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“Holy shit.” I swallowed the fear clawing up my throat and threatening to come out in the way of an opera singer’s highest note. Its head tilted, as though it were trying to ascertain whether I was a threat. The massive stag stepped closer, which forced me to bolt back toward the road, running blindly. I’d seen enough nature shows to know, not to mess with anything with antlers attached to it.
My heart pounded against my ribcage as fear and adrenaline clashed in my system. It deafened me to any other sound within the forest. I forced myself to keep running through the pain that tore at my side, unwilling to stop even though my body said to do so. It wasn’t until the flashes of brilliantly-colored flowers caught my eye, forcing it to a large meadow that allowed the advantage of being able to see around me, that I allowed myself a moment to rest.
Blowing the air from my lungs, I inhaled the crisp, clean mountain air. Gripping my side, I winced as sharp pain persisted from the insane mad dash through the countryside I’d not had on my bingo card for this year. I really hadn’t had ‘running from an unrealistic stag that looked like something from a fantasy painting’ on my card. In front of me, I could see the honey-colored flowers, mixed in with fiery ginger and scarlet hues, peeking from beyond the greenery.
The soft scratch of antlers against bark drew my focus back to the creature hunting me. I shifted just enough to see around the tree, observing as it honed its flower-laden antlers on the thick trunk. Confusion pinched my brows because that stag either wasn’t the same as the first one I’d seen or it had stopped to pick up new flowers. This stag had miniature sunflowers connected to a length of lime-colored stems, and someone had artfully wrapped floral vines around its massive rack of horns.
Hesitation morphed into curiosity, which slowly turned into awe because the longer I watched the creature, the more clearly I could see the untold power pulsing off it. Its raw, pulsating mana brushed against my flesh, forcing gooseflesh to spread over my naked arms.
“You’re beautiful. Aren’t you, big boy?” I whispered, my voice too low to be discernible to my own ears. The stag’s head lifted and then turned toward me. Eyes the color of midnight peered at me, ancient knowledge promised in their depths. “Hello.”
“Hello, Aria,” a softly whispered voice replied. “We’ve been waiting for you to come home.”
My mouth opened and my jaw threatened to join my feet on the forest floor. Had it just spoken to me? Either it had or I was hallucinating from dehydration and exhaustion. After taking a slow step forward, I paused, watching as the stag did the same. The moment its hoof touched the ground, my feet anchored in place, threatening to grow roots where I stood. As if it feared spooking me. Licking my dry lips, I considered if I should say something or pretend it hadn’t spoken at all.
“Did you just talk?” I called to the stag, uncertain if I’d just made a huge mistake and was losing the weak grip I had on my sanity.
“Aria Primrose, your mind isn’t fractured. It’s actually sharp for someone so young,” the voice said succinctly, though the stag’s mouth never moved. “Welcome home, Queen of Sunfire.” The stag bowed its head until its velvet, flora-covered horns bushed the carpeted forest floor.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not a queen of anything,” I returned carefully, uncertain as to what it had meant by the title. “I am Aria Primrose Prometheus, Queen of Nothing.”
“You’re not?” it asked, even as it continued toward me at a leisurely gait. “I feel you as surely as you feel me, child. The power rushing through your veins is the same power living in mine. From the first breath you took, I’ve felt your presence. I am the power which pulses inside you, fueling your endless pool of mana. Don’t fear me, for I know your strengths, weaknesses and dreams. You are a part of me as surely as I am a part of you.”
“Who are you?” I asked as fear and wonder collided, both threatening to engulf me fully.
“You know who I am,” it stated with pride pooling in the navy-colored depths. “I brought you here to me. Do not fear me, girl. I’ve always been with you. Breathe before you pass out, Queen of Sunfire.”
The air filled my lungs and then steadily left them as I lifted my hand, touching the glorious creature’s rune-covered fur. The moment my hand connected, the world tilted, and everything inside me eased to calmness I’d never felt before that moment.
“I feel you everywhere,” I murmured breathlessly. “Holy shit. You are the power within me. Aren’t you?”
“There’s more to it than that, though. Several things create a realm, each one a complex combination of those the realm not only chooses to give to, but also to take from. You’re correct in your deduction that I am the land. The same land that chose you to become queen and undo the damage by those seeking to take what is not theirs. Aria, your light will drive out the darkness devouring the Nine Realms,” he explained. “I wasn’t the only one who chose you to lead our people. There’s another within this window, one who pushed for your creation before she’d ever birthed the male who’d sire an heir of sun.”
Goosebumps erupted over my flesh as a chill raced down my spine. “Who?”
“Follow the path forward. All shall be revealed in time. If your intentions are true, and your heart is free of malice, then you’ll find the spring water from the fjord of Vanaheimr awaiting your rebirth.”
The stag reared back on its hind legs and then crashed forward with a deafeningcrunchagainst the forest floor. At the same moment, the sun vanished, leaving me blinded by the darkness enveloping me. Warmth drifted against my face before the brush of fur against my arm had a sad smile playing over my mouth.
“Blessed are those who see beyond the darkness, Aria Prometheus. Follow your soul to the Well of Transformation and be reborn, Queen of Sunfire.”
Chapter Three
Aria
Thedarknessseemedasendless as the night. As I walked through it, I imagined brightness within my mind that triggered a flood of colorful sunflower images. Various types became the sun while others shifted to flowering meadows as their tart, earthy scent tickled my nose.
Giant Sungold sunflowers with fluffy, golden petals that resembled pom poms came first. The land was as soft and as pliant as the petals of the giant flower. Suntastic Yellow sunflowers with striking, yellow petals stretching from the black center came next. As if they were the wheat in the fields, they stretched farther than the eye could track. Little Becka’s,with their burnt-orange centers that faded into deep, startling red-and-orange-tipped petals became the trees, flourishing in the high and low lands. Earthwalker’searthy tones of oranges, reds, mahogany, and browns became the soul of the world I built inside my mind, flourishing those who trusted it to nourish and protect them. In the center of them all were the Lemon Queens. They may have had smaller petals, but they were brighter yellow than any of the others. The queen fed and pollinated everything else, sustaining life through the soul it housed.
Ahead of me, a minuscule light flickered, and I angled my steps toward it, wanting to know what it was. I wasn’t sure how far I’d traveled before I again hesitated. The light was suddenly moving toward me, startlingly rapidly. It whizzed through the velvety darkness until it slammed into me, sending us both clattering to the ground in a crash of limb and . . .fluff?
The creature purred softly as I took in what appeared to be an arctic fox with wings. Glowing dust seemed to sprinkle from it, without it having to move from where it remained on top of me. The fox-like animal had giant ears, much like those of a fennec fox. A large, puffy cat-like tail flicked from side to side behind it, sending glittering dust shimmering behind the thing.
It rudely stated, “You stink.”
“You don’t smell like roses either, buddy,” I grumbled right back.
“Don’t you have wings?”
