Page 2 of Skyblossom
“I didn’t see any magic light. I guess now I’m cursed.”
Knot lowered his little stem head, seemingly in sympathy. I set the flower down with a sigh, and I reached for my tea, but I paused at the sound of a rustle from the bank of trees and bushes to my right, and I turned to asnapsound.
It was quiet for a second, nothing moving, and I relaxed a little, just for an instant, before there was a lurch in the trees, and a shriek of surprise, and a shape hurtled out through a tree, leaves breaking off like confetti, and I jumped back with a startled cry when a person fell on the table.
It was all so instant—a snap, a crack, and then like a Shatter to the face, a person slamming down on top of Knot on the other end of the table, sending my samples scattering into the air, rattling my tea set, and putting the fear of furious dragons into me.
“Oww,” she groaned—a girl, currently lying on her side on the table, wearing Dragon House colors, covered in twigs and leaves. She propped herself up, pushing her hair and the leaves stuck in it out of her eyes, and she beamed at me. “Phew. Sorry to drop in unannounced.”
“Uh… h-hi.” I blinked fast, my hands up. “Are you okay?”
“Apparently that plant turns into a catapult. We live and learn.”
“Pitcherbell. You have to be careful picking the blooms or you get, well… p-pitched.”
“I’m gonna be feeling this in the morning…”
“Oh, saints, you’re crushing Knot.”
She rubbed her back, sitting up a little. “Crushing not? I can assure you I am a little crushed.”
“No—notnot,Knot!”
“Huh?”
“The—my snagweed!”
“Oh!” She looked back down at where Knot was twitching with a stem in the air, like a cartoon character dramaticallydrawing their last breath, and she sat up, shifting off of him. He slumped down in relief, and then she laughed when he crept up over her shoulders—I looked incredulously as he coiled around her like a magic-vine feather boa. “Aw. I think it likes me,” she said, patting the flowers.
“He—he doesn’t normally do that.” My heart fluttered nervously in my chest, the situation suddenly settling in. It was… almost certainly just a coincidence. I hadn’t actually summoned the love of my life with a wish. That was just the hopeless romantic in me seeing things that weren’t there. But Knot was a smart little vine, and he’d probably understood what I’d asked for and thought that… oh, saints.
She was so pretty I was already prone to forgetting how to speak or think, with short, choppy brown hair and bright blue eyes that radiated energy, enthusiasm, like she was just so excited to be here. Like a breath of fresh air or a little ray of sunshine. And she had a smile that could drive out demons.
“Aw,” she said, stroking the ends of the vine. “I’ve always wanted to be the chosen one.”
“You’re… you’re not hurt?” I said, still frozen up from surprise, hands hovering at my chest. She laughed.
“I’ll be good. Just a little ringing in my ears. I think I whacked my face a little on the flight path.”
“Oh—hold on. I have something that can help.” I rifled through my herbal bank to take a small bough of Galyr’s tooth, holding it up for her. “Ball it up and bite it between your back teeth, and you’ll feel better.”
“Field doctor to the rescue,” she said, voice bright, as she took the bough, and my heart dropped out of my body as a shape swooped in and alighted—the lumini from earlier, perched with one foot on my finger and one foot on hers. I felt like I got a spell to the face, stunned looking at where the girl stopped, holding her hand against mine to steady it, her eyes sparkling and mouthwide as this little magic bird stood there with wings glowing bright.
“Oh, wow,” she laughed breathlessly, looking at the lumini. “I didn’t realize I’d found a magic nature princess.”
“This—doesn’t normally happen.” A lumini was supposed to be a good sign for love. It was just something people said. This was just a lot of really weird coincidences. The lumini settled in, relaxing, puffing out its chest feathers a little as it got cozy, and I looked past it, at the girl, who laughed.
“I think this means we have to stay here now.”
My chest felt uncomfortably tight, like it was hard to breathe when I looked at her, but that was… I mean, I was just overthinking it. “He’ll move in a second,” I said.
“I’m not in any rush. He’s a cute little guy.” She beamed at me, and my throat felt dry. “I’m Summer, by the way.”
“Normally summer comes in more gradually.”
She laughed. I felt myself blush hot.
“I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
