Speaking in riddles again.
Typical.
Before I could voice my annoyance, I followed his gaze to the arched trees, and my breath caught as I realized Aleks was making his way underneath them without hesitation.
I took a step toward him, but Orin snatched my arm and held me back. “Don’t be reckless.”
I looked to the others for help, only to see that Zayn and Thalia both seemed to be in a trance; Zayn’s head was tucked against his chest, as if he’d fallen asleep on his feet, while Thalia leaned on her staff and massaged her temples, grimacing as though fighting some invisible pressure.
I watched Aleks disappear, the light he’d summoned growing fainter and fainter. Frantically, I called his name. The only answer was a brief pulse of his light…
And then it was gone, too.
“What is going on?” I demanded of Orin, jerking free of his grip. “Why isn’t he answering me? And that…that songwe both heard…”
“So youbothheard it?” He didn’t seem entirely surprised by this, though his tired eyes did flash with that familiar gleam of curiosity, if only for an instant.
“Explain,” I snapped. “You know more about this place than what you’ve told me in the past. I believe there’s something buried here that we need to find, and I need to know how to navigate this grove before it’s too late.”
He hesitated.
“Orin.Please.I need your help.”
The trees creaked and groaned, as if moving closer to the conversation once again.
Orin shook his head sadly and said, “If you believe nothing else before this is day is over, believe that I only wanted to help you.”
My heart thundered in my throat. His words carried a heaviness I didn’t understand—didn’twantto understand.
“Explain,” I said again, quieter this time. “Quickly,” I added, with a harried look at the last place I’d seen Aleks.
He took a deep breath, like the sort he usually took before preparing to lecture me about something that he knew I would only halfway pay attention to. Only, this time, my attention was absolute.
“This wood serves a great purpose,” he said, walking toward the arched trees and beckoning me to follow. “It’s a place where divinely magical things can be safely contained. Buried, in some cases. Forgotten entirely, in others.”
“…A graveyard?”
“Something like that. But not just for divine-touchedcreatures. All sorts of magical things, living or not. They don’t break down here, though; mostly, they go into stasis. Time stands still in the deepest parts of these woods, and the air and soil throughout the forest nullifies all but the strongest divine magic. The Hollow Grove was created as a sanctuary by thosewho feared that the Vaelora—and the things they could create—might grow too powerful. They also used it as a meeting place that they believed was relatively safe from divine eyes.”
The place where gods forget.
“They…who arethey?” I asked.
“Figures who once served the gods and their chosen Vaelora, but who later began to question their power—who outright rejected and sought the destruction of them, in the most extreme cases.”
My mind went back to the sentier, locked away and left to die, taking any chance of Lorien’s revival and return to power with it. The symbols that had marked its prison…
“Figures connected to the Void Order, by chance?” I asked.
Orin stiffened and glanced over his shoulder, as though he expected members of that order to come crashing through the trees at any moment.
“You’ve been doing your research for once. Very good.” He cast another wary look around the trees before continuing. “We used to practice your magic on the outskirts of these woods because I knew the spells here would intervene if your power ever raged beyond what I could channel into safer outlets. But it seems we’ve come to the point where that power can no longer be chained.” His gaze briefly went to my wrists, now free of all the bracelets he’d made for me. “The Order you mentioned…they’re organizing and moving in greater numbers than they have in some time, stirred into action by what you’ve done these past months. They’re hunting you, Nova. And Aleks, too.”
The words didn’t come as much of a shock; I’d already feared the worst where this veiled organization was concerned.
I eyed my weary mentor. He knew so much…and there was no way he was safe with the knowledge. And again, as angry as I was with him, I couldn’t help but worry, wondering if that was why he looked so tired, so ragged.
“They’re hunting you, too, aren’t they?”
