I pause when the trees start to thin. I’m getting close to human civilization. I must remain silent, so I don’t scare anyone. I don’t come as an invader, but they may not see it that way.
The snap of twigs and crunch of foliage announces the approach of a human.
The gaia. It’s unlikely it’d be the two guards, since I left the main path.
Slipping behind a tree and crouching low, I peer through the brambles. A young woman is stomping through the low bracken, muttering to herself.
Satisfaction flickers through me. It is the gaia. With her this close, I don’t need a crystal to tell me she holds earth magic. She carries it with her; the threads surrounding her like a fog.
The Earth holds this girl in high esteem.
She marches past, completely oblivious to my presence, and I catch some of her words.
“Wants me to stay close to home, does he? Maybe I would, if he could be bothered to actually tell me what’s going on. Stubborn fool. Eema, too. Both of them. Stupid-stubborn.”
I cock my head. I assume the ‘he’ is that bothersome boy I met yesterday. But that wouldn’t be Eema.
I rise silently and follow the girl. I need to talk to her, but I also want to know what she is about. That meddlesome young man better not make another appearance, however, or I will be tempted to wring his scrawny neck as humans do to chickens.
The gaia tromps through the foliage, grumbling to herself the entire time. She’s so young. She can’t be any older than Stella, and Stella is only eighteen.
Or maybe she’s nineteen. I realize with a start I have no idea when Stella’s birthday is. That could be a potential disaster. I’ve read that women take holidays and birthdays very seriously. What if her birthday passed without my knowing it?
Fyit. Is she harboring a grudge I don’t know about? I make a mental note to ask her about her birthday as soon as I can. I should probably ask her about Quinn’s too. She might be offended if I don’t do something for him, as well.
Humans are fussy creatures.
I pause once when the gaia looks over her shoulder. It’s clear she doesn’t see me. It helps that my stealthy movements are silent to human ears, and far enough away that it’s easy to hide behind bushes and trees. She merely peers around for a couple of moments before she’s walking again. It must just be a habit of hers. I approve of that. Even a forest as isolated as Vashon’s can’t be without its dangers. One should always be alert.
The girl comes to a clearing and sighs, as if letting cares and worries float away with the noise.
There’s a log near the far side of the glade, and the gaia walks over to sit on the ground, her back pressed against the trunk of the fallen tree. Once settled, she inhales deeply.
“Eema.”
The name is quiet in the silence. Well, silence except for the birds making their spring ruckus. I try to ignore them. Eyes narrowed, I sneak forward.
Could she possibly be trying to speak to the Earth?
The gaia’s eyes are closed as if meditating, and she fingers a purple pendant on a strip of leather tied around her neck. It looks like amethyst. Interesting. So some humans still know that crystals hold energy. I suppose it makes sense that the gaia would know that.
“Eema,” the girl says again.
And the Earth responds.
Goosebumps prickle across my arms, the hair rising on the back of my neck as I feel a wave of power emanating from the clearing into the woods beyond it.
Stars. The entity whose presence suddenly resides in the clearing is old, ancient beyond measure. My life has been a mere second compared to the age of the Earth. Of Eema.
Powerful. Raw. Alive.
And very much a mother.
I crouch behind some brambles, feeling suddenly unsure. Do I go and make myself known to the gaia now, or do I wait?
The presence isn’t something that is physical. I don’t think Eema can kill me. I don’t think she can.
The gaia is speaking, her voice low. The blasted birds are singing like today’s the last day of earthly existence, so I can’t pick up the words that are being spoken. Strange, though. I can’t hear Earth speaking, but the gaia speaks as she would to another human.
Time is important. I don’t want to leave Stella alone in the forest for any longer than I have to. I haven’t forgotten the dangerous being I sensed earlier in the day. It is long gone, and Stella isn’t far, but I still worry. I also don’t want that annoying forest boy to come along and cause trouble. This might be the only chance I get to talk to the gaia alone.
I have to make her trust me.
And I don’t know how to do that.
Stella didn’t trust me at first. Are all human women suspicious of elves, or just Stella?
I think of Lyra and wish I hadn’t. She makes Stella seem like the most trusting woman on the planet.
Well, suspicious or not, potentially vengeful Earth spirit or not, I have to talk to her. I’ve been entrusted with healing this planet. I must do what I can.
I’m no gaia, but I try to push my intentions outward through my mind. I am not a threat. I am here to help.
The presence narrows her focus on me, and nerves skitter down my back.
No going back, now. I came here to lend aid. I must help if I can. I hope the Earth is wise enough to know that I mean well.
With an exhale, I rise to my feet and step forward.
19
Sophia
I sit with my back to the log I often settle by when I want to talk to Eema. It’s a familiar, comforting spot, and relatively close to the Central Keep. Home. I am determined not to let my harrowing experience yesterday with the reaper stop me from entering
