Fallen Star (The Demon's Blade Book 4) by Steven Drake

Author:Steven Drake [Drake, Steven]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-12-19T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19: Old Dreams and New Hopes

Mirisa woke to the sensation of warm sunlight on her face, streaming in the window of her upstairs room, followed by a gentle throbbing in her temples. She groaned, stretched, then massaged her aching forehead. Too much drink and too much worry had taken their toll. She lay still for several minutes, allowing the events of the previous evening to sink in for a second time, numbing herself to the familiar fear, the knowledge that Zandrek had found her again.

She immediately wanted to go back to sleep. She had awakened from a good dream, one she had experienced so many times before, a dream of her father, her real father. When she closed her eyes, she could still see the butterfly struggling in the spider’s web. She remembered the intense desire to save the beautiful creature, with yellow wings framed in purple at the edges. Just as she reached out, her father had stopped her. She never saw his face, but somehow, she knew it was her father. His words echoed in her mind.

“If you save the butterfly, the spider will die.” His voice was calm, wise, reassuring. She stilled as her father pulled her hand back and held it.

“But why, father, why does the spider have to kill the butterfly?”

“The spider must kill in order to live. That is its nature, and its purpose. The spider only does what it was born to do. If it did not kill some of the butterflies, there would be too little food for them, and many would starve. It is not our place to decide which should die and which should live. Death is not always evil, nor is life always good. Remember that there is beauty and purpose in all things, even when it is not easy to see. Our mortal eyes cannot see all truth.”

She had relived the scene so many times that she knew it by heart. The dream always began with those same words, but sometimes it ended immediately after, and sometimes she watched the spider for hours in her sleep as it wrapped the butterfly in silk, then repaired its web and sat placidly in the center, it’s jet black surface smooth and reflective, as if covered with oil. Strange that something black could reflect light. Two bright orange bands ran from the spider’s two foremost legs, then across its back, crisscrossing in the middle, and then on to the two rearmost legs. In its own way, it possessed a beauty almost as stunning as the butterfly.

Miri reached for the charm that lay against her chest, a golden spider clutching a blue gemstone. It had hung from her neck since she had been found as a child, and she had kept it close ever since. The dream, and the pendant, were her only connection to a past she could not remember. Both of them had become a source of comfort, and she needed that comfort now.

After a few minutes waiting for the worst of her headache to pass, she willed herself out of bed and got dressed.

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