Page 62 of Synodic

His gaze dipped to my mouth, then connected quickly back to my stare, challenging me with his eyes.

I’d never been prone to violence or aggression. I don’t think I ever even raised my voice too loudly. I knew now it was because I had been drugged within an inch of my life, but Rowen was still bringing out sides of myself I’d never felt before. And my body trembled with the mixed emotions.

Being this close to him, cloaked in his gaze, scent, and size, made my blood burn. I told myself it was only because he was beyond infuriating, but I wasn’t sure that was entirely true.

“However, in the meantime, you’ll carry this,” he said as he slipped a sheathed knife into the front of my pants, just enough that the rough hilt rested against the divot of my abdomen.

“Not sure why I need this when I have you,” I said sarcastically, shoving him off me.

Rowen released me with a shrug and a wicked grin. “This is far from a relaxing journey. Hopefully you know what you’re doing. There won’t be time to waste.”

“I was hoping it would just sort of come to me once we got there,” I confessed, knowing it was far from ideal.

“Wonderful,” he replied grimly, then clenched his back teeth, tensing his jaw in all new fascinating ways that were once hidden from me.

Takoda, who’d been patiently waiting for our battle of wills to end, slung his quiver and pack over his shoulder. “If you two are quite done quarreling like younglings, let us leave,” he nodded to both of us, looking somewhat entertained. “Now.”

* * *

We hiked up the verdant slopes of the Sillarial Peaks, the crisp air mingling with the fragrance of the forest. I inhaled deeply, savoring the returned strength my body so desperately missed.

I would never take for granted the simple act of walking without losing my breath ever again.

We traveled through nature’s beauty in silence, the stress of the trial weighing heavily on our every step. For all we knew, this could be the last time any of us saw the village ever again.

Now and then, Takoda would fill the tense quiet, explaining the different medicinal uses of varying plants, blossoms, and roots we passed along the way.

It amazed me how the very land itself could cure and heal the people who lived upon it. How herbs could be used to treat colds, aching joints, and upset stomachs. They could even be concocted into more potent remedies for illnesses such as fevers, diseases, and from the sounds of it, certain mental health concerns.

Occasionally Takoda would quickly collect a plant, thanking it before carefully tucking it away in his cloth satchel.

His knowledge of the land and all its bounteous gifts was astounding. The kindness I saw in his eyes extended to every living thing, even the plants. He handled all he touched with such reverence and respect.

We hiked on, every step bringing us closer to the ever-present stars, and I could almost feel them twinkling against my skin. However, the longer we walked the more the landscape gradually desaturated from the bright hues of life to the stone-cold colors of death. It was as though we had walked through all the seasons in the matter of a morning.

The dark, sickened forest was identical to the one I had first spoken to Rowen in. When I’d asked him what happened, he told meits life was stolen.What he meant was, it could no longer survive without me, without the power I held somewhere within my flesh and blood.

Hopefully, finding a noxlily would unlock a piece of my abilities and make the others believe; if not, we would all die trying. There was no returning empty-handed.

The sun crested over its zenith as we entered a clearing of dried bristles and long-dead flora.

“Do you feel anything?” Takoda asked me with a gaze full of hope while Rowen created a wide berth around us, his falcon eyes keeping watch over the barren land.

Here? This couldn’t be the right place. The valley from my dreams had brought my senses to life, awakened me as if the earth’s roots traveled through the soles of my feet and intertwined with my veins.

But just like Maddock in the hospital, there was no life here, none at all.

I knelt to the ground. “I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. What if this is all wrong? I’m too small, just one person, I can’t do this alone.”

“Feel the push and pull, Keira. It’s running through your veins; you just have to find it.”

I side-eyed him skeptically.

“We are all connected,” Takoda said, his onyx eyes deep pools of wisdom. “You, me, the smallest stone to the grandest mountain, the nearest seed to the most distant star; our very bodies made of sand and stardust. It is because of this that we are one with everything and everything is one with us. Much like how you are the Alcreon Light—a gateway between darkness and light. In a sense, we are all a gateway to something greater than ourselves. You are far from alone.”

His words washed over and comforted me. It was a beautiful belief, one that didn’t seem that hard to accept and I nodded, absorbing his every word.

There was no time to waste. Not when a darkness was settling over the woods in a slow petrification of death. We were fighting the clock blindly, not knowing how long before everything froze forever—if it wasn’t already too late—or how long until Erovos found me.

---