Branches whipped against my arms as we barreled through the trees. My breath came in ragged bursts, while my feet slipped on moss and tangling vines.
Nova never slackened, never let go, nearly hauling me behind her with strength that seemed impossible for her slender frame.
I caught flashes of Ardetia to our left as the mushrooms grew thinner here.
“Nova!” I gasped again, tripping over a root. She yanked me upright before I hit the ground, her grip bruising but steady.
“Don’t look back,” she snapped.
So I didn’t.
I focused only on her hand clamped around my wrists, the pounding of my heart, the rasp of branches against my cloak. My legs burned, and my lungs screamed, but Nova’s pace didn’t falter.
At last, the light shifted to a paler, softer sheen and no longer stained crimson.
The edge of the Wilds.
We burst into the open, stumbling onto the gravel path that curved back toward the Academy. The fireflies shimmered faintly above us as I doubled over, bracing my hands on my knees, dragging air into my lungs.
Nova released me only when I steadied myself, though her eyes stayed fixed on mine, sharp with concern.
Ardetia emerged a moment later, graceful even when breathless. Bella turned into her human form as her tail vanished.
I straightened slowly, brushing dirt from my clothes, and forced myself to breathe evenly.
My dark hair clung to my temples with sweat, and my palms stung where bark had scraped them.
“What…” My voice cracked. I swallowed and tried again. “What was that?”
Nova didn’t answer immediately. She studied me, her gaze darting to the faint glow still clinging to the mushrooms deeper in the woods. Her jaw tightened.
Only then did she say softly, “You shouldn’t have gone in alone.”
I flinched, shame burning hot in my chest, though the pull in my ribs still throbbed as if reminding me I hadn’t imagined it.
“I heard.” My throat closed around the words. “I thought…”
Her expression softened slightly, but her grip on her staff never loosened.
Behind us, the Wilds loomed dark and restless, the mushrooms’ glow pulsing faintly in the shadows, as though laughing at us for escaping.
I hugged my arms tight to my chest, trying to find my bearings, trying to shake the echo of that voice.
Nova stood close as her presence shielded me, even as her silence pressed heavily.
We had made it back to the edge, but my heart was still lost in the Wilds.
The world steadied around me, though my chest still felt like it was echoing with the sound of that voice.
“I heard someone,” I whispered. “A man. He called my name. It felt so real. But no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find him.”
Nova’s gaze sharpened. She took one slow breath, then gave a short nod. “Yes. The mushrooms.”
I blinked, my pulse tripping over itself. “The mushrooms?”
“We haven’t seen them in the Wilds for at least fifty years,” she said quietly, her eyes still scanning the trees behind me.
I turned to look at the forest again, the faint red glow still visible between the trunks, pulsing like embers.
