Chapter 38 : The Goddess
*Vanessa*
I’m in utter disbelief even as my eyes take her in.
She looks like the marble carving come to life. Her skin is warm and her hair is silver and floor-length, brushing against her ankles. Her eyes are silver too, without pupils, darkly lined and accented sidelong with markings I can’t recognize. She reminds me of Elder Luka in her youthful agelessness, features graceful and perfect. But she transcends even the Elder’s ethereal nature.
The image of her flickers like a mirage transposed over the marble statue. The sight is both frightening and beyond our realm of beauty.
But it’s the benevolent look on her face that causes a tear to roll down my cheek, the softness in her powerful voice that causes indescribable emotion to well up inside me.
“Why do you weep, Vanessa?” she asks again, sounding both authoritative and comforting.
I wipe at my cheek, scrambling until I’m on my knees so I can bow before her.