Eterna and Nachiel lay in a stone structure,hidden from Sandalphon and her proud sister. The light had already faded, and only the moon watched over the two. Out in the forests, far across the way, a pack of wolves howled. Eterna swore she could hear the seething of some distant dragon, hunting for humans.
What was left of her arm burned, and she could see what looked like magma, pulsing under the layer of scales that concealed her wound. She heard the wyrm in her head, whispering.
Wish. The dragon's wish. Will it and you will be reborn. Her very soul felt strangled by this cruel force.
No, I will not wish. The voice was silent. This is a memento for my stupid mistakes. If I hadn't come here, Nachiel would still be…
Nachiel. The watcher was barely breathing now. Eterna stroked his dappled feathers. She could only offer her comfort in this dark time of his life.
"Eterna," Nachiel whispered.
"I'm here, Nachiel!" Her throat burned with sorrow.
"I was never friendly with you in the beginning, but, every moment spent together, hunting, fighting your sisters, it was thrilling."
"Nachiel…"
"I'll miss our memories," Nachiel mouthed, as he fell into sleep. Eterna felt warm tears welling up in her eyes.
"Nachiel, no! Don't leave me," she cried. It felt like the weight of her mistakes was crushing her heart.
It was morning, and before Nachiel breathed his last, a crystalline substance seemed to cover his entire body. His feathers turned to salt, and his fiery skin cooled to onyx black. Eterna felt a cracking within his body.
"I hear a sound," she whispered. As she stood, an opaque egg seemed to lie in the in the center of Nachiel's chest. He was frozen in crystals. She touched the egg, and its opaque interior faded to reveal a translucent fluid inside. Within, she saw what looked like a human child, but pale and like granite. Electricity crackled within the orb, forming primitive veins in the egg.
Is this reincarnation? Her chest was heavy from crying, and she wanted to reach into the orb and embrace the creature inside, no matter how bizarre it was.
She took her blade gently to the egg, and upon piercing it, the leathery skin gave, and the clear liquid inside drained to liquid metal upon meeting air. The child awoke, and its granite face began to take on more animalistic features. Feathers and wings like Nachiel sprouted from its body. The forming watcher's thoughts invaded Eterna's mind.
What's your name?
"Eterna," she said aloud. "I knew your previous incarnation."
...Was he strong?
"Very." The creature let the answer sit with him for a while.
What's my name?
"Nach… no, Nakiel. I'm assuming you keep the same form for your name?"
Yes, Ms. Eterna.
"No need for the formalities. Come, I will carry you to a cottage by the sea where we can recover. My sisters want me dead, so we must go."
Yeah! Let's go! Eterna took the grotesque angelic child in her good arm, and started traveling to the Land of Seas. This newborn, was her Nachiel. She wanted no harm to come to him. How long would it take before her quest could start anew?