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Gods, she hated heights.
“Ari?” she called into the nothingness but received no answer again. Worry prickled her mind as she struggled to the edge of the hammock. It was only five feet high at most, but the ground was spinning slightly, and she had to take a few deep breaths before she managed to climb down.
At least she’d regained enough strength to use some of her magic. Around her, magical crystals gently illuminated the cave. Their energy hummed like a heartbeat, gentle and soothing.
Ari’s home was beautiful in a raw sort of way. Dozens of trees dotted the place, many still seedlings, judging by their size. It was like the forest aboveground but on a much smaller scale. How could a tree live here without daylight? She touched the bark, and it trembled under her fingertips.
She withdrew her hand with a gasp. Before her very eyes, the tree trunk grew a new branch in response to her touch, purple flowers and deep green leaves sprouting from it in an instant.
“The crystals mimic the sunlight and give life to the trees.” Ari’s voice in her mind made her jump, and a scream tore past her chapped lips, echoing off the vast ceiling.
She pressed her hand to her heart, taking deep gulps of air as she met his dark gaze. He was hunched over next to a crystal, his wood still charred from their fight with the Zorren. He tilted his head, probably puzzled by her human reactions.
Could she surprise him like that? Or would he feel her approaching?
“These are my sun stones.” He pointed at the crystal by his side, choosing not to comment on her appearance or ask whether she felt better. He had never been one to waste time with small talk. “All Beekeepers possess a different gift that gives life. Much like you can heal, I can create these.”
“Where do you sleep?” Nava turned around to inspect the place, noticing the hidden stones tucked in between trees, rocks, and even growing from the ceiling. This was not what she’d expected his cave to be like. The trees and the crystals divided it into discrete areas and made it feel like an actual home.
“I rest amongst the trees,” he said, pointing up to the very top of the cavern, where a hammock was strung from one side to the other.
Nava limped toward him, her bare feet cushioned by moss. Where were her boots? “How long have I been out?”
“A couple of days,” Ari said. “Your mate is out hunting.”
“Isn’t it dangerous for him to be out there alone?”
“It was dangerous for him to be here with me,” Ari snarled, a rumbling sound rising from his chest. “He kept pacing around my cave, worrying about you, even though you are healing. Then he worried about his human friend, who burned the forest back on the island. I had to send him out for both our sakes.”
She battled a smile. Ari was right, and he didn’t need to forgive Devon for the damage he’d done to the people of the Northern Village or to the forest when he’d brought his army there.
Now that Aristaeus mentioned Devon, it left her wondering, though. Was he all right? Would the healing she’d bestowed upon him keep him well for long enough until they returned? She could only hope so.
Nava stretched slowly. Her body ached everywhere, even in places she didn’t know existed. “Where did you find the hammocks?”
“I made them for myself and Illaris when we first discovered this place.” His smile displayed many sharp teeth that would make a more reasonable being run away.
But Nava had never claimed to be such a thing. Instead, all she could focus on was the sadness in the Beekeeper’s gaze.
Ari picked at a charred layer of bark on his torso and ripped it away, revealing honey-like dew below.
“Ari!” Nava’s scream bounced off the tall rock walls. But he remained unbothered, bending down to the nearest tree trunk and digging his iron claws deep into the pulp. Then he ripped off a long sheet of bark and stuck it to his newly opened wound, patching himself up like a patchwork quilt.
“I can’t believe you just did that.” Her stomach revolted at the images that kept repeating in her mind. Was that what Ari looked like in reality? A pale body covered in goop on which he stuck layers of bark, wax, moss, and everything else the forest offered?
“The layers protect me against the weather and fires, and it helps with camouflage,” he said, reading her thoughts.
“You could have told me…”
“Why?” He blinked in confusion. “I can’t teach you how to do this on your frail body. You are one of us—and yet you are still human. A new creation I have never seen.” His body glowed in the same shade as the crystals, and his fresh layer of skin merged with the other parts, bit by bit, until it blended in seamlessly.
Well. He probably had a point. “You said these hammocks belonged to you and Illaris. Did you make this place together?”
“Yes, we built it decades ago. When the forests called us here for the first time. We suspected the Zorren would try to break into the land. We didn’t find any demons then, but we found an underwater pool. It has magical properties that make it impossible for the demons to bridge in this area and a perfect home for the Beekeepers.”
Nava straightened at the revelation. “You suspected the Zorren would come into this land decades ago?”
Ari tilted his head forward in acknowledgment, and Nava’s heart raced while her tired mind grasped at the fickle details floating inside her head. Something was missing. “Could that have been thirty years ago? When Arkimedes was born?”
