***
Kiethara woke up screaming.
In some ways, the sound was reassuring. The sound rang out strong and sure as it coursed through her body.
Only when her crystals began to glow so brightly that she was blinded by them did she realize what was happening.
Aaron had warned her against this again and again. Magical bursts could be a devastating thing, so deadly that they could destroy the forest. Before she had turned sixteen, the burst would only last until her magic ran out. It would have taken her weeks afterwards to absorb what she had lost back. But now…now she could pull as much power as she wanted. The burst would continue on until the source of her magic was destroyed.
That could not happen.
Kiethara snapped her jaw close and balled up her fists. Trying to contain what yearned to explode out of her was almost painful, but she managed to wrestle the intense feeling down. With a final groan, her crystals dulled down.
Panting heavily, Kiethara sat up in her hammock and put a hand to her forehead. Why did her dreams have to be so vivid? Every image, every color…they burned brilliantly in her memory. But what struck her in most were her father’s words.
Reason. She finally had a reason.
Her subconscious had given her the answer she needed. Trinnia had died so the kingdoms would realize that they needed to be prepared. For all she knew, Gandador was already working Nikkoi to his own will. Redawn was the next on his list, she was sure.
And out of all the people to die, why not Trinnia? She was rich and well known, not to mention a salient and beautiful young girl. It was the perfect life to grab people’s attention. Nothing hit you harder than the death of an innocent life that had represented incorruptibility; the death of the former emphasized the mortality of the latter.
A couple of days ago, those were not the words she would have chosen to describe Trinnia. Now, however, she was able to view her from a distant perspective. What was the worst that the girl had ever seen? The worse she had felt? Absolutely nothing compared to Kiethara.
What was the worst that Trinnia had ever done? Kiss the boy that she loved? Get threatened by Gandador in Nikkoi and act out of fear as anyone would? It seemed foolishly harmful now. How bad had she ever hurt someone physically? Maybe she had slapped someone in a haughty argument once, or stamped on someone’s foot by accident during a dance. Again, compared to her, Trinnia had not committed any crimes.
Kiethara sighed. Yes, Trinnia had been an innocent young woman. Her actions had been as white and unstained as the gloves on her hands had been, her words as harmless as the light breeze that she received from the sea.
Kiethara pulled herself up from her hammock. Numbly, she trudged along to the center of the forest. She just…really wanted to talk to Aaron. She yearned for his comforting voice and strong words.
As soon as she realized just how much she craved it she kicked off into the air and sped off through the trees. The wind on her face felt very soothing and, as she focused on it, she could feel the details of her dream slowly fading away. She had wanted to describe it to Aaron, but all she could really remember was Gandador and the ruins of Redawn…
Kiethara landed on emerald grass. It was a nice day, no wind and few clouds. Navadar would not be delayed by the weather on his way home.
A light entered the clearing, but it was not as bright as she had expected. She turned to face him.
His figure was not as defined, his golden rays did not shine off of him the way they used to. Kiethara bit back her questions, though. She wanted other answers first.
“Good morning, Kiethara,” Aaron greeted.
“Aaron,” she nodded, plopping down onto the grass.
“Sleep well?” he asked. How did he do that?
Kiethara launched into the description of her dream. It wasn’t too long of a speech—most of the details had eluded her by now. But Aaron listened intently. The atmosphere around him was serious.
“Yes,” he commented when she had finished. His voice took on a far away tone. “No doubt that was his plan all along. According to what transpired, his run in with Trinnia in Nikkoi would have been enough for him to discern from her that she was a high profile resident of Redawn. I’m glad you thought of it yourself. This will certainly rouse Redawn, if not Nikkoi as well. He knows it is his time to strike.”
“His time?” she snorted. “He already struck!”
“Not on you, Kiethara,” he said. “He has other goals, maybe not as high as his goal to obtain the power here, but he has smaller goals that he also intends to fulfill. Once he has conquered here he will surely conquer there. His weapon of choice will be fear, which will be installed as soon as Navadar spreads the news.”
“So that was his plan all along? To spread fear?”
“Kiethara, why else would he try to obtain the power of the forest if he wasn’t planning on using it anywhere else? He will go after the kingdoms and he will do it well. No king would mobilize an entire army for one man, but that is essentially what they will need to bring him down. That is Gandador’s plan. All along.”
Kiethara frowned at the ground. The plot that Gandador had woven for himself was getting more and more complicated, more and more intimidating. She sighed.
“Well, what can Redawn do?” she asked desperately.
“Do? It isn’t as though Gandador is going to march up and break down their wall. He will either force or convince someone of high standing to work for him. Slowly, he will corrupt them from the inside out. There is nothing—physically—that Redawn can do.”
Kiethara stared up at Aaron in shock. His words were so cold, so brutal…It sounded as though he thought there was no hope at all!
“So what? I just let it unravel before me without doing a thing about it? Is that our plan?” she asked in disbelief.
“Of course not!” he said in a surprised tone. “What do you think you’ve been fighting for? Not only are you protecting the forest, but you are protecting the world outside it!
“Here’s a prime example—the legend of Ishmane. His legend is far too complicated for me to get into detail with, but I will give you a short summary.
“There was a small band of thieves. Now, these men were extremely talented at magic, having gathering much of it. Even after Ishmane received the connection, he could not stop them from stealing the forest’s fruit or making potions by its rivers. And he did not stop them. It was not his duty to stop the many people who came in and out of the forest. He could not feel their hearts, only their presences.”
“Wait,” she interrupted. “What do you mean by the many people who come in and out of the forest? Only a few do!”
“For one, it was different years before,” Aaron sighed. “And for two, there are still many people who travel to the edges of the forest and take its magic. Your connection is still young, so you would need to focus hard to sense the outer fringes. Try it. Focus on expanding to the edge of the forest.”
Kiethara, curious, closed her eyes and followed Aaron’s instructions. She let her thoughts and focuses retreat to the far corner of her mind. There her connection lay, and she entered it like a tunnel. She had explored her connection, yes, but never to the extent that Aaron was asking of her. It felt aberrant, but after a moment, it felt as natural as thinking.
She focused hard and far, testing the limitations of her connection; however, there didn’t seem to be any limitations. Kiethara smiled and wandered further.
Finally, on the very western edge of the forest, she felt something.
They were very faint. She gritted her teeth in the effort it took for her to focus on them; it was like trying to make out something very small that was very far away. If she focused intently, she could feel the faint pluck as they harvested the forest’s fruit. A bit north, she could feel another large group surrounding the mouth of a river. She searched farther up the western coast, but other than those two groupings, there was nothing. She changed her focus to the eastern side.
/> There was even less there. There were a few lone presences higher north, farther into the forest than anyone else. One lone presence was directly to the east, and south of that, there was another large group plucking at fruit.
Kiethara’s eyes snapped open in awe and surprise. She had always lived under the impression that she was alone in this massive forest. Now, however, she realized that even though the people were so very far away, she wasn’t exactly alone.
“Yes, these days journeys to the forest are becoming rare. Gandador is right when he says that the dependency on this great powerhouse is waning.”
Kiethara let out a deep breath. Trying to remain focused on those small, far presences was mentally exhausting. She relaxed, losing her focus on the connection until she could no longer feel the edges on the forest. Only the immediate area was very clear without any focus.
Aaron, like always, seemed to know what she was thinking.
“Practice with the gift the forest has bestowed you with. Soon you won’t have to focus so hard to feel. You are just like Ishmane, Kiethara. You must continue to fight few in order to protect the masses. “
Kiethara nodded and stood up. She faced Aaron. For the first time in her memory she could stand only a few feet from him and not be blinded.
“Aaron…” she whispered, and unconsciously lifted her hand up as though to touch him.
There was no denying it. There was no casting the thought aside. His light—his strong, piercing light—was fainter. The solid gold now seemed like a timid, shimmering yellow.
“Why…?”
“This is not relevant, Kiethara,” Aaron snapped. His voice trembled with power…and something else. “Now we will train. I will teach you how to use your connection…”
Aaron’s words fell mute against the questions that were shouting in her head. Why was this happening? Why was Aaron avoiding the matter? Did he fear whatever truth he was hiding? Why did he always hide answers from her?
It looked as though she would never get a reason.