Page 58 of Synodic

And all turned to black.

* * *

My eyes flew open, and I gasped for air.

The vision snapped before me so quickly it was as if it had never happened. But I could never forget those eyes for as long as I lived. My bones were still chilled to their very marrow by it.

I was drenched in sweat, lying naked on the ground with splashes of light clouding my sight.

My body swirled, flowing with an energy that had long been suppressed by an insidious drug forced into my veins. But now that I had emerged through space like a phoenix reborn, I was rushing with power, a power that another sought to capture and destroy.

Somehow the Dark Spirit Erovos had found me. And it wouldn’t be long until he had me.

My limbs quaked with fear, light, and the weight of a million stars. I sat up and yelled the only thing my mind could conjure.

“ROWEN!”

22

I was in shock, lodged in place like a stone as a current rushed all around me. Within me.

Rowen came bounding out of the darkness in a firework of light and dropped to the ground in front of me. But my thoughts were consumed by the betrayal of my parents and Natalie, the malicious stare that could only belong to Erovos, and the dark tree whose chains seemed to call my name.

Rowen shook my shoulders, but still, I looked past him, lost in grief.

My mind had been quelled of feeling for so long that my body didn’t know how to handle all the emotions. I felt everything, and it hurt more than I could have ever imagined. The pain was physical, and I rubbed the heel of my hand over my chest to stop my heart from breaking.

Rowen’s hands grabbed my face, his fingers tangling in my hair. “Keira,” he said firmly, and through the fading lights, I saw the blurry outline of his bare body.

Had he joined me in the Hymma?

Suddenly remembering where I was, my eyes snapped to Rowen’s, and he sucked in a sharp breath. “By the Spirits, Keira. Your eyes are glowing like liquid silver…like…like the Alcreon Light.”

“He knows.”

“Who?”

“Erovos.”

Rowen’s eyes widened in horror. “Let’s get you out of here.”

As we exited the dome, Rowen threw a woven blanket around my body before wrapping one around his waist.

We barely made it a foot outside the Hymma before I crashed onto my knees. Here was as good a place as any to tell Rowen and Takoda about my vision of the tree. The rest could wait until later; those emotions were still too raw to touch.

Takoda walked to where I’d collapsed, and I tilted my eyes up to meet him. “By the light of the Spirits,” he uttered and lowered to his knees in front of me. “It seems, star-touched, that you have returned with far more than anyone could have bargained for.”

“She is the bearer of the Alcreon Light,” Rowen nearly choked. “Her…her eyes. She is The Marked.”

“The Summit may need more convincing.”

“Whether the Summit believes it or not, Erovos has seen my face,” I said through a dry throat. “He’s…he’s looking for me.”

Concerned glances passed between the two men as I relayed my vision.

“That was no vision, Keira. You stepped foot upon his land,” Takoda said calmly but with a severity that was foreign to his ever-tranquil voice. “Did you maintain the connection? Did he see you open your eyes to the Hymma or any part of this village?” His umber gaze implored mine.

“No,” I answered, certain no other eyes had seen through mine.

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