With a sharp inhale, she closed her eyes and reached inside, her mind following the path to the well at her center. Its yawning void cried out when it sensed her there, dry, begging for a single sip of the power that would give it new life.
Fool! Why? Why risk it?
Because Lunara was tired of sitting at rock-bottom, the ground doing nothing at all to cushion her arse. Yes, she had to keep her secrets, but with a gut-punch and upper-cut, Hedda had opened a door.
Just a crack. Just enough to let a little light shine through. To tempt her to steal a peek through the gap and see what was behind it.
What she’d realized earlier, plodding back and forth and wearing a hole in the rug, was that sheyearned.Longed to be more than she was, even within her self-imposed exile.
Doing this would give Lunara armor. She couldn’t show it to the world, but it would let her feel like there was something formidable about her.
Even while Hedda undoubtedly mopped the floor with her.
It would also combat the pain, to a degree. Give her something to fall back on. With more fuel for her spells, should she choose it, she’d be free to take the beatings and drills without having to worry that she had nothing left if something unexpected happened. If someone needed her.
Ironically, the thing she’d been running from was the one thing that could give her peace of mind.
At least, for now. For this.
The moonlight was a whisper. A caress. A wave that danced on her skin and invaded every inhale. She let herself swim in it, hoarding every word and touch and movement.
As she emptied her lungs on a slow exhale, it made room for the power to seep through. A trickle at first, like it was shy. Unsure whether she’d meant to let it in.
Another inhale. Out…
A deluge, sweeping in with staggering force to fill her empty places. Lunara planted her feet more firmly to the ground, clamping her lips against the whimper that tried to claw its way free. The well was greedy, taking and taking, gorging itself on the power she’d denied it.
Too much. It’s too much!
But she hadn’t felt this good in ages, this free. So close to satiated. So close…
No!
Lunara’s eyes snapped open on a gasp, like it was the first real breath of her life. Deep. Cleansing. New.
Power was a song in her veins. Pulsing, thrumming, throbbingpower.The things she could do with it. Create. Stars above, it was as if she’d never seen color before. Had never smelled or tasted properly.
Eejit. It hasn’t beenthatlong. Quit being dramatic. And stop glowing!
Lunara crossed her arms to hide glimmering hands, swallowing back the rest of the moons’ light until she was no longer illuminating the grass in a perfect circle around her.
Then, she laughed.
“I don’t usually havethe luxury of following the cacklings of a complete lunatic to find my way in the dark.”
Lunara looked up from the ground with a grin. “Hello!”
She sat against one of the carved, wooden posts that circled the practice grounds, her back pressing in to every nook and cranny.
It was bliss. No radiating torment, no biting or bruising. No pain.
It had been so long since she’d felt her body without it that she hadn’t even realized what she’d been living with.
Hedda arched a brow at her as she lit a few of the orbs perched atop the nearest pillars with a wave of her hand, the stone shining with golden light. Solyrian’s light.
Stunning.
“Are you… alright?”
