THE LAST DAWN
Chapter 28: The Field of Light
The field was vast.
Green grass stretched to the horizon, dotted with wildflowers of every color — red and yellow and purple and blue. The sky above was impossibly blue, the clouds impossibly white, the sun impossibly warm. A river wound through the meadow, silver and bright, its surface reflecting the light like a thousand tiny mirrors.
Rowan stood at the edge of the field, his boots sinking into the soft grass, his heart pounding, his breath shallow.
He was free.
He was alive.
He was home.
But he was not alone.
A figure stood at the center of the field.
She was young — younger than Lyra, younger than Morwen, younger than anyone had a right to be. Her hair was golden, her skin was warm, her eyes were brown. She wore a dress of white linen, simple and clean, and her bare feet were pressed against the grass.
She was beautiful.
She was familiar.
She was his mother.
“Hello, Rowan,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“You’re not real.”
“I’m as real as your hope. As real as your love. As real as your dreams.”
“You died. I buried you myself.”
She smiled.
It was a real smile, warm and bright and full of love.
“I died. But I never left you. I have been watching you. From the other side of the hunger. From the space between. From the place where mothers go when their children still need them.”
He walked toward her.
The grass was soft beneath his feet.
The flowers brushed against his legs.
The river sang in the distance.
“Why are you here?”
She opened her arms.
“To welcome you home.”
He fell into her embrace.
Her body was warm.
Her arms were strong.
Her heart was beating.
“I missed you,” he whispered.
“I know. I missed you too.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.”
She pulled back.
Her brown eyes were wet.
“You were there. In my heart. In my memories. In the love you carry.”
“But it hurts.”
“I know. Grief is love with nowhere to go. But you have somewhere to go now. You have a world to save. A future to build. A life to live.”
He looked at the field.
At the grass.
At the flowers.
At the light.
“I don’t know how to live without you.”
She touched his face.
Her hand was warm.
“You won’t have to. I’ll be with you. In your heart. In your memories. In the love you carry.”
“Always?”
“Always.”
She stepped back.
The light grew brighter.
The field grew softer.
The river grew louder.
“I have to go,” she said.
“Where?”
“Back. To the other side. To the place where mothers wait for their children.”
“Will I see you again?”
She smiled.
It was a real smile, warm and bright and full of love.
“Every time you dream. Every time you hope. Every time you love. I’ll be there. Watching. Waiting. Loving you.”
She reached out and touched his face.
“Now go. The world is waiting. The future is waiting. The light is waiting.”
She vanished.
The field faded.
The light faded.
Rowan stood alone in the darkness.
But he was not alone.
He had never been alone.
He had always been loved.