Cassie swallowed.“Do you think that is good or bad?”
“Yes,” Elora said instantly, giving a sharp nod.
Cassie blinked.“That’s not helpful.”
Her brow rose and her lips pursed.“I know.”
They kept moving.The trees leaned closer, actually leaned, their trunks creaking subtly as though bending toward the two females.Roots shifted beneath the moss, not enough to trip them, but enough that Cassie knew: the forest was not passive.It was guiding.Watching.
A branch brushed Cassie’s hair, and Elora’s hand darted up, grabbing her arm and pulling her close.“Okay,” Elora whispered.“Nope.We are not doing creepy tree pats.Absolutely not.”
Cassie exhaled a shaky laugh.“I think they’re trying to help us.”
“Then they can speak in complete sentences like reasonable plants,” Elora muttered.“Or blow some smoke signals.Anything less horror-movie.”
But even as Elora joked, Cassie’s chest tightened.Cassie knew she was right.She could feel it.The forest wasn’t hostile.It wasn’t trying to stop them.It was urging them onward.
“Your light,” Elora said suddenly, her voice softer.“It’s reacting.”
Cassie looked at her hands.A faint glow shimmered at her fingertips, not enough to cast light, but enough to brighten her skin.She then looked at her friend.“Elora ...your shadows,” Cassie whispered.
Elora glanced down.Her hands were rimmed with a faint, smoky darkness.Not overwhelming, but undeniably present.
“Something is reaching for us,” Cassie said, knowing as she spoke that it was true.“Light and shadow.It’s calling us, it recognizes something in us.”
Elora cleared her throat, sounding as if she was forcing herself to remain calm.“How could that be possible when we aren’t actually from this realm?And, let’s think this through, as freaked out as I am.Worst-case scenario ...we walk into some ancient magical trap that kills us instantly.”
Cassie made a strangled sound.“Really, El?”
“Medium-case scenario, we get to this weird Chamber and nothing horrible happens, but nothing good necessarily happens either and we just get to gloat that we didn’t die.”
Cassie’s lips twitched.“That’s better than the first option.”
“And best-case scenario,” Elora said, bumping Cassie’s shoulder gently, “we get there and somehow save the world even though we didn’t even know the world needed saving.”
Cassie finally laughed and stopped abruptly when the forest shivered again, stronger, pulling them forward like a tide.
Elora inhaled sharply.“And that’s our cue.”
Cassie nodded, determination settling in her features.“Let’s go.”
They stepped forward together, two threads–one light, one shadow–being drawn toward the same ancient center with some magical agenda that hopefully didn’t end with them dead.
Happy thoughts,Cassie told herself.Just keep thinking those happy thoughts.
CHAPTER7
“Like there’s ever a time I’m not thinking about her.”~ Cush
Cush hated pacing.It felt useless, energy burning off with nowhere to go, agitation without a target.Still, he found himself wearing a shallow trench into the ancient stone floor of the king’s study, boots scraping over centuries-old runes as the Book of the Elves pulsed on the table like a heartbeat gone wrong.
Not dangerous, worse.Wrong.
The air felt thick, unmoving, as if the room itself had decided to hold its breath and wait for something terrible to happen.
Across the space, Trik watched him from near the wall, arms folded, one shoulder braced against the stone.The Book’s flickering glow cut sharp lines across his face, catching the tension in his jaw, deepening the shadows beneath his eyes.
“You’re annoying me,” Trik said flatly.
