The distant sound of birds trickled to Kira. The trees whispered to themselves, their voices louder and more distinct than the last time she’d walked among them.
There were no signs of Tuann presence nearby. For now, Kira was alone.
Her stance relaxed. “Jin, can you give me an idea of where I am?”
Silence filled their comms.
“Communications blackout. Lovely.”
That meant she had no way of contacting Raider or anyone else. She supposed that was the point.
It wouldn’t be much of a test if the initiates could rely on those stronger than themselves.
Kira wiped her hands on her armor as she looked around. “Would have been nice if they’d given me a hint on which way to go.”
That they hadn’t must mean this was also part of the test.
Kira used her time to get her bearings. She turned in a circle. Unless her instincts failed her, Roake’s fortress and the city lay in that direction.
The trees seemed to agree as the wind set their branches swaying.
Kira studied them, noting the direction of the broken branches. The ship had been traveling in a northwestern path. A normal person would estimate that if she continued in that direction, she’d find the place she was supposed to go.
Of course, that was assuming that Harlow hadn’t chosen a deliberately misleading route. Something she was finding she couldn’t put past her uncle.
He and Graydon might as well have been related given their preference for the art of deception.
All she needed to do was solve the puzzle before her. Until she figured it out, there was no point moving from the spot where she’d landed. To do otherwise held the potential to lead her astray.
In this forest, that would be a mistake.
Already, darkness crept along the edges. Wander without a purpose and there was every chance it would try to swallow her.
The forest felt almost sentient as it waited for her to make a choice.
Kira set her palm on the tree next to her, tuning her senses to pick up the faint trace of consciousness contained within.
A spark lit deep in her mind as something in her chest drew her to the north and west, a few degrees off the path of Roake’s vessel.
It was like a lodestone, trying to guide her home.
Kira’s eyes opened. “Of course, the forest on a Tuann planet would be as strange as everything else.”
She lifted her palm from the tree, whispering a soft “thank you”. With the feeling in her chest acting as her compass, Kira trudged forward, hoping she didn’t have far to travel.
Hours later, Kira was hot and thirsty despite the cooler temperatures as she finally left the trees behind. A massive stone monolith jutted into the sky before her, a lake carved into the ground at its feet.
Kira resisted the allure of the water as she skirted its edge, heading for the large opening she could see in the rock face of the monolith.
She eyed a pair of wooden gondolas waiting on the banks of the lake for any brave enough to risk the water.
They were tempting, but Kira had one too many encounters with the lu-ong, who seemed able to mysteriously travel through the depths of any body of water, to trust it wasn’t a trap.
It was exactly the type of thing the Tuann might do. Offer a shortcut that ended up being a massive pain in the ass.
No, thank you. Kira preferred the longer but less treacherous path. At least until circumstances dictated otherwise.
She plodded over the sandy shores of the lake, working her way around until she stood in front of a sizable cave.
