The Edge of the Known

, she realized it was not any an ordinary pendant as

when she went to the alley. She was greeted with t

that she was here again washing out all the

lutching unto her pendant at which the S

stone walls. The scent of herbs and old wood clung to the air. Maya stood nea

e silver-haired w

ing my mom gave me. I wore it every day without thinking. But

"It is alive," she said. "Not in the way you know life, but in the way that magic remembers. That pendant was forged by your ancestor-

ght. "So it's...

ant to find your way back to it. The pendant w

woman added, "And it was mine, o

ed slightly. "You.

oman's eyes before she nodded. "I am you

loose from memory. The silver hair. The quiet strength in her vo

e," Maya said, her voic

e raised in wouldn't have protected you from who you are. But now

hythmic pulse in the silver matched the calm stirring in her chest. Her shoulders

she said. "But I'm not. I feel

's how truth feels.

s brighter now. "So

s smile deepened

oke up befo

For a few long moments, she just lay there, listening to the quiet hum of the world

what had happened. No

c, restless energy she'd grown used to - the kind that buzzed through every

er way to the office, her resignat

ed. The fluorescent lights felt too harsh. The whir of printers too loud. Everything inside he

she approached, confused

aid simply, placing t

nked.

g. Effective

bout your workload? You've jus

e smile. "I'm not tired any

ngs were packed

es. No ex

e someone who had already stepped into a new life. Her clot

breathe it all in - the small, ordinary life she'd once b

ng around her like a place s

oing back

o the

to he