Page 87 of Terragnata and the Heir of the Earth

“On the Full Moon of the Creatrix,” the Talpa whispered, so softly I almost missed it. “Twenty years ago.”

Romeo hopped and struck the ground with a hoof, begging to go, and I had to clench my thighs to quiet him. “What is the full?—”

“Let us leave this place, and find somewhere safe,” the Talpa interrupted, shifting painfully back into its true form. It took off in an unnatural run, bidding me to follow. I didn’t have to kick Romeo into action. We galloped after the creature.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

FAIR DEALS

“It’s simple. Just kill me, then revive me. Perhaps you can use your magic to slow my heartbeat and then speed it back up again?”

I paced around the cave where we made camp—a rocky hole in the perimeter of the Convallis. “I’m not a healing Witch, you know that, right? I’m just an Earth Witch,” I responded to the inane solution the creature had proposed.

“Ha! Merely an Earth Witch! Well,thoseare not words I thought I would hear in all my millennia,” the Ezren imposter replied.

“Do you have to remain in his form?” I asked, heat climbing to the tips of my ears. “It makes it harder for me to think.” I rubbed my thumb and index finger over my brow.

“Yes, your mind is quite deafening at the moment,” the Talpa said, apparently privy to my thoughts. “Unfortunately, not onlycanTalpa shift to show the desire of those around them, we are highly encouraged to do so… given we are cursed to feel acute pain in our true forms. I’ve spent little time in my natural shape because of that. So, I have few options other than the reflection of my surroundings. Though you may not like it, what you desire ismostundeniable.”

I sighed, plopping down on the cold stone next to the fire, staring into the flames. “I have never brought someone back to life with or without magic. What makes you so confident I could do it now?”

“I am not. I simply trust, as you trusted me. How were you so confident that I did not deceive you when I told you of the lifeblood?”

“Talpa cannot lie,” I said weakly.

“Yes, but they can deceive. It could have been a trick. I said the gift of lifeblood would grant me freedom—but I didn’t sayonlymy freedom. I could have been taking more than you knew.”

“Well, it certainly sounds like you have experience with crafty wording,” I huffed, rolling my eyes. “I don’t know. I suppose I sensed more fear in you than malice. I also have been afraid, many times. You felt, familiar, like me. I guess… I guess I did trust you.”

“Butwhy?” the creature pressed. “You’ve had your trust violated many times in the past, no?”

I threw my hands up in admission. “I don’t know why—perhaps, in here, everything is stripped away. There is no room for self-doubt in the Skøl. I have only instinct to rely on. And my instinct was to trust you.”

“Exactly. You could say I have that instinct now, too,” the Talpa said.

I paused, loosening a breath. “What’s your name?”

“Talpa do not have names, you know that,” it replied tartly.

“No, if my recollection is correct, Talpa do not have names theyshare. However, a trusted confidant, trusted enough to kill and bring back life, should know. Am I wrong?”

The Talpa eyed the flames. “I’ll make you a deal. You succeed, I’ll tell you my name thrice over.AndI’ll explain the Full Moon of the Creatrix.”

Though my stomach roiled again at its proposal, my pulse quickened at the potential information. The way the creature said it felt weirdlypersonal,and it had refused to share more after we’d found a safe resting place. I curled myself into a ball on some soft ground I had gathered, letting my eyes shutter.

“Fine. I agree. No need to attempt it now. It’s the middle of the night, and we have until sundown tomorrow. We must rest,” I said through my yawn.

The Talpa rolled onto one side and fell into rhythmic breathing almost instantly.

I eyed the sleeping creature.Why help me? Why not run?I stared into the dwindling fire, little more than glowing embers, looking for answers and finding none.

He cameto me in my dreams once more, a soft touch here and a firm press there. It felt just as desperate, raw, and real as the first time. A time when we needed each other so badly we becameone.When I was him, and he was me. That I could relive the moment in my head—the memory alone conjuring the same physical reactions—stunned me. Even though I knew it was a dream.

I rolled over on that grassy bed, Ezren moving with me until his eyes locked with mine. And he leaned over me, taking my shoulders in his large palms, thumbing them gently. “Terra,” he said. “Terra,” he said again, urgency in his tone. I stirred, blinking my eyes open, and I froze when I saw Ezren in the flesh, his face leaning over me. A jolt of hot lighting ran through my body.

It wasn’t really Ezren, I remembered. It was a nameless Talpa, waking me with worry. I didn’t move for severalheartbeats more, recovering from the shock to my insides, taking small sips of air to calm the pounding in my chest.

“What is it?”

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