The frigid night air swooshed around the brightly lit tower, a crisp stillness hung in the air, shrouding the world in a blanket of tranquility. Moonlight glistened on the frost-kissed tower which belonged to the most powerful spirit being in the realm. Phemorah gazed at the horizon, accepting her fate as the only solution to her predicament, aware of the anguished look on her loyal servant's face.
"Is there no other solution than that, Lady Mine?" Phorus asked sadly, wishing fervently his mistress could think of another way of ending the curse than the horrible method she just mentioned. When his mistress started using her abilities to help the living realm, he had thought her powers were blessing since she could use it to aid mankind until they started taking a toll on her.
His kind mistress, Phemerah belonged to the Spirit realm. She had been his mistress from time immemorial, unlike other spirit beings with only one ability, like his mistress's close friends – the Moon goddess and the Vampire King- Phemerah was blessed with multiple abilities, except that she didn't have a kingdom of her own to rule over, perhaps that could have occupied her time and prevent her from interfering with other realms as much. The moon goddess is the queen of the wolves and Lycans with the ability to tame them while the sun king rules over the vampires.
Phemorah possessed the most power amongst them. Her hands healed whatever she touched, her feet were blessed with the fastest speed one can think of, even the vampires were not as fast as she was. She could manipulate her blood, be it poison as a weapon or food for the vampire. Her nails could extend to claws, sharper than a needle; its mere touch could prickle the thickest of skin.
Phorus thought not of her stubborn streak which prevented her from overlooking the littlest act of injustice in the living realm. He had lost count of the number of times Phemerah had been warned to stay away from meddling with matters in the living realm.
"dear loyal subject of mine, fret not" Phemerah turned to face Phorus, seeing the worried lines on his forehead, "I know a time will come when these abilities will be the end of me" her soft voice was devoid of regret nor sadness, rather, of acceptance and submission. He knew that without her abilities, she existence would only be for a limited time.
Phorus spoke out of anger, "my lady, pardon my rudeness but this is not a blessing but a curse."' He wished he had been more tenacious in discouraging his mistress from using her abilities. Who knew having so much power could eventually lead to her fading away? Of what use is a power which cannot be used to help others? Resigned to the fact that she would pay him no heed, Phorus asked his mistress one more time, hoping his wish could be granted and his mistress would welcome any other remedy aside from the horrible one which will eventually make her frail.
Phemerah smiled, she understood quite well how loyal Phorus was and his reluctance in following her order, but what needed to be done, had to be done on time and at the right time. She knew possessing such amount of power always comes with a price and it is usually not an attractive one.
This had been the reason she didn't heed the warning of the elders about desisting from the living realm matters, using the short amount of time she could use to rid the world of any unfairness, as much as she could. If she transferred all her abilities to another, it could kill them, remembering how she had attempted gifting all to a human once and he almost died.
Phemerah had used her powers in helping the oppressed win wars they couldn't have won on their own, settling disputes and reclaiming lands and properties, freeing slaves and punishing bad rulers. So many a time, she had thought of what to do until she finally decided to share her powers among the different species in the living realm, at least, it might help them fight what might come later in future.
"Lady mine, how may I be of help?" Phorus asked with lack of enthusiasm, his hand hung low on his neck in resignation, feeling dejected and helpless. He knew deep down she needed to shed her powers, the constant pain had become unbearable even though it only made little difference without it, since her lack of power will end in being frail till she fades away eventually.
"do not feel much despair Phorus, it is for a greater good. Blessing the vampires with the ability to sprint faster than before will make them superior, they will be faster than the blink of an eyes."
Phorus raised his head out of curiosity, "does that mean they will be so fast that they can disappear right in front of our eyes?"
His mistress nodded, "imagine how difficult it will be for their foes to catch them not to talk of staking them."
"My claws will be gifted to the wolves, since they have one already but not that sharp, how wonderful would it be to have the sharpest claw? To be able to penetrate into anything, their enemy won't stand a chance. My healing abilities will go to the witches, concocting potion with their healing hands will make them valuable, other species will take them as allies than foes."
A long paused followed, Phorus asked the most important question of all. "Lady mine, you have not mentioned who will get the most important one, out of all your abilities, the one which other abilities bow down to, the one which lords over the rest, who will you bless that with?"
Phemerah walked towards the edge of the window, she looked at the farthest distance, smiling when she saw how tiny the form of her friends were due to the great distance between them as they headed towards her.
The sudden swoosh of gown baring against the wind knocked Phorus off his feet, he wasn't too surprise because that had been the way the Moon goddess announces her presence whenever she is angry, the stealthy feet which followed belonged to the Sun King, his calm demeanor should not be mistaken for a gentleman act, he was just as angry as the Moon goddess.
"What did I just hear from Vamprith about you distributing your powers?" Wilmar stalked forward towards Phemerah in anger.
With his usual calm voice, Vamprith spoke, "I thought we agreed to accept her wishes"
"I know but there is no harm in trying to see if I can dissuade her, oh Phemerah! if only you had listened to me about meddling in their affair, you are just too stubborn for your own good" she threw her hands helplessly in the air. Phorus used that as his cue to leave, remembering the other time the Moon goddess's outburst almost cost him his arm, he bowed while retreating backward till he got to the hall outside the room.
"Believe me, I wish I could turn a blind eye to how callous they are but I couldn't. I can't stand a tyrant and you know it." She swept her gown off the floor as she gestured, "besides, it was bound to happen."
"Oh my poor friend with the purest of soul!" Wilmer lamented.
The vampire god who had been listening carefully as Phemerah explained everything in details spoke up, "so you'll make the wolves stronger by making their claws sharper? Not bad" he shrugged.
"As you'll make the vampires more superior by blessing their feet" the Moon goddess added and Phemerah nodded, "and I'll give the witches my healing abilities."
Both god and goddess exchanged looks before glancing at their friend, eager to know who will be blessed with her most powerful ability which resided at the top part of her anatomy - her eyes.
The most powerful part of Phemerah's body was her eyes, unlike the common eyes of the spirit which was the same as the normal human eyes that comes with different common colors, Phemerah's iris is lavender, which usually turns purple when in use, the shade of her eyes largely rested on the intensity of her emotion. They turned deep purple when a high surge of power runs through her body or the lightest shade of lavender when her emotion is normal. Her eyes have the ability to control other parts of her body. She had the ability to see someone's past and on rare occasion their future. If she concentrated well enough, she could easily see whatever she wanted to see through others' eyes, irrespective of the creature.
Phemerah chuckled, seeing how her friends were dying of curiosity on the next bearer of her eyes, "I know you're curious to know who will get my eyes, unfortunately I have no say in that, they have a mind of their own, I don't get to choose whose socket they reside, they simply look for who they deem fit and worthy to control them."
The Moon goddess moved closer to her friend, drawing her in for a long embrace, with an unspoken message of trust, love and respect which they had shared over the centuries, they stood in silent for a while, hugging until a gentle pat was placed on both shoulders by Vamprith.
Seeing how frail and pale skinned her friend was, she knew Phemerah needed to rid herself of her abilities before it consumed her, and it needed to be done on time, judging by how hollowed her cheeks had become.
"All right, when do you want to shed your powers?"
With finality, she replied "tonight, when the moon is full."
"How long will you be unconscious?" Asked the sun king
"Till the sun comes up thrice, high and bright in the sky."
With the light ray of sun appearing slowly in the sky on the third day, two pairs of eyes looked at their friend, lying in her bedchamber, the worried lines on her forehead was slowly disappearing as her powers ebbed away. The once pale skin was fast becoming normal and strong, unfortunately, it won't last long.
"She'll come around soon" while gazing at the sun, Wilmer spoke up, loud enough to assure Phorus who had been lurking at his mistress' door all night long.
King Vamprith calmness that was almost tainted with worry for his dear friend remained as it was, the only thing that showed he was worried was the constant glances he threw at Phemerah's form throughout the night, he barely tore his eyes away from her. Leaving the Moon goddess to do the fawning; she had been mopping all over the room with a constant sigh.
Few hours later when the sun was at its peak, true to Phemerah's word, her eyes fluttered open.
"Oh thank the spirit god," Wilmar jumped from where she had been sitting not quite long to put her feet up, she quickly moved to the bed and offered her a glass of water, "are you all right, dear?
Vamprith moved closer and brushed her locks aside, patting her carefully, "I'm fine." She replied with a raspy voice.
"Is everything okay?" They asked, one doesn't need to ask about her power which has clearly left her body, the radiant skin is not the only give away but also the change in the color of her eyes, all trace of purple or lavender is gone, replace by brown eyes which marched her hair.
"I'm fine" she repeated.
"We both felt your abilities when it blessed our people, the surge of power in my wolves' limbs was enough to know they had gotten stronger." The Sun King agreed, "I felt the agility in my kind's body as well. The lightness in weight and strength in their power are enough tell sign that they have gotten stronger."
The Moon goddess could not keep her curiosity at bay, "what about the eyes?"
Phorus at that moment barged in, not minding that he could be punished for his rudeness, all he cared about was seeing his mistress. The Moon goddess glared at him, just when she wanted to hear the location of the most powerful thing, "what insolence!" with narrowed eyes at Phorus for the rude interruption.
Phorus bowed immediately, "forgive me my lady, I couldn't help but see for myself that that Lady Mine is awake, hale and hearty"
"Do that again next time and you'll lose that eyes of yours, never to see your dear mistress anymore" she declared after Phemerah gave her an apologetic look for Phorus' behavior.
"Dear Phorus, as you can see, I'm fine. I told you everything will be all right"
"I'm glad you really are, Lady Mine, I thought I would never see you again."
They all know that Phemerah's radiant glow was just for a short while, she will only live for some years before she fades away.
Not one to be patient for too long, the Moon goddess shooed him away so Phemerah could continue her speech.
"So, what about the eyes?"
"I don't know exactly where they are but I'm sure they are still in the Spirit realm; I can still feel them searching for a worthy abode. I'll know when they reside in another."
"Is it possible to reside in a wolf"
"Of course, species don't matter to them, they will reside in whoever they deem fit."
"What if the worthy one is not yet born?" Said the Sun king
"They will wait, even if they had to wait for centuries; they will.