Page 43 of Lore of the Wilds

As she thought the words, she heard them in the low rumble of Uncle Salim’s voice, as if he were whispering in her ear. This was a simple technique he’d used with her since she was little and had woken up from nightmares, certain she was drowning. He wasn’t there to say them now, but the wind blowing her wild curls back from her face could’ve almost been her uncle’s hand, brushing them aside so they didn’t stick to her tear-stained cheeks.

Her chest ached at the thought of having him by her side. She was tired of missing people and scared of needing them. It had been a long time since she had lost her parents, but now that she was separated from those at the shelter, she started to wonder if this was all her life would ever be: loving people only to eventually lose them.

Would she forever be forced to only imagine their touches in the caress of the ocean breeze and their voice in the whisper of the wind?

Still, for all her anguish, she persisted through the breathing exercise. When her heartbeat had slowed and she felt like she could fill her lungs fully with air again, she rose from where she had fallen and limped back into the cave, head held high.

She would help no one if she continued to kneel before the world and its relentless onslaught, so like the ocean against the cliffs. She would seek her salvation and that of those she loved, instead.

And she knew exactly where to start looking for it.

Inside the cave, she unlatched her backpack and pulled out the book. Sitting back down, she opened the pages, which remained blank in the dark cave.

She closed her eyes and whispered, “Are you here?”

Though she had long treasured books and felt proud of the ones she had made at the apothecary, she felt silly talking out loud to one.

Her heart twisted as she again considered the possibility that Asher had abandoned her.

Now was not the time.

She peeked one eye open, peering at the book. No voice sounded, and no words appeared on the page. She tried again, squeezing her eyes shut and thinking rather than speaking this time.

Are you here?

Still no response. She closed the book and opened it again, this time with more force.

Nothing.

The empty book stared back at her, looking completely normal. Looking as if it hadn’t cast the midnight sky across her room, shown her the terrible fate of Duskmere, or given her the power to protect Asher from those guards.

She tried again, this time meditating with the book in her hands, turning over her wish to have it speak again and again in her mind like a smooth pebble. She wanted to know what accepting this deal really meant.

Back in the garden, during those last moments of the fight with those guards, she’d been so panicked she would have agreed to any bargain that might allow her to save Duskmere. Now, she wanted to understand the silvery light that had filled up her entire being and shot from her hands.

Thinking of it, she could swear that she felt an emptiness in her chest where that power, that force, had been. And she wascertain now that that space had always been there, but she just hadn’t known it. She hadn’t known that there was something missing, so she had not sought it out. But that power had filled her up in a way she hadn’t known she’d needed. Craved, even.

When she opened her eyes, she saw nothing on the pages but instead spied movement outside the cave’s mouth. Asher was climbing back down the cliff face—alone.

Even as relief coursed through her, a thread of guilt wound around her heart for thinking the worst of Asher, especially after he had risked his life for her. She tried to distract herself by studying his careful, measured movements but couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

He made descending the near-vertical cliff face look easy.

Asher grabbed a ledge in the rock and swung into the cave, the powerful muscles of his arms flexing where he had rolled up his sleeves. He landed on his feet with the grace of a, well, fae. He wasn’t even out of breath.

What it must be to be fae.

She searched his face for any sign of how he was feeling today, but Asher avoided her gaze. He turned his face away from her, obscuring it in shadow, and that thread of guilt tightened as she thought of all she had cost him.

Still, he approached and handed her something wrapped in dark green leaves. She unfolded them and her stomach growled when she saw the white meat inside. She looked at him with a question in her eyes.

“Eat. It’s fish.” The right corner of his mouth almost turned up, like he wanted to be amused by her skepticism, but was still wary of her. He had every right to be.

Lore sniffed it, then studied it. Judging by the slight translucent quality of the meat, it seemed to be raw. He had sprinkled it with some fragrant herbs, including one she’d never smelled before, that were earthy and tangy.

She was apprehensive about eating raw fish, but didn’t want to seem ungrateful. Also, she was just happy that he’d finally spoken to her, even if it was just to bark an order.

She took a tentative bite. The fish was richer than she had ever known fish to be before, with fat veins through it. But where fatty meat in Duskmere was often chewy, here it all but melted in her mouth. The herbs weren’t just earthy, they also had a delicious spicy bite that lingered on her tongue, warming her up. She quickly devoured the piece.

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