Kissed by the Eternal Flame
The Love Story
Umbajin is the bass that anchors the song, Salelu is the melody, and together, their story becomes the lyrics.ARCHIVIST NOTES
That was the day his heart shattered into a million pieces. He was standing in the amphitheater in the City of Song when he felt it, or rather stopped feeling it. Salelu's energy was always pulsing in his chest like a second heartbeat, but suddenly she was just gone. It was so shocking that he stumbled to his knees on the hard stone and stared wild-eyed up at the sky. She was out there flying through the stars. So many things could go wrong. What if she had been killed? No. He had to get ahold of himself. He was a tribal singer. He just needed to calm down and use his training. He closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and opened himself to the realm of the ancestors, but she was not among them. He continued to systematically go through every possibility that he could come up with until he had worked himself into a state of utter panic and confusion. All he could think to do was run to his father like a little boy who had fallen down and skinned his knees, but even the great Eli'aija couldn't explain what had happened to her. In the space between one heartbeat and the next, the love of his life had simply vanished, and Umbajin would spend the rest of his life searching for her.
She hadn't spoken in three days, not since Mike brought her to the Crossroads looking somewhat catatonic. So much time had gone by in, what for her, was just the blink of an eye. He told her that her whole world was gone, too. She still couldn't quite wrap her head around that fact. Maybe it wasn't really a fact. Maybe it was some terrible nightmare that she would simply wake up from any moment now. One word kept repeating over and over again in her mind. Why? Why did this have to happen? Why was she still here? Someone even made an historical documentary about the whole thing. She had watched the horrific scene unfolding on the screen. The twin stars, Danare and Zirakon, drawing closer and closer, two becoming one in agonizingly slow motion, and then exploding into blinding light. Now, the image kept playing over and over in her mind like she was caught in some crazy time out of time and couldn't break free, but this was real. Everything and everyone she ever loved was truly gone. It was only supposed to be a short run, just a quick trip into the Astrocyan Realms and back again. She had done it a million times. Had she known what was going to happen this time, Salelu would never have left the warmth of his embrace.
This is a subplot that plays in the background of the greater narrative like a haunting melody. The love story between Salelu and Umbajin turns out to be the key that makes it possible for Salelu, Sara, Ket, and TZ to unlock the mystery of The Lost Songs of the Bane'ile.
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