“What?”
“A living being isn’t safe here, especially at night, or so the rumor goes. The shadows search for ways to come back to life again.”
“You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me!” As if things weren’t already fantastical enough.
He shrugged, with no hint of a smile to say he was teasing. “Like I said, rumors.” He stepped over the broken, black trunks, shutting off further conversation, but glanced back as she scrambled over the colossal blocks.
“Is Na’Tol a part of Dregarus?”
“No. Dregarus is in the northern region of our world. Hence, we used a portal. This is Élendium. Another vast continent and home to the royal capital. We’re going to Cidéra, the country where I live.”
“So we’re gonna trek across a ginormous continent? Gotcha. Hopefully, we’ll reach your country before I get too gray,” she drawled.
His mouth tightened.
Sighing, Leya glanced up at the looming black timber as they trudged on. “So, who’s Caeli?”
He stopped dead. “Why do you ask?”
She frowned, studying those hard features and eyes that had seen and lived through too many millennia. How had she ever thought of him as young?
She swiped at the damp tendrils sticking to her neck. “You called me that when we were in the cave.”
He stared at her for an endless second, then shook his head and started walking again.
So, he was protective of whomever she was. Not liking the knot forming in her belly, Leya followed—
Saaave…him.
She stumbled to a halt, the reedy whisper startling her. Her heart lodged in her throat, and her gaze darted around. But all remained quiet in the spooky, dead forest.
A ghost?
Oh, hell no!
Adrenaline surging, Leya sprinted to catch up with Aerén’s long-legged stride, keeping close to him. She didn’t dare utter a sound in the unnerving stillness in case she woke up any sleeping spirits.
“I can hear your heartbeat.” He threw her a quick look over his shoulder. “There isn’t any supernatural movement just yet.” He grasped her hand and flashed them, thankfully leaving the haunted forest behind.
A second later, they reformed among tall, white trees.
Leya’s head snapped around, then she gazed up. Her mouth dropped open at the…fairytrees, because what else could they be?
Branches spread far and wide, interlocking with each other like a silvery-white lattice, and the leaves sparkled beneath the sunlight resembling millions of stars smiling down. From giant trunk to trunk, the paths between them narrowed like ribbons leading to different worlds.
Utterly beautiful!
But there was a stillness to this place, a sense of waiting.
Unable to resist, she stroked the smooth bark of the nearest tree, and a gentle hum moved through her.
“This is incredible,” she whispered, meeting Aerén’s unreadable stare. “Is this the Rean Forest?”
“Yes. Just a few acres left.”
“That’s awful. How could anyone destroy something so lovely?”
“We have more acreage elsewhere, guarded at all times.” Then he, too, stroked the pristine white trunk. “There are those who will fight to protect what nature has bestowed us and others who will destroy this world for power and riches. The latter won’t win.” His lips thinned as he stepped back, his features tight as if in pain.
