Page 60 of Synodic

“I know not of these strange medicines, but for however strong the Alcreon Light may be, it is still hosted within a human body, a human body made of flesh and blood. So I suppose it is possible.”

The war chief grunted and flipped his dagger in the air, unappeased by Takoda’s explanation. “If that is what she truly is.”

Driskell looked from Alvar to me, “One day, out of the blue, your parents decided to stop poisoning you?”

“It was only by chance I stopped taking it,” I said, sticking to the main bullet points. Anything more and I would crumble to pieces. I was barely holding it together as it was.

“If this drug is as potent as you say, it would have taken time to fully dissipate from your body,” Takoda pointed out.

“As the drug withdrew from Keira’s blood, she steadily grew stronger. Revealing herself little by little,” Rowen added on, helping add the pieces together.

That made perfect sense. Why when I first met Rowen, I could barely see or hear him, as ifhewere the ghost, not me. How, as it slowly detoxed from my body my dreams became clearer, sharper. Real.

I wondered if my mother could ever have known how successful her drug would be, how perfectly it fulfilled its intended purpose. It kept me safe from Erovos, so I guess I should thank her for that. But it also kept me from Rowen, the Wyn village, and people who needed my help. How could I ever forgive that?

I barely recognized myself. My life. But the truth had always been there, hidden beneath the darkened fog forced into my bloodstream.

My spine snapped as I thought back to Prism. All this time I could never explain what happened that night, how my mind and body had lost all control. With no other excuse, I blamed my symptoms on having an allergy to alcohol, but it hadn’t been an allergic reaction at all—it had been a chemical one.

The drug lingering in my system from Natalie’s spiked food wasn’t meant to combine with alcohol; every pill bottle in the world stated as much. Creating such a concoction could cause the opiates in your blood to turn toxic, leading to serious health consequences, overdoses, even death.

And Natalie had willingly supplied me with both.

No wonder she had looked so guilty the following morning, so apologetic and worried. She knew she had messed up, potentially causing me irreparable harm, not to mention the humiliation and degradation I suffered at the hands of her carelessness.

Now that my body was purged of all suppressive narcotics and I could feel again, would my heart ever stop breaking? I pressed the heel of my hand to my chest to relieve the ache.

“Nepta, her eyes shine with the light of the heavens,” Takoda marveled. “She is The Marked, the one the stars spoke of, the one who holds the light of worlds within her grasp.”

“We still cannot know,” Nepta said. “I will not risk what is not certain.”

“How can you deny what she is any longer? Because she’s not a man?” Rowen asked furiously. “She has brought back the moonlit glow to the plant life. That is evidence enough.”

Alvar scoffed. “The moonblooms have often strangely come back to life.”

“Because her presence was near!” Rowen yelled to a crowd of deaf ears.

“After all the lost hope, how can I face my village and dangle yet another questionable prophecy within their grasp? I must provide proof beyond the shadow of a doubt. I will not raise their already fragile spirits for naught,” Nepta said.

“Takoda must have told you Erovos has seen her face,” Rowen said, raking his hand through his unruly hair.

Nepta’s ancient eyes hardened, her mind made up. “Indeed, she now poses a greater threat to this village. But if she is to remain within our protection, there must be just cause. I refuse to put my people at unnecessary risk.”

“The risk is already here,” Rowen practically shouted in desperation, but him losing his temper wouldn’t help either of us. We were both outsiders here.

“Rowen, it’s okay,” I said, placing my hand on his shoulder, and his muscles jumped beneath my touch. “How can I prove it?” I asked Nepta. “What do I need to do?”

“There is a plant,” she answered immediately as if she had already contemplated such a question. Her eyes sparkled with the visions of memory. “It has been long-dead to this land for many moons. Go to the barren meadow of the Sillarial Peaks, and revive a single noxlily bred of light and healing. Then, we will know for certain you possess the Alcreon Light, and your continued protection within our borders will be warranted. Otherwise, we will escort you from this land forever.”

“Noxlily?” I asked, my blood buzzing. “What does it look like?”

“Like a petaled and unfurling star,” Driskell stated banally, even though what he described was anything but, and I knew firsthand because I’d walked through a field of them.

“I’ve seen noxlilies before,” I said as my childhood projection rushed to the forefront of my mind, and I recalled the plush glowing petal.

“Then you should have no trouble retrieving one,” Alvar said in challenge.

“You would have her leave the safety of the village to retrieve a flower?” Rowen asked incredulously. “I felt her power just now, Nepta. It was weak and timid. She needs to be trained, not to go off on some wild goose chase for an extinct weed!”

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