Bleeding Heart 59 Shattering In Pieces All Over Again

"Away from my companions?" Dawn motioned for the young lady to follow her.

Apparently, Mem saw no danger in this as she followed without hesitation into the woods.

"So…" Dawn was not sure exactly what the proper way of wording this was but she took a stab at it, "Your unicorn friend mentioned that you might be able to bring someone back to life?"

Dawn's heart beat fast from nervousness as she waited on an answer. What if it was not possible, what if it had been hyperbole?

"Not on my own of course," Mem's voice took on a gentle tone, "But I can make a pet.i.tion and my body is strong enough to serve as a conduit. Who was it you wanted brought back?"

"My husband." Dawn felt her hope rising. It sounded hopeful so far.

"Do you have his body, or even his ashes?"

With that question, Dawn felt her hope quickly douse as if with cold water. "No… I'm afraid we never recovered his body…"

Mem sighed, "Well that certainly makes it harder… but it might still be possible. Do you happen to have anything that belonged to him and that was highly special to him? I need something to use to connect to his spirit in order to try to bring him back or else it would be impossible…"

It only took Dawn a minute before she remembered that she did in fact have something that could very well be considered as something important to him. "His wedding ring? Is that good enough?"

"Perfect really. Especially if it was only ever his? Not a family heirloom or anything?"

"No. It was made for him especially." Hope was an amazing thing, able to revive so very quickly.

Mem held out her hand and Dawn handed the ring over with very little hesitation even though she had been attached to this ever since she had lost its owner.

Mem looked around and then walked over to a protruding mossy stone that came to her knees. She knelt down in front of it and placed the ring on top of it.

Dawn watched as the young girl seemed to go into a meditative state. Her lips moved silently, and as she sat there, once again one of her eyes seemed to leak out a white glow.

The gem hanging from her circlet also started glowing with a strong reddish tint. The wooden symbol at her neck lifted up, and a golden light suffused it.

Then, Mem lifted her head and looked at Dawn and shook her head as she returned to normal.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am." She stood up and held out the ring for her, "I cannot even find his spirit. I've never had this happen before, I'm afraid."

"What does it mean?" Dawn felt her hope entirely disappear. And her heart felt so cold. To have hope and then to have that hope dashed was far crueler than to not ever have had it.

"…It could mean several things. Perhaps his time was just up and Xi'eli had taken him home, though that should only be the case if he died a natural death and I a.s.sume by your age that it was not a natural death." Mem paused and then sighed, "Or it could mean that he was done with life himself and had no wish to be brought back, but if that was the case then I should have at least been able to brush against his spirit and commune a little. It could also mean that his spirit never left the world, which I think is most likely. Perhaps… there are magics that can confine people's souls into items and perhaps that was his fate?"

Listening to her, Dawn felt incredibly horrified. The first option that she had mentioned sounded the best. But, as she had said, Arrion had not died a natural death by any means. The thought of the second one stung. But the idea of his soul being trapped was utterly terrifying.

Arrion, she knew, in some ways looked forward to death. Oh, he wanted to live to a ripe old age, but he also did not fear death. Being a religious man, he saw death as the gateway to a better place. She had come to share his convictions, even if she was not quite as far along in belief as he was. Else he would not have married her if she had not at least come to have some belief in his deity.

"Are you sure? Is there nothing else it could mean?"

Mem sighed, and placed her hand on Dawn's shoulder, "I do not have all the knowledge in the world. And my mentor died fifteen years ago, so I can no longer ask her…"

The tears came spilling out of Dawn's eyes. This was worse than what she had feared. She would not even be able to see him when she followed him in death.