Miria continued to float in that luminous space, surrounded by the four women who gazed at her with deep, familiar warmth. Despite her confusion, she felt in the very core of her being that they were not strangers.
The woman with flamboyant red curls and deep green eyes stepped forward slowly. Miria didn't move, as if the gesture was natural and expected. The woman raised a gentle hand and tenderly caressed her cheek.
"We are reunited once again…"
"Reunited once again?" Miria repeated, troubled.
The woman placed her palm on Miria's forehead, then brought her own forehead close until only her hand separated them. At the contact, Miria instinctively closed her eyes.
A wave of images flooded her: she saw herself laughing heartily with the four women during intense training sessions, learning combat techniques, magic, and strategy. Then came the pain: a dark cave, the four women lying on the ground, stabbed, their lifeless bodies surrounded by charred objects. Other visions flashed by — different lives, different faces, changing hair and eyes — until a version of herself with black hair and brown eyes, dying peacefully in Asher's arms.
When she opened her eyes again, her expression had completely changed. Confusion had given way to a nostalgic warmth overflowing with love.
"Grandmother…" she murmured, her voice broken with emotion.
She threw herself into the arms of the red-haired woman.
"Grandmother Noreen… I missed you so much!"
Noreen hugged her tightly, a tender smile on her lips, letting Miria cry tears of joy against her shoulder.
"Okay, is it only Noreen who gets all the attention?" a teasing voice called out.
Miria pulled away, laughing, and turned to the woman with wild copper hair and golden eyes.
"No, Grandmother Siobhan!"
She hugged her with the same fervor. Then it was the turn of the woman with raven-black hair and metallic gray eyes.
"And what about me?" she asked with a mischievous smile.
"I haven't forgotten you, Grandmother Teona!"
Miria embraced her warmly. Finally, she turned to the last one, with light brown hair in a strict braid and steel-blue eyes.
"I haven't forgotten you either, Grandmother Nell."
"My darling, it feels so good to see you again," Nell replied with emotion.
Teona observed Miria with pride.
"I notice your power is even more phenomenal now."
"I had excellent teachers who taught me everything," Miria replied with a radiant smile.
She stepped back slightly and looked at all four of them with immense pride.
"I've always been lucky to be the granddaughter of the sorcerers' founder, Noreen, but also to have had my grandmothers as my masters: Noreen, Teona, Siobhan, and Nell."
The four women were deeply touched. An emotionally charged silence enveloped them.