Page 4 of Forsaken Secrets

I bent closer and reached inside, examining the base of the tree there. Sure enough, the tree's thick roots had engulfed a small wooden statue. No. The tree seemed to be growing from the statue!

Holy hells.

I sat back on my heels and stared up at the spindly tree. The whole thing was the relic, its korra no longer constrained to the small statue it had been tempered into.

It must have reverted to its natural form! But what kind of tree had a korra strong enough to be a relic?

I pushed the thought away and studied it closer, disappointment twisting cruelly in my chest. It was strong, but natural relics were unusable without tempering — the magic too wild to lend its power to anyone.

In the Mage Era, Forgemasters could temper magical plants and creatures with non-living substances to make them usable relics, but after The Fall, there were almost no mages left, let alone Forgemasters. So now the relics had to be cut and trained to the shape mages wanted.

I traced the smooth wood, enjoying the feel under my fingers.

It might feel nice, but it was completely worthless to me. Even twisted relics had more value in the Empire's black market.

I pulled my hand back and clenched it at my side. Aunt Grace would be so disappointed …

No. I forced my hand to relax. I couldn't think like that right now.

I just needed to get to safety.

Besides, I'd just sell my gear, and she'd never know. It wasn't even the first time I'd done it.

Everything would be just fine.

A commotion to my left drew my attention, and I looked over to see a small female gremlyn staring at me. Her purple hair reached high above her head and her green eyes were wide with fear.

Gods be damned.

An angry gremlyn was terrifying, but a scared gremlyn? Especially one with young nearby? They were fucking deadly. The scar above my brow ached at the memory of those razor-sharp claws.

---