Read The Guardians of the Forest: Book Two Page 37
CHAPTER 53
JOURNEY
Kiethara’s breast heaved as sweat kissed at her forehead and neck, her navy blue eyes set wide. The silence was deafening; compressing her like a blanket. For one small moment she felt as though it would smother her, but then a flock of birds burst out of the trees with a series of caws and her sense came rushing back.
The first thing she did was focus on her connection, and she focused hard. She was waiting for a burst of magic or a sudden blaze that indicated a presence. Anything that would break the sudden peace that had settled as quickly as it had been expunged. It did not come, though. She held her breath as the minutes slipped by, waiting for the façade to shatter. Her whole body was on edge, tense and ready to spring from the ground.
More time slugged by. A rabbit crossed a foot from where she sat, frozen. The only part of her that moved was her eyes, which followed the creature as it hopped by. It resembling the tinniest prick in her connection.
Kiethara then realized that there was another presence in the forest. She focused harder and wider, roaming through the forest with her mind instead of her body. It was a person with a small amount of magic: Camella.
She felt a sudden wave of warmth towards her brave friend. She was in her debt now; her life had been saved not by magic, but by sheer courage. The same as Navadar.
It made her feel a little ashamed of her moment of conceited pride. Yes, she had power. No, she was not necessarily powerful. Those who had power amounted to nothing unless they had the right motivation behind it. In the fight, Camella had come out on top, the weakest of the three. And she walked away, unscathed, with the greatest weapon of all.
Kiethara pursed her lips at the thought of Camella possessing the jewel. Did she understand how much leverage she now had?
Kiethara gasped, springing to her feet. She had to reach Camella before Gandador could find her! At any moment, he could appear, and it would not be much of a fight between them…
She threw herself into the air and took off. She focused hard on her connection, keeping tabs on Camella’s position. She was weaving through the trees with no pattern or obvious direction, heading in the opposite direction she had come from. Kiethara sped through the air as fast as she could.
“Camella!” she cried as she spotted her figure through the branches.
“Kiethara!” Camella gasped as she landed on the forest floor behind her.
Camella spun around and in her hand flashed the necklace as it caught in the sunlight. Immediately, she felt the draw on her strength and her magic. Her hand shot out to catch herself on the nearest tree.
“Oh! Sorry!” she cried, turning around.
“It’s…fine…” Kiethara panted.
“I need to get this…thing out of here,” she fretted, shaking her empty hand as though it was on fire.
“Yes,” Kiethara agreed. “I honestly can’t thank you enough—”
“I appreciate your gratitude, but it really isn’t necessary,” she interrupted. “Just tell me what to do with it.”
“Destroy it,” Kiethara replied bluntly. “Burn it, bury it. Anything.”
“All right,” Camella said, nodding vigorously. “How about I drown it?”
“Perfect,” Kiethara said, slightly distracted as she backed up a few paces. “It must be deep enough so that no one will be able to find it.”
“Is there a nearby lake?”
“No, it can’t be in here.” Kiethara tried to think around the haze the jewel created in her mind. “Is there a lake you know of outside the forest?”
She was quite for a minute. “Yes…yes, all right…”
“Be careful,” Kiethara stressed. “Gandador doesn’t know your name and he didn’t get a good look at you, but all the same, you are in danger. Whatever you do, don’t go anywhere near Nikkoi.”
“I’ll take care of it,” she vowed. “Don’t fret about a thing!”
“Oh, I will,” Kiethara argued. “Every minute. That’s why, when the accursed necklace is gone, you must come back. I must know that you are safe.”
“Certainly,” Camella laughed over her shoulder.
“We’ll feast when you return—I promise you that.”
“A feast, you say?”
“Yes,” Kiethara promised. “You need to head east, though; you are facing the wrong direction. Go that way”—she pointed—“and keep going straight.”
“Fair winds, Kiethara!” she called as she started forward.
“Fair winds,” she murmured as Camella disappeared.