Chapter Sixty-Nine
ELYSSARA
We step forward, leaving the group and the jungle behind us. As if sensing our approach, the ground beneath us groans—an ancient, guttural sound that reverberates around us, vibrating up my spine. Kael’s hand grips mine a little tighter, affirming in its presence.
We approach the obsidian trees with veins of starlight, and then I feel it—we cross the invisible threshold, suffocating and breathless, as if we’re now encased within The Grove’s walls.
My chest tightens, and magic stirs in my heart, traveling down to my fingertips—poised.
We step hesitantly through the grove, boots landing silently on the damp, mossy floor. Vines hang low overhead, ancient tendrils slithering like serpents, reaching out to us as if reading us, sensing us, testing us.
I brush them away, ducking beneath them, but with every contact, faint whispers curl through the air like smoke. Calling to me, luring me to follow. Unnerving in their sentience, the vines swirl around me like lost spirits that never made it out.
“Don’t listen, El, they’re testing us,” Kael instructs, voice tight.
I don’t respond, I just keep my eyes ahead, following the compass, trusting its navigation down the countless winding paths of starlight, vines, and moss.
But then I hear it—the groan from earlier roars to life, shaking the ground.
The earth beneath us splits in two.
Roots burst from the forest floor like serpents, gnarled and twisting. They shoot toward us in a blur, fast and vicious, aiming for Kael.
He leaps to the side, the jagged, grotesque root narrowly missing his torso.
In a heartbeat, Kael unsheathes his dual swords and steps closer to me. But it’s no use. The roots twist again, this time aiming to hook his ankles. With lethal efficiency, Kael slices through the roots.
The earth beneath us trembles, and the path ahead distorts, warping into a twisted tangle of roots and vines with no way through.
I chance a look at the compass, but the dial is spinning wildly. It is out of control and unable to combat The Grove's living intelligence.
“This way!” Kael calls, running toward the only open pathway.
I follow, my breath heavy with exertion.
I take five steps—
“STOP!” Kael bellows.
I slide to a stop and look skyward as one of the dark trees creaks and groans before toppling with a crash.
BOOM!
The huge tree trunk lands mere inches from my face and is so vast I can’t see over it.
Are you okay? Kael’s distressed question tumbles down the tether.
Yes, I reply sharply. What now?
I need to find a way to you, he says.
Hold on, I’ve got an idea. I pause for a heartbeat before adding, Step back, Kael.
I can feel his unease through the tether, but I push him away.
I move towards the trunk and place my hands on its beautiful, starlit bark. I close my eyes, summoning my magic to my fingertips again, and let it seep slowly into the bark. It’s sentient—maybe it needs to feel me. Know me. Know we mean no harm.
For a moment, The Grove stills. The groaning ceases, and the gentle quivering from the ground dissipates.
Then, the roots revolt.
A deafening shriek pierces the air, and the ground beneath my feet bucks as if rejecting me.
Vines burst towards me from above, roots burst from below and the whole grove roars in outrage.
I can’t afford gentleness anymore.
I summon magic to my fingertips, and though I have no precision with my aim, I don’t need it—I blast Lightborne magic, hot and intense, towards the trunk. I need to get to Kael.
The onyx trunk splinters apart and disintegrates in front of me, and that’s when I see it—
“KAEL!”
He’s ensnared by a tangle of roots that coil tightly around his torso, savagely yanking him off his feet and dragging him backward toward the gaping maw of a hollow tree.
I draw my Starforged Blade and command my magic to my hands again, desperately sprinting toward Kael.
Why aren’t the roots attacking me?
I’m almost there, almost by his side, when the sound of grinding wood fills the air. The pathway I’m on twists, caving in on itself, leaving me in a heap on The Grove’s floor, my path to Kael consumed by roots and vines that seek to separate us.
In such close proximity, Kael’s swords are no use. He’s reaching for the dagger in his boot, but the roots pin him in place.
The maw of the hollow tree is dripping with a sticky, green liquid as if salivating.
Kael! I scream down the tether, but it’s no use. The roots are not only wrapped around his limbs, but his throat, too.
Panic threatens to seize my heart. My heartbeat pounds in my ears, and my mind is foggy, shrouding me in confusion and fear.
Fuck. Not like this. Not him.
“NO!” I scream aloud, voice cracking with raw desperation. A surge of power slams through my body, fierce and blinding.
“Let. Him. Go.” The words come out like a command.
The air snaps. The vines recoil. The roots freeze mid-motion.
The Grove shudders.
Kael drops to the ground in a heap as the tendrils retreat like chastised beasts, slithering back into the home from which they came.
Kael’s breath comes in harsh pants as he pushes himself upright, eyes wide, fixed on me.
I’m shaking. Magic still churns beneath my skin like a storm barely held back. But that wasn’t magic. That was... me.
And The Grove knew it.