Page 58 of Ecliptic

“I hang onto your every word. I always have.”

“Even though so much has happened, I still feel like that trapped girl.”

“Keira, you are no longer caged. Look at the stars. Do they look free to you?”

“Yes,” I whispered as the pinpricks of light glimmered above. Though my gaze was looking into the past, I knew my eyes were scanning across prophecies of the future, placed there by the Elder Spirits. One, somewhere, even spoke of me and my return to Luneth. The Synodic Son who would bring life and light back to the dying lands.

“The stars are but a reflection of your eyes. You are free,” Rowen said, holding my gaze gently. “Remember your telescope? The one you told me about. You just have to turn the lens inward. See yourself the way the heavens do. The way I do. What must the heavens think of your beautiful soul? Seeing past the flesh and blood, witnessing the living embodiment of itself. Isn’t that why we were created? For the universe to see itself through our eyes?”

“That’s a comforting thought,” I said, genuinely trying to take Rowen’s advice and turn the lens inward, to see myself as the heavens might. “You really think this will help?”

“It can’t hurt to try,” he said with a hopeful smile, lying back on the bedroll and patting the space beside him.

I joined him on our sorry excuse for a bed, already worrying how my back would react to this.

He pulled a blanket from his pack and draped it over our separated bodies. Though the quilt kept me warm, I wished I could curl into him and fill the distance between us. But we remained our usual twelve inches apart, stargazing from within the roofless ruins.

I had doubts about sleeping in the middle of nowhere with barely a blanket, but the views of Fleur Uaine made it all worth it. I could see why Rowen loved this place, and if it weren’t for the single crease between his brows, it would appear as if he slept peacefully.

My finger itched to smooth away the worry line, but I kept my hands achingly by my sides.

Eventually, I allowed myself to drift. The rise and fall of Rowen’s chest, along with the churning galaxies and shooting stars, eased me into a meditative state.

The threads of the cosmos unraveled before me, and I carefully pushed through the tendrils of light that dangled like vines.

I searched each strand, hoping to find the one that would solve all my problems.

Suddenly, my gaze fell upon a black, void-like string. Its eerie sound hummed within me and pulled on my senses like a powerful magnet.

A mounting pressure grew in my skull, and my bones vibrated. It wasn’t until it was too late that I realized it wasn’t a single thread at all. It was a net.

The black threads sprang apart and enveloped me, their sinewy tendrils wrapping around my body. There was no time to struggle or react as the threads held me fast and dragged me into oblivion.

Like a butterfly ensnared, I was swept away, and the celestial lights around me vanished.

I was somewhere dark. Very dark.

There were no stars or galaxies overhead, no ancient ruins surrounding me, only a dank chill that crept up my spine.

“What is this?” said a voice that leeched the warmth from my body. “A little dreamer come to visit?”

As my eyes adjusted, I realized I’d been here before. I was in the crevice, trapped with the Dark Spirit I’d banished here. Memories of what it took to imprison him flooded back and stole the breath from my lungs.

I needed to get out.Now.I would find no answers here, and I was a fool for falling into Erovos’ trap.

I searched for the golden thread that would guide me back to Rowen, but the Dark Spirit rushed towards me like a tornado of shadows, and my fingers trembled as I scrambled for my soul flame bond. When I finally managed to grab hold of it, I pulled, but the frayed thread from where Madds had severed our bond took me by surprise, and I ended up yanking it sideways.

Suddenly, the cave opened in a rush of grey stone. Though the dark cave remained behind me, the night sky twinkled before me like a movie screen, revealing two bodies lying side by side. Weathered white arches framed the figures who faced each other without touching.

“Ah, how interesting,” Erovos hummed from the dark recesses of the cave. “You are full of surprises, my little light.”

I peered closer, immediately recognizing Rowen sleeping on a thin bedroll. A woman lay beside him, her brown hair spilling over her shoulder to reveal one perfectly pointed ear. Even though they weren’t touching, envy blazed through my blood.

The woman’s lonely fingers reached for Rowen’s body, and her skin begged for his warmth.

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, for my mind to catch up. The silent suffering on her sleeping face mirrored the agony in my soul.

I looked down at my translucent palms, realizing I was in my astral form. It was my body that slept beside the love of my life.

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