This prompted a huge Tale of the Navel: The Shadow Forest about a young Leiwell, involving a little of the backstory of Dyvian, Maggie, and himself.
This is the fourth part...
Magdalena gazed at him with angry eyes, full black pupils surrounded by rings which might once have been hazel. Right now they were golden-green, luminous in their fury and hope.
Leiwell didn’t look away, he couldn’t look away. “Don’t blame anyone for your own regrets.”
Magdalena recoiled at this, gazing at that coin. “Well, well, Another acolyte steps forward, ready to whisper your words, Vampyre.”
“I’m no more a vampyre than you are, lady.” His master moved forward to lay a hand upon Leiwell’s shoulder. “This little shadow of Seraphix says nothing more than the truth as you well know.”
Magdalena glanced at Leiwell, at the smooth, checked tile under her feet, anywhere but at the coin. The floor became more real and solid the more she looked at it, as did the pillars in the background, the long cobwebs handing from the ceiling, hiding what might have once been a mural.
“Assuming what you say is true.” Magdalena spoke to those tiles, lifting her head in a slow, cautious movement. “Can you bring my sister back to me?”
“She’ll be altered, not quite what you remember, but yes. I can bring her back to you.” His master took a sharp, hissing breath, sniffing the air. “If you take the talisman my Leiwell has offered you.”
Magdalena cast a weary, reluctant gaze at the coin. She reached out for Leiwell’s hand.
He felt warm, rough fingers brush his skin, very like Map’s, hardened with a lifetime of work, withdrawing the small, metal object which had manifested.
This wasn’t all she was taking. His master had given this woman his name without asking. Leiwell wondered why he’d done such a thing.
Magdalena backed up a step, away from the boy and his master, holding the coin. “How is this thing going to help me?”
“That thing can become a symbol of your contract with the God Seraphix.” His master smiled, showing teeth as white as bleached bone. “Wish and pray to Them. The stronger your faith is, the stronger They will become.” A single, pale hand, utterly uncallused gestured to the coin. “Strong enough to bring back your sister.”
“The God Seraphix?” The woman backed up a step, making a warding gesture at her words. “I want nothing to do with that creature. It’s why my sister is dead!”
“Seraphix can be whatever you believe Them to be.” His master folded his hands and gazed back at Magdalena. “Whether They’re just a creature or your benefactor is up to you.”
“You’re saying if I offer Seraphix faith, it’ll be on my side?” Magdalena let out a sharp, derisive laugh, tossing her head. “I don’t believe it!”
“What you believe is up to you.” His master lifted a finger and wagged it in a slow, languid gesture. “The more faith you offer this godling, the more powerful a god it will grow up to.”
“Powerful enough to bring my sister back.” Magdalena let out a ragged, shuddering breath and gazed down at the metal disc in her palm. “Worship and prayer are the coin I offer in return for a miracle.”
“Exactly.” His master bowed his head and shut his eyes. “You are the one who decides if Seraphix is strong enough to bring back your sister or not.”
Magdalena examined the coin in her hand, turning it over, examining the round face on its surface. The pensive expression upon her lips and nose intensified the resemblance between the profile and herself.
Leiwell felt a twinge of sympathy. What would he do, if he lost Danyel and Tayel? The very notion gave the air around them a crimson tinge as much as fear.
He wiped his forehead, focusing on the sweat upon his brown. Such little details grounded him, kept him solid.
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