“It’s night. How did that…” Calix looks to me.
“We need to find Ever.” I nod to him. “And work out what the Maker’s told her.”
“Aten, she is a Fifth. I remember now. I remember what happened last time.” Cetus crosses his arms over his chest. “She can’t win against the Warrior army, and I won’t allow a repeat of last time. It’s our duty to protect Kirrasia, and we will, even if it’s against her.”
“You won’t need to fight against Ever. But you will need to fight against those in Fenix’s army. The one who killed Crimson.The one that killed Micah. And, if Ever’s right, the one who’s coming for her.”
thirty-seven
. . .
Ever
The Transference Stone: the seat of power the Usher wants to claim, and the place where my magic brought me to my knees.
Not where I want to go back to if I can help it. But my need to speak to the Maker is greater than the fear of what this place holds, so I let Kalan lead us through the forest.
Kyra stays behind to speak with her parents after confirming the Maker’s location. She upped and vanished after Micah’s death and has her own bridges to mend and questions to seek answers to. We pulled her whole life into this, and she’s been nothing but a loyal friend to me—a friend who lost her brother at the hands of mine.
I shove that thought aside to try and keep it banished and not let the weight of the sentiment take over, so I concentrate on where we’re going. Lyle and Kalan lead me into the Variscite forest, the safest path while there are patrols and sentries about, according to Kyra. We don’t stray from the cover of the trees.
In the gloom of the forest, the wind bites at my skin, the air now frigid and bitter, as if every step north drops the temperature a fraction more.
“Do you hear it? The Forest?” Kalan asks me.
I shake my head, the weight of that loss heavier than I imagined. It doesn’t diminish the same sense of awe and wonder I felt when I first ventured beneath the canopy. Even experiencing it on the walk towards the ceremony with Ten, I was drawn to the forest. If we weren’t in Kirrasia, it would be impossible not to think magic could exist while walking through these trees.
It isn’t a long walk to the Ceremony spot, and I let the memory of my first journey here—with Ten—lift the trepidation that seems to grow with each step.
“Thank you for being here.” I turn to make sure Lyle can hear me. “I need you to know that.”
“I do.” Her words are clipped, and I hope there will be a time and a place we can get back to how things were before Kirrasia. “Do you?—”
“It’s just beyond here. We’ll break cover, and we should be near the clearing,” Kalan issues instructions, interrupting Lyle, but she walks on, forgetting what she was about to say.
There is so much unsaid between us. I hope we’ll find a time to lay it all out, but here and now isn’t that time.
Sure enough, we arrive at the familiar spot, with the slab of stone and pillars rising into the sky, waiting.
My opinion of this place hasn’t improved since the previous visits. It’s as if there’s something in the air.
“I only ever had good memories of this place until your Transference. It was a joyous occasion—a celebration—that marked an important part of our lives,” Lyle says.
“Were you ever told why this was where the Transference happened?”
“No. It was just the way it was and has been for generations.” Lyle keeps her gaze on the plinth before us.
“When Ten first brought me here, I touched the stone. I felt a presence here, and it wasn’t good. It was as if all the pain and hurt over the years were festering… I didn’t think much of it, with everything else on my worried mind. Ten and everyone else kept saying that the Transference wasn’t anything to worry about. But what if it is something else?”
“What do you mean, Ever?” Kalan looks at me, seeing too much again.
“Kalan, the Naturals believe that a part of their magic goes back into the earth, that’s what fuels the Jarkoreth, or something like that. Could this be the same, only instead of creating a beast to protect the forest, it’s stored, waiting and locked away, until someone has the key?”
“A curious one, aren’t you?”The Maker’s voice sounds inside my mind, and I snap my eyes up to search for her.
Three shadowed and cloaked figures appear a little way past the stone.
“Come, child.”She turns and walks away from the clearing and towards the trees, leaving her companions. I glance back at Kalan and Lyle and then follow the Maker. Before I walk out of sight, my whole body begins to shake, and I turn back just to see them again. They both stand, watching me, and I know they’ll be here for me on the other side of this conversation. I offer a nod, then dip beyond the tree line.
