***
“Kiethara.”
She answered this call with a faint sigh; her sense returning to her rather lethargically. It took her a sluggish moment to feel the grass beneath her, to taste the pure, untainted air around her, and to properly hear the voice above her.
“Come on, up now,” Aaron said gently.
“No,” she moaned, rolling her head away from the sunlight.
Suddenly, cold water splashed against her face and neck. She jolted upright, spluttering and gasping.
“What in the world was that for?!”
“When I said now, I meant it.”
“Obviously,” she muttered. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. “How did you do that? There’s no water.”
“There’s water everywhere, Kiethara. You just have to find it.”
Kiethara shook her head, too exhausted and worn out to comprehend his remark. Everything was coming back to her now. Gandador, Camella, the necklace…
“Aaron,” she said, a grin spreading across her face. “Goodness, I think it’s done. The necklace is on its way to the bottom of a lake!”
Kiethara could not see an expression of happiness on his dim figure, but she could feel it. A deep joy was emitting off of him. She couldn’t recall a time when he had seemed so happy, so relieved. Her smile widened as she took this in.
“We owe this Camella much, Kiethara,” he said. “It has been hundreds upon hundreds of years since I have felt this secure about the forest’s future. Now that the necklace is gone, I can breathe freely again.”
“Even with me as a guardian?” she asked, surprised.
“What is that supposed to mean?” he laughed. “You might be young in years, but not in skill. I have complete faith in you.”
Kiethara blushed. “I bet you’re happy I make friends with strangers now.”
“Indeed.”
“The jewel might be gone, but the forest is still in danger. It seems Gandador has hatched another plan again.”
“I know,” he said, sounding uneasy. “The necklace gave him some uncharacteristic precariousness, which may have led to his new…proceedings.”
“Is it possible?” she asked.
Aaron was quiet for a long while.
“Yes,” he finally said. “If you were to kill the guardian, but make sure that the forest lived on, eventually the magic would return back to its original state.”
“He didn’t want to kill me, though. He wanted me to be a part of it.”
“The necklace, again, must have influenced that decision. Gandador seems to know how it works: it takes magic from you just as you take magic from the forest. That jewel is filled with power. I believe that he believes that as long as you are still alive, you will continue to feed power into the necklace. Simply put, the power of the forest will be in his hands.”
“But it’s in the necklace!” she spluttered. “He can’t get it, can he?”
“That, Kiethara, I cannot tell you. I have never had the ability to study that necklace as Gandador has. There might be a possibility, I’m afraid.”
Kiethara swallowed. The only advantage she had over her father was her unlimited supply of magic. His limitations had granted her those narrow escapes she was so fond of; however, if his power no longer relied on making a potion, her edge was lost…
“But he doesn’t have it anymore,” she said firmly.
“Which is why,” Aaron said slowly. “The next time he comes, the only option he will have left to undermine the guardians reign, as he has so been trying, will be to kill you.”
There was a moment of silence.
“We’re back to where we started,” she realized.
“He’s out of all other options. He wants the magic that is here, but he despises that the guardians have rule over it. He has had idea after idea…they have either proved fruitless or impossible, or they were hindered as they were today. Now his only option is to risk destroying the magic by destroying the one thing that has always stood in his way.”
“So the next time we meet…” she said slowly.
“Must be the last time,” he finished.
Kiethara contemplated that. She understood what it meant and the possibility that lurked in its shadows. Yet her heart remained quite calm in her breast. Now, at least, she had some certainty. No more toying around the edges of the problem—she must end it. The only other option could not be even remotely considered.
No, she could not even think of it. Her stomach churched, but she gritted her teeth and focused on getting up off the ground.
“Are you all right?” Aaron asked.
Kiethara took a long moment to register the aches in her bones, the bruises in her flesh, and the heavy exhaustion that threatened to take her under. She thought of her recent revelation and now realized that another death was on her doorstep: it would be either her own or Gandador’s.
So the answer to his question was no, she was not. She was beginning to feel it—the weights of responsibility, the impending fear. It suddenly became much more difficult to breathe than it should have been.
“It’s been an unbelievable journey,” Kiethara breathed, speaking around a lump in her throat.
“You’ve been unbelievable,” Aaron said. “I do not want you to worry, or make yourself sick with fear. Lighten your heart, prepare for the return of your friend. Train hard. Stay alert. Above all, be prepared.”
“Aaron…” she said, her heart racing. Why did his words sound like a farewell?
“I will talk to you…soon,” he said quietly. There was something about his tone, and his pause, that made her uneasy. It almost seemed weak. And he seemed so pale…
“Good day,” he said, and then he disappeared.
She opened her mouth as if to call him back, but he was long gone before the words were on her tongue. She gritted her teeth, hurt, angry, and confused. Nowadays, she received nothing else from Aaron. The comfort he usually supplied her with seemed to have run dry…
Kiethara started making her way back to her clearing. As she drifted through the air, she focused on her connection, expanding it wider in search of her friend. Camella had made a great headway already. At this rate, she would be out of the forest by sometime tomorrow. Kiethara could predict no further after that. How far would a lake be? She couldn’t recall one from her time in the kingdoms…
Well, she would give her a week. Besides, a week was plenty of time to prepare.