I wasn’t sure what Uli planned to do. The tree had already been destroyed. Was there any way to save it now?
Uli moved toward the fire with her hands thrust outward, her eyes glowing white until she had no discernible pupils. The power gathering around her grew so strong that it mingled with my own magic, making me lightheaded. I shut my eyes for a moment to let the dizziness pass, but when I opened them again, the room still seemed to teeter.
I felt a comforting hand on my shoulder and looked up to find Kull standing beside me.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I’m all right.”
A tornado formed above Uli’s open palms, small at first, then growing in size. The Wults and I backed away from her, frightened by her power. As her whirlwind intensified, it moved to envelop the fire.
I clenched my teeth as the dizziness receded, and instead, strong waves of pain pulsed through my body. Did Uli know what she was doing? The tornado wouldn’t just destroy the fire, it would kill us all.
Thunder boomed, making the cavern shake, and making us fall to the cavern’s floor. The feel of the ground beneath my hands was my only link to reality. Between the intense heat and the sharp, stabbing pains, I was unable to stand. Sweat beaded on my face, and I tasted its saltiness on my tongue. Just as I felt as though the heat and pain would overcome me, the wind dissipated.
I blinked, trying to focus, my ears buzzing in the silent chamber. As I stood, I found the Wults and Caxon warriors lying strewn about the floor. Charred piles of embers lay scattered in the area where the tree had once stood.
Uli, no longer in her white robes, collapsed near the tree’s remains. Tears moistened her eyes, so she shut them. With her brows knitted and her lips pinched tight, her pain was evident.
She had stopped the fire, but was it too late?
The pain had dissipated, but my skin broke out in a clammy sweat as I limped toward her. My boots sank into the stray ash piles littering the ground, and I stumbled as my toe caught on a log buried beneath the cinders. Smoke rose from the ash piles and filled the air, making it hard to breathe. The men on the ground began to sit up, but I ignored them as I neared Uli. With her tatty clothing and disheveled braids, I was reminded of her mortality.
She looked at me with pleading eyes as I approached. After crossing the distance between us, I knelt at her side. Resting my hand on her shoulder, I found myself at a loss for words. How could I comfort her after such a tragedy? No words could convey the loss I felt for her—for all of Faythander.
“The Everblossom,” she gasped. “It is gone. I could not save it.”
“You did the best you could.”
“But it was not enough.”
How could I comfort her? Words were useless in a situation such as this. The tree was gone, and although she’d done everything she could, she hadn’t been able to save it.
But… what if there were still something we could do?
I focused on what remained of the Everblossom’s smoldering remains. White ash lay in heaps around singed logs, and the charred scent of burnt wood filled the air. My eyes watered as I inhaled the smoke. When I looked more closely at the mound, I noticed a green shoot growing in the midst of the ash. Its leaves fluttered, though I felt no wind. As I drew closer to inspect it, I found a tiny white bud growing from the shoot. Pure magic flowed through the bud, gaining strength with every passing second, but where was the magic coming from?
Uli took my hand, and I turned to her. The energy of her magic was in her, just beneath her skin, flowing quickly, and then more slowly. With shock, I realized why her magic was weakening. The Everblossom’s magic was leaving her to enter the flower.
“I give my life,” Uli said, “to preserve our world.”
“Your life?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
“It is necessary. Our world will die if I do not give my essence to the flower.”
“What? Uli, no! There has to be another way.”
“No, this is the only way.”
“No! You must be wrong. Uli, stop this! We’ll find another way.”
The Everblossom’s magic continued flowing from Uli into the flower, along with the pixie’s own essence. With horror, I realized there was nothing I could do to stop her. She was giving her life to save Faythander’s magic.
The last of the magic flowed from her. As the magic filled the bud, it rose into the air, surrounded by a shimmering magical shield, and hovered above the bed of flickering coals, just out of my reach.
The bud’s petals opened, revealing a whiteness so pure I had to shield my eyes.
The magic’s light filled the entire cavern. I stared, awestruck, at the amount of power housed in that one tiny bloom.
Uli squeezed my hand. “There is only one place it can take root. Over the sea of a thousand faces,” she gasped, “let the silver light show the way. The bloom will only flourish under the stars of the mirror-white sand. Only there will it be safe. Only then can our world be saved.”
“Uli,” I whispered, “I don’t understand.”
Her eyes didn’t meet mine. Could she hear me?
“What is the silver light?” I asked. “Where is the sand?”
“Know that magic in Faythander will cease to exist unless the blossom flourishes. All who possess magic—every plant and animal, every life, every soul—will die.”
Her warning hit me with the force of a tsunami.
