Legion's Arc

Chapter 22 of 22

The fire climbed the walls of the old church. Smoke poured across the ceiling. But Diana did not run. She stared at the two women who stood in the ash before her. The Mother, the witch who made the curse. The Daughter, who had died first inside it. Diana looked at the young woman in the gray dress. She saw her own face there, softened by years. Same dark hair. Same shape of the eyes. She touched the scar on her cheek. The Daughter watched her hand and gave a small, sad nod. "You see it now," the Mother said. Her voice was low and rough. "Our blood runs in you. It always has." Diana's throat tightened. "You made that thing. It killed hundreds. It killed my husband." "They took everything from us," the Mother said. She did not flinch. "They called us witches. They locked us in the dark. So we fought. We stood together, all of us, and we did not break." She stepped closer. Fire lit her pale eyes. "That is where the power lives, Diana. Not in one woman. In the ones who agree. When many minds want the same thing, the world bends." The Daughter reached out. Her fingers passed over Diana's arm like cold air. Diana shivered. "You have no idea what you carry," the Mother said. "You freed them. You ended what I began. Only our blood could do that." A hard smile crossed her face. "Your life will not be the same after tonight. You have opened something in yourself." Diana wanted to ask what she meant. But the two women were already thinning. Their edges blurred, like breath on glass. The Daughter smiled once more. She looked less sad now. "Wait," Diana said. The Mother shook her head. "We waited long enough to meet you. That is done." She faded until only her voice remained. "Learn what you are." Then they were gone. The church was empty. Only Diana stood among the burning pews. The fire roared louder. A beam cracked overhead and dropped sparks near her boots. Heat pressed on her face. She turned to leave. Something on the floor stopped her. The bark book lay open in a bed of flame. Fire licked all around it. But the rough bark covers did not burn. The pages did not blacken. The book sat in the middle of the fire, clean and whole. Diana knelt and picked it up. It was cool in her hands. Around her the flames ate the walls, but the book stayed untouched, as if the fire knew better than to take it. She held it to her chest and ran for the doors. Smoke chased her out into the night air. Behind her the church groaned and began to fall. Diana stood in the dark, coughing, alive. The curse was ended. But the book was still hers, and the witch's words stayed in her ears. She did not yet know what she was. But she was about to start a new adventure. An adventure she was excited about. And it was all about to start now. Diana walked away from the town, still guided by the dimming light of the church fire. She didn’t know what was ahead. But she knew who she was now. And nothing would ever be the same again.