Chapter 39. Release

he air smelled of burning pine resin, sweet and smoky.  He breathed it in until it gave form and color to the world around him.  Free of pain, light as a feather, he rose upward, spreading his arms until he alighted within a small dim chamber, its stained glass windows showering brilliant dapples of amethyst and ruby light upon him.  Slowly he gazed upward, the dome of the old shrine bedecked with images of dancing goddesses depicted in blue and green glazed tiles.

Kneeling now, he rested at the center of the circular floor, basking in the dazzle of jeweled glass that depicted the twin goddesses, Lyssa, smiling and lovely as sunshine poured through their gentle features.  He watched the doorway in anticipation for the sweetness of spring’s first blossoms were borne to him upon the sultry air.

Like an angel, soft and delicate, she came to him.  Her features were suffused with light and his throat clenched with tears for the beauty of her as she approached, framed by the rounded doorway.  Her gown and hair flowed behind her in an otherworldly wind, a messenger from across time.  He raised his right palm in greeting and a smile rippled upon her lips, her cheeks dimpling with joy.  Her right palm pressed to his and where once she had been a creature of light her flesh grew rosy with lifeblood once more after hundreds of years, a maiden sweet and beautiful.

And he worshipped her with his hands, Lyssa’s highest rite, as he drew her down before him, their knees brushing and his warmth becoming hers.  Together now at last he kissed her sweetly, his love for her complete and pure.

“Go free, Luitha,” he breathed, her sadness pouring away as she held him tenderly, “and I will follow.”

“I am weary, my Beloved,” she sighed into his ear, “but I bid you do not follow.  It is not your time.”

“Let me go with you,” he pleaded, “Across the Mists, let us meld into one.”

“Oh my love,” she breathed, holding him now so that his head fell against her throat, his tears dampening her breasts., “It is dark where your body dwells now, but how much brighter will the sun shine for you when your eyes are open to love and beauty?”

“No one will come for me,” he wept, “I’m dying and now you are leaving me.  My heart will break before I am finished.  Take me with you, Luitha, take me away with you.”

 “I cannot,” she wept, “The curse is broken and every moment I stay with you is a misery of weariness.  I long to sleep.  Let me go, Pendaran.”

“Take me with you,” he pleaded, the pain of her departure rending his heart, “Don’t leave me.”

The intricate platinum plates that had once encircled his throat loosened, falling in a shower of light from his neck as she looked on. The stone dropped into her outstretched hand, all life burned from its deep blue center.

“Take me,” he sobbed as she pressed it into his hand, a final token of her love and gratitude.

Smiling sadly, she faded, never to be seen again.