Page 130 of The Orc Outcast's Mate

A spring lay before her, crystalline and blue, outlined by moss-covered rocks and cream-colored sand. The ripples on the surface swayed melodically as if some unseen music beckoned. The trees around were illuminated, making their orange and red leaves seem to glow.

And the illumination came from the spring itself. Bright white light poured from the surface, flooding her, drowning her.

A deep sigh broke her wonder. “So, you found me then.”

She blinked as an orc stood up, revealing himself. He’d been crouching behind a large boulder to her right. He was slender, white, bald, and his eyes were milky.

But not necessarily unseeing.

The seer.

The light dimmed, and Miranda’s stomach churned with confusion and dismay. “W-wait, what was that light?”

The seer, who’d been brushing off his long gray cloak, paused and tipped his head in her direction, a single eyebrow raised. “You could see that?”

“Yes,” Miranda said, even as she took in the scene again. The crisp blue water was going black and the illuminated forest was slowly plunging back into darkness.

She couldn’t be in the dark. Her mind quailed and her pulse quickened, and she wrung her hands, unsure of what to do.

“Strange that you are so afraid of the dark when that is how I have lived almost my entire life,” the seer snorted, clearly amused.

But he raised a pale hand toward the spring and the light within brightened again, so bright this time there were hardly any shadows in the clearing surrounding them.

“What is that?” Miranda asked. “What kind of magic?”

“It is not magic. It is communion.”

Communion? “You’re . . . talking to the Fades?”

“In a way. It is a very one-sided conversation.”

She nodded slowly. “They must have guided me here.”

“Your curiosity guided you here, woman. Though, it is odd you can see the communion. I do not recall any other human ever being able to do so.”

Miranda said nothing, just continued to watch the light as it rippled and swayed with the gentle flow of the water.

“How is it you can see it, Miranda? Tell me, from where do you truly come?”

She wrung her hands together, stomach sinking with anticipation and anxiety. She needed to find her babies. She knew they were here on Faeda and she needed to save them.

Only the seer could tell her where they were. “Do that dredge thing with me, and I’ll tell you about where I’m from.”

The seer snorted. “I’m blind, not dumb.” Her stomach dropped as he scrutinized her, eyes narrowed. “You still aren’t ready.”

A bubble of hope burst around her. One she hadn’t even realized she’d built. “Can’t we at least try?—”

“No.”

“But I have so many questions. Or, one really important one?—”

“Yes, and you steadfastly refuse to even think about anything else. You work to bury yourself rather than heal.”

“What do you mean?” Miranda asked softly, even though she knew. She absolutely knew.

But the seer spelled it out for her, regardless. “You have to stop hiding from your past, Miranda. The answers are in it. How do you think the dredge will work if you cannot even face the memories it will bring up?”

“But...” She didn’t need to remember the horrors of Earth. She didn’t need to remember the blank spots in her memory. She could let the mystery remain forever. As long as she was able to save her babies.

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