Maeve observed the Forge created by her lord which resembled a shining dot suddenly wink out. Her awareness expanded over the area, and then her breath evened out when the space in front of her shuddered and the form of a young boy emerged as if molded from the darkness of the void.
The face of Rowan was pale, even his lips, it was as if he had been drained of his entire blood. The vibrancy and life force that usually accompanied him was gone, and what appeared before her resembled a walking corpse.
Did he fail his ascension or evolution as he called it? At such a time her training took over, and she needed to console him while researching alternative methods he might require for his healing and possibly recreating his Forge, the problem she had was that she had no idea of Rowan's present powers or how she could help.
Maeve hoped that failure had not crippled his drive, she had seen it happen too many times to count. Everyone had a breaking point, and it was no shame to find your own. It was only a sign that you needed to work harder.
If a million years of torture in the hands of a monster did not break his spirit and he returned stronger, Maeve believed that whatever came, Rowan would scale through.
'It did not matter what comes next,' she thought, 'the best thing I can do is to stand by his side.'
Maeve smiled, trying to present her love and belief in him, "My Lord, I…."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Rowan's eyes had been closed and he opened it and she looked into it and stopped talking.
It was as if time had frozen in place, her mouth hung open, and before long her eyes began to bleed, followed by every pore in her body and she turned into a statue made from blood.
Like glass her eyes cracked, this fracture began from there and spread all over her body until she was on the verge of shattering to pieces like a porcelain doll.
This damage entered her Divine Kingdom, and her subjects began to die. Unlike Maeve, they could not withstand whatever she had seen in those eyes. The Incarnation of Rowan inside her Divine Kingdom flashed brightly before exploding.
That explosion shattered her Divine Kingdom to pieces, and her God spark nearly broke apart.
Long wheezing sounds came from her throat as if she was trying to scream, but could not. In a short while her blood had filled the entire area surrounding the planet. Her blood filled the cloud and the planet that was once green turned red.
The World Consciousness was startled and as it was newly born, with no experience outside its creator Maeve, it began to cry in panic and desolation… Maeve was dying.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})The young boy cocked his head to the side, as though the death of Maeve was not registering with him, and then he unexpectedly collapsed. His body was like a leaf fallen from its branch and he crashed towards the planet below.
Maeve fell to her knees, grunting with pain, her head was ringing, and she felt as weak as she had ever been before. A single second or two and she would be dead.
Free from the void that she had seen inside her master's eyes, but her concern was not with her present condition, she had noticed that something was wrong with Rowan, he had fallen with no single strength in his body.
A fall from this height might not mean anything to him, but could she risk it? Without checking her injuries or attempting to heal herself, she threw herself after him.
"Rowan please…" Her descent left trails of blood behind her as she furiously increased her speed after the shrinking form of Rowan who had not recovered, her hands were outstretched in front of her as if beckoning him into her arms.
With a loud bang that could be heard all over the planet, Maeve reached the ground, creating a massive crater, mountains shattered and a dust storm was raised for miles.
It took seven hours for the land to finally settle and the dust clouds to dissipate revealing Maeve and in her arms was the body of Rowan.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})She gently shook him as if trying to put him to sleep, soft sounds were coming from her lips, and she was singing to him. His eyes were closed and he was burning with a fever that felt as if a dozen suns were inside his flesh. His body would shiver as if he was a phantom before settling again.
Maeve was familiar with this effect after watching it happen thousands of times in these seven hours. It signified that the shell that Rowan was inhabiting was dying.
Did he have enough to last him through this storm? Her mind was scattered, her Divine Kingdom had been destroyed and was slowly healing and so she had no means to help him. The only thing she could do was to slowly rock him and sing.
The eyes of the boy in her arms slowly opened after eight days, and he beheld her body covered with blood and the dreadful injuries she had suffered, shame and pain filled his eyes, "Why do you serve me?..." Rowan whispered.
Somehow Maeve knew that this question went far deeper than she could ever imagine, Rowan was not only questioning her, but also himself. Every training she had received would tell her to take it slow and reassure him about other things, keeping his mind away from what troubled him, but she did not do any of that. Maeve did not wait a single moment before she replied,
"At first It was just my duty, My Lord. One that I believe in with all my heart, after all this time, it has become my belief because My Lord, I have seen greatness. Who else can claim they had ever seen true greatness in all their lives? Everything you have gone through from the time of your birth to this moment did not break you, it only made you extraordinary. Until every star in creation dies, I shall serve you, My Lord, there is nowhere I would ever be."
The eyes of the boy that were filled with confusion slowly steadied as if he was in a darkness that he was struggling to fight his way out of. He slowly brought his hand up and cleaned the blood on her face, "I shall not fail you. I apologize for the pain that I caused you, for a long time I had to fight and I forgot to sheath my blade even when the battle was over."
Maeve felt tears gather at the edge of her eyes but she furiously blinked them away, there was a burden that she could see inside the eyes of Rowan that haunted her. There was something so frightening inside that gaze, she knew if she thought of it, even the memory of it might kill her.
He did not need to ever apologize, and she felt shame because she could not bear any of his load. Whatever he was dealing with was in a realm so far from her own, it was impossible for her to even comprehend it.
