“I don’t know,” Dyna mumbled, not daring to meet Lucenna’s gaze.
It was partially true. She didn’t know Tarn’s intentions. He sent Von to kidnap her because he wanted her map, but it was simply a means to get what he truly sought. Mount Ida held an unknowable amount of treasure, but Tarn didn’t care for jewels or gold. What did he want?
“I assume it’s another thing your guardians don’t wish you to say.”
Dyna stilled, but from Lucenna’s nonchalant expression, she only called them that as a jeer at their overprotectiveness.
“Why did those mages attempt to take you?” Dyna countered.
Lucenna narrowed her eyes, clearly not wanting to divulge the answer to that either. Dyna arched an eyebrow at her in return. The sorceress had secrets of her own she needed to keep. There was a reason Lucenna was trekking through Azure alone. Dyna sensed it had something to do with the Luna Medallion and the missing Moonstone. Lucenna had nearly killed Von for trying to steal it from her.
With neither of them wanting to discuss their business, they fell quiet.
Dyna moved on to another thicket and searched through the growth, picking out some dark blue leaves. Raising her head, she noticed the silvery trunks and indigo canopy she’d once seen in Hilos.
“Blue trees …” she whispered in awe.
““There used to be many all across Azure,” Lucenna told her. “It’s said this land was once completely frozen as part of the Everfrost.”
Everfrost was a tundra in the north of Azure that remained frozen all year round, Dyna recalled.
“During the First Age, the trees were white with leaves like blue gemstones, and the animals were blue too,” Lucenna said. “The land was ruled by the Ice Phoenix. No other could ever oppose his power—until he fell in love with a human. It’s an elaborate love story. I have the book somewhere in my tent. I’ll lend it to you sometime.”
Dyna picked up a blue leaf from the ground, running its smooth surface through her fingers. She’d heard the tale before. It was one of many her mother used to tell her before bed. “I would like that.”
“Who knows if the fairy tale is true, but these trees gave Azure its name before the kingdom gained its wealth from mining sapphires and other precious stones.” Lucenna gazed at the indigo canopy. “Now they are rare and too far in between. They only grow in mystic areas. We must be close to the Moors.”
She motioned with her chin, and Dyna noticed a cluster of leaves fluttering about the forest on an unseen wind, moving in spinning arcs. A few dived to Dyna and spiraled around her face. They weren’t dancing leaves but tiny little creatures with translucent dragonfly wings. Their beady eyes peered at her curiously. Long pointed ears protruded from their bright green hair, their thin limbs resembling leaves as if they were born of the trees themselves.
Dyna smiled as they fluttered around her hair, chirping in high-bell tones. “Fairies.”
Dyna smiled as they fluttered around her hair, chiming in high-bell tones. “Fairies.”
“These are forest sprites,” Lucenna said. “While mages need Essence to live, most of the smaller fae rely on nature’s magic. Enchanted streams, fairy blooms, trees, and the like. If this tree were to be cut down, for example, these fairies would most likely perish.”
Fair then chomped on a low-hanging branch.
“Don’t eat the magical trees,” Lucenna scolded, smacking his rump.
The Elvish stallion whinnied, startling the fairies away. He swatted her face with his tail and trotted away with a dignified snort.
Dyna giggled. “He let you know exactly what he thought of that, didn’t he?”
Rawn often spoke to Fair as if the horse understood him, and she had half a mind to believe he truly did. She heard Elvish horses were an intelligent breed.
“I’ll go get the willful brute.” Lucenna rolled her eyes and went after Fair, disappearing past a wall of shrubs.
‘Willful brute’ better described someone else Dyna knew. God of Urn, what was she to do after yesterday? Everything was in pieces, and she didn’t know how to put them back together. The thought of Cassiel made her chest ache. He was always on her mind, like a scar on her heart that would never fade.
Things had changed since they had nearly kissed on the cliff. But that day had been nothing more than a mingled breath stolen in a moment.
Dyna wiped the tear that escaped and continued picking wild herbs. Worse was she couldn’t speak of it to anyone, least of all Zev. Not simply because he wouldn’t hesitate to kill Cassiel, but because he was struggling. The Madness hovered around him like a black cloud. He was drowning, and she didn’t know how to help him. It scared her he was going to give in to the Madness. If there was a way to help him, the Druid would know.
She had to find him.
A high-pitched, mewling cry interrupted her thoughts. The keening yowl came again, followed by a rustle of leaves. Dyna leaned to peek past the tree and found what was causing all the fuss. A small fox was stuck in a thorny bush. Its beautiful, aqua blue coat shone in the sun as its three fluffy tails swished back and forth, desperately tugging on one of its hind paws caught in the thorns. It keened again, rattling the bush as it struggled violently to break free.
“Hello, sweet one,” Dyna cooed in awe as she scooted closer.
