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So I inhaled and held my breath, trying to not only feel the lizard’s presence now that it was in front of me but use it to find any other infected wildlife that might be in the forest.
I released the breath I was holding and held onto what I felt coming from the lizard. I started seeing red veins inside its body. It was just like the ones that had appeared on mine, but fainter.
Then I widened my sense of awareness until I saw the white veins in the trees like before, but also red ones, outlined like a bird and perched on a tree limb.
Yes! That was what I was looking for. I laughed with excitement, but the lizard turned and ran back into the bushes.
Suddenly, my vision blurred, and I lost sight of the white and red veins as I fell backward. And before I knew what was happening, I’d been thrown into the world I'd seen before, the world of red fog.
Chains rattled around me again, and I took a breath as I got to my feet. I knew Tedara was somewhere around here.
I started walking and could hear the chains rattling around me, coming from every direction, but I couldn’t see the figure I desperately needed to talk to.
“Hello!” I called. “I know you’re here!”
Instead of the chorus of voices, a singular whisper drifted to me in the wind, but still, I couldn't make out the words.
"I can't hear you," I replied, feeling a stirring inside me. "I can help you if you let me, but you have to stop what you’re doing. The virus you're sending into the God Realm is hurting people.”
The whisper came again, and this time, I saw the Primordial’s silhouette, even closer than last time. Even so, I couldn't make out any of her features in the thick fog.
“Tedara?”
The ground shook, and I braced my feet to stop from falling over. I felt a burst of frustration, and the rumbling grew worse until I lost my balance.
I could feel myself falling, but something caught me before I could hit the ground.
I looked up and found Rumir staring down at me, blue skies above him instead of red.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
I stood up. I was back in the garden maze, although in an area I hadn't seen before. A white tree, its trunk thick like two trees combined, grew in the middle of the path, and there was a bench beneath it made entirely of roots.
I took a deep breath, trying to hold onto the sweet fragrance coming from it, and the white leaves around me flew away.
“I’m okay,” I said. Rumir’s hands still firmly held my arms. “I just need to sit down.”
He guided me to the bench, then sat beside me.
"Where have you been?" I asked.
He looked away, then taking a deep breath, he answered. “I went to my mother’s temple. I had a few things to say to her.”
I wanted to ask him what, but I didn’t want to pry into his relationship with his mother. Whatever he'd said, I hoped he’d found some sort of peace.
"How are you feeling?" He turned to face me. "You were wandering around just now, and your eyes were red again. I was worried you'd lost control when you wouldn't answer me."
“I was having another vision.” I reached out and picked up a leaf off the bench and found that it was soft, like cotton. “I went back to that place where Tedara is.”
“Did you see her?”
“No,” I answered. “Well, sort of. I saw just her silhouette, but I think this time, she was trying to speak to me. The chaotic whispers ceased, and I heard just one voice. Unfortunately, I still couldn’t make out what she was saying.”
"Next time," he mumbled. But he was looking straight ahead and appeared lost in thought.
He was sitting right beside me, yet his mind was far away. Even though I could feel our mate bond as strong as ever, there was awkwardness between us now, a wall that I needed to get through. He looked my way.
"I meant what I said before," I told him. "It doesn't matter how we were mated. What matters is that we are. And I wouldn’t change it for the world.” I reached out and slipped my hand into his. “What matters is that you’re still with me, Rumir. Goddess knows I need you. But I'm terrified. I'm so scared of hurting you or the others. I—I snapped at Rehema earlier. I feel like I'm losing it, but I need you to know my feelings for you haven’t changed. They never will.”
