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Have my wings always been this long?
Her voice was so distant, so foggy… it echoed through what seemed like an invisible corridor. But there was nothing else around, not even a color, it was as if Lysa had fallen out of existence into some incomprehensible realm, but for some reason she was not afraid.
In fact, she was just beginning to realize she hadn’t felt a single emotion since she had entered this space, she had simply stared at her suddenly and inexplicably-fledged wings for an indefinite amount of time, because it felt like time didn’t even exist at all. Everything within her felt like it was scattered, like she was a formless, weightless mist. That should have been frightening to Lysa, she was so young. She had barely begun to understand the world, and now she would never get a chance to.
She only knew one thing, and it was the only thing she was absolutely certain of, the only thing that felt like it was almost stirring something within her gizzard. Lysa knew love. For her short time in the war-torn land she was born into, she had loved so deeply, so unconditionally, and was loved in return. It was all that mattered to her, and now it was all that ever would matter.
But would she ever love again? Certainly not here… Lysa thought, her words yet again echoing so distantly from her own body, as if there was a mirror of herself speaking back her thoughts from afar. She wondered if this was it, if she was doomed to wander in this place, thinking about love but unable to feel it.
But then there was a twinge. Her gizzard ever-so-lightly trembled, and she instinctively tilted her head this way and that, as if she was trying to listen for prey scrambling about on a forest floor. She kept her head at an angle, where her eyes drifted back to her wings. For a brief moment, her feathers seemed to catch a slight breeze, then suddenly out of the colorless world around her, everything faded seamlessly into a lovely shade of azure, the same color Lyze had described to her when he spoke on and on about the fascinating Kielian snakes. She had taken in every word, every bit of information he gave her she treasured. She loved him dearly, rambling and all… Where was he?
Lysa still felt like a light mist, but now she could just barely feel the tips of her primaries as a sudden wind picked up, and her entire being was rapidly swept away by a feeling of longing. Even though she was flying right at this moment, something within her told her that she had never gotten the chance to fly. She never knew what it was like to take a breath of fresh air while soaring on high. Indeed, she had just realized that she couldn’t breathe at all, but oddly enough, it didn’t bother her. She knew she didn’t need to, but didn’t know why.
I’m lost. She thought.
An echo back.
Would someone hear her if she shouted? I’m lost!
No voice? It wouldn’t come out of her beak, no matter how hard she tried. Could she even make any sound at all?
She tried flapping her wings as hard as she could, but they moved so slowly, it was as if she was running them through water.
Suddenly there was a sound, and it hadn’t come from Lysa. She swiveled her head around, looking for a source until her eyes fixated on a distant shape. It was formless too, but something about it was so familiar.
The longer she stared at it, the more it took shape. First, the outline of two large wings, far larger than hers. Then there was a bright swirl of spots, almost like snowfall. As it neared closer, two dark-amber eyes formed, and Lysa knew in that instant who this was.
Gundesfyrr! She tried to shout, but her caretaker simply lifted a wing.
“Lysa…” The Spotted Owl’s voice was dreamy and rhythmic, much different from how she used to speak before, but for some reason Lysa found her new manner of speech comforting.
“Follow me.” Gundesfyrr drifted closer, taking Lysa under her wing to guide her as they peacefully glided off into the seemingly endless blue. As they went along, things became clearer and clearer, until they had suddenly entered into a deep, dark blue night sky, stardust swirling around their misty bodies as they rose into the Aurora Glaucora. As they soared through the glimmering sea of color, their bodies caught the light within them, trapping hues of green, purple, and pink until they had new forms composed entirely of light.
Gundesfyrr led Lysa up further and further, until they began passing other owls of light, who danced around them in joyful, carefree flight. With every being they passed, Lysa felt less and less lonely, and more of her feelings flooded back. Was it possible to feel love for owls you had never met? Why did she feel so connected to everyone, no, everything here? There wasn’t just owls. There were crows, wolves, snakes, even hagsfiends. And nobody batted an eye, everyone simply understood unconditional love, with the political boundaries of the chaotic, broken world left behind. Judgement was gone, discrimination and stigma against others ceased to be.
Her heart and gizzard soared, and she glanced at Gundesfyrr to ask if she was feeling the same, but her gentle smile already gave her that answer. Then the Spotted Owl nodded towards Lysa’s port wing, and when she swiveled her head, she was met with something unexpected.
It was none other than her oldest brother, Edvard. She had never met him, in fact she had only heard him mentioned briefly, but she somehow knew the moment their eyes met that this was her brother, and she loved him. The Screech Owl gave her an enormous, goofy grin. He seemed just as elated to meet her as she was to meet him. The two flew around each other effortlessly before locking talons, where Edvard then wrapped his wings around Lysa in a gentle hug that lasted eons and seconds all at once.
“We need to find Lyze!” Edvard said suddenly, overjoyed. For a mere second, this struck Lysa as odd, but then she felt herself simply understanding it all.
And so the owls flew past soul after soul, joined by friends, neighbors, even her lovely nest-maid snake Gilda, until they reached him. Her beloved brother, Lyze. He was surrounded by hundreds of souls who loved him dearly… friends, family, students, teachers, even kings… She didn’t know most of them in life, but here she felt like she had known their souls forever, and she adored each one of them.
“Lyze!” Lysa rejoiced as she neared him, and the two embraced. His grief, his sadness, it all melted into pure love for his sister, and it truly felt like he was never without her.
Time did not exist in this realm, every soul that ever lived and ever would live was here in Glaumora, for all past, present, and future had no meaning anymore in this afterlife. They were all one. They were all Glaux.