret of his blood. He was the product of ancient, hidden bloodlines converging and mixing over centuries. Not just a hybrid, but a little bit of all of them. He looked at his hands and saw the lines on his palms glowing gently, he closed them and looked up towards the full moon and nodded.

Nymia watched in awe and amazement, she could guess what those lines were, they were family trees. She knew what it was telling him, and she just looked on at him in wonder.

“Let’s go save Sara.” He declared with a self-assured smirk on his face as he reached out and grabbed Nymia’s hand, she held his hand back tightly and nodded, her familiar excited smile returned to her lips. He pulled her towards the exit with him, the screen of silver light breaking as they passed through it, and into the woods to save their friend.