Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Briar
The voice whispered across my mind. “You’re so close to me.”
I froze and looked around again but didn’t see anything other than the trees and mushrooms surrounding me. I picked a couple more of the fungi, placed them in my basket, and stepped to my right.
“Now you’re getting further away.”
I moved to my left, toward another cluster of mushrooms. “Yes, keep going!” the voice excitedly whispered. “Now move forward.”
As I followed the directions, I picked more mushrooms and tried to remain casual.
There was a good chance the voice belonged to a monster leading me to my doom, but I slept beside one of the most poisonous creatures in the kingdoms and was at the mercy of one of the strongest, so let it try to kill me.
My life is extremely messed up, I inwardly sighed.
Was it ever normal?
No, but this is still insane.
“Right there! I’m right there! Before you!” the voice squealed.
I froze to search the woods, but nothing stirred. Slowly, my gaze fell to my feet.
“That’s right! I’m right down here!”
Only decaying leaves and dirt lay below me. Mushrooms didn’t even grow in this spot.
How tiny is this creature? I wondered.
Kneeling, I plucked a couple of nearby mushrooms. I had to lean over to get them, but it could look like I was trying not to step on any of the precious fungi.
Setting them in my basket, I ran my fingers over the ground, prepared for something to skitter across my hand or sharp teeth to chomp into it. All I felt was the power of the cool earth.
Tingles ran up my hand, through my arm, and around my shoulders. When they spread down through my chest, my heart warmed, and I swore it swelled.
Before my Needing, I was too young to be bound to either the sun or moon gods, so I gained strength from the earth and plants. Since my Needing, that ability had intensified until I felt their life thrumming within me and filling me with energy.
I closed my eyes as I dug deeper into the ground, and power swelled within me. Still, I didn’t encounter anything.
“What are you doing?” Knox inquired.
I didn’t open my eyes as I replied. “Thriving.”
And that’s exactly what I was doing. Like a tree growing taller and stronger as it stretched toward the sun, I was digging my roots in and thriving off the nourishment of the land.
“Well, that’s… unusual,” Gizzi whispered in my head.
“Not to me; not anymore,” I told him. “Plus, talking to animals is unusual, and you like it.”
“I do indeed.”
I expected Knox to tell me to stop or make some asshole comment, but he remained silent as I dug deeper. I’d buried my fingers nearly an inch into the ground when they connected with something hard.
I felt along the surface, expecting to find the jagged edges of a rock, but encountered only a smooth structure. With reluctance, I pulled my hands out of the earth, brushed aside more debris, and tore out handfuls of dirt.
Boots appeared as Knox came to stand beside me. “What are you doing?”
“There’s something under here,” I muttered.
“It’s me! It’s me!” the voice squealed.
“You’re a rock?” I asked out loud, my astonishment over this revelation causing me to forget about my determination to keep Knox from learning about my newfound powers.
However, the shock of learning I could talk to inanimate objects, as well as animals, could definitely be blamed for my blunder. Anyone would have blurted out that question at this revelation.
“Who’s a rock?” Knox asked.
At the same time, a giggle sounded in my head. “No, silly. I’m under the rock.”
Am I digging up a snake or something? Please don’t tell me it’s a baby basilisk.
Such a possibility should have caused me to hesitate or stop, but I didn’t. The mystery of what lay beneath the rock propelled me onward, and my movements grew frantic as I tore at the earth, ripping it open and flinging away handfuls of debris.
“Who’s a rock?” Knox demanded.
“No one’s a rock,” I muttered, and according to the voice, it wasn’t a lie, but I didn’t know what else it could be. “There’s something under here.”
“I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but there are rocks in the ground.”
I paused only long enough to glare at him. “Thank you for that bit of information, oh wise one who knows it all.”
He glowered at me. “What’s going on?”
The tone of his voice caused Gizzi to scamper down the tree. Determined to ignore him and all his negativity, I resumed digging. I pulled away more layers of earth and widened the hole. I still couldn’t see what lay beneath, but it was rectangular-shaped.
“I’m curious about what’s under here,” I said.
“What made you decide to dig there?”
I kept my attention focused on my task as I replied. “I wanted to feel the earth; it strengthens me. When I dug deeper, I discovered something, but I don’t think it’s a rock. It’s too smooth.”
Knox knelt, and before I could toss away another handful of dirt and pebbles, he grasped my wrist, ceasing my digging. His eyes burned into mine as he studied me.
“What are you up to?” he demanded.
“I’m not up to anything.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
“I don’t know, Knox, why don’t you believe me?”
“I wouldn’t believe any caster.”
I inwardly recoiled a little but managed to continue scowling at him. Maybe one day I’d get used to his cutting words.
“No shit?” I retorted. “I thought you were a fountain of trust and warmth.”
If looks could kill, we’d both be dead. I tugged at my wrist; when he refused to relinquish his hold, I gritted my teeth. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of asking him to release me.
“Who is this guy?” the voice whispered in my head.
Knox and I remained focused on each other, neither of us willing to bend to the other. I’d rot here before I looked away.
Small scratching noises drew my attention, but I refused to break Knox’s stare. Or at least that was my intention, until Gizzi spoke.
“It’s a grave.”
“It’s a wh...?”