Page 90 of Terragnata and the Heir of the Earth

I unfurled the paper.

Competitor! Congratulations, you have taken the breath from this creature, and were not the last to do so, preventing your elimination. The remaining competitors have until sundown to complete their tasks. Rest and await further instructions for the test of Honor.

Remember, contestant, you may eliminate your competitors at any time.

Skøl!

So it was tied then—one victory for me, one victory for Tey. I pressed my eyelids together, praying there would be another competitor besides the two of us to compete in the final challenge of the Skøl. If there was, I’d only need to ensure they won, and the draw would remain.

And stay alive.ThatI would also have to do.

“So… you haven’t fulfilledyour bargain,” I said to Cobal over a mouthful of nuts and berries. We’d spent the morning gathering provisions and tending to my various cuts and bruises. I’d been waiting for the creature to offer the information, but my curiosity overpowered my patience.

Cobal grunted. “I’m surprised you waited this long to ask.”

“Well?”

“I swore I’d tell you about the Full Moon of the Creatrixafteryou succeeded in bringing me back, nothow longafter.”

I narrowed my eyes at the Talpa. “Are you serious?”

The creature sighed. “Fine. I will tell you the meaning of the day, and nothing more.”

I nodded. “As you vowed.”

“The Full Moon of the Creatrix, the day you were born, is—how shall we say—an auspicious day to be born. The Creatrix is thought of by both Witch and Fae as The Original.”

I cocked my head. “The original what?”

“The Original Creator. Original Fae. Original Witch. The Seed of Life. The Mother of All. The Beginning of Everything.”

I chuckled. “You know, the Fae and humans aren’t so different from one another. That sounds anawfullot like human folklore and religion.”

Cobal bristled, which made a tinge of shame sting my cheeks for laughing at its customs.

“So, what is the Full Moon of the Creatrix, exactly?”

“It is the day the full moon intercepts the summer solstice. It is a day of honoring, celebrating, and generally giving thanks, for the interception only happens once every twenty years or so. Fae and Witch alike give thanks to the Earth and her goddessfor what has been created, and for what will be. There are many sacrifices to the Creatrix herself. I believe your next birthday will be such a day.”

“And why did knowing I was born on the day of this festival make you follow me?”

“For an Earth daughter, the likes of which has not been seen in a thousand years, to be born on this day… well, it is an auspicious sign, as I said. I could not abandon you. I can offer nothing more than that.”

I thought to press the creature, but its expression was weary and warning, as if it had already shared more than it wanted. After filling my belly, boiling water to drink, and applying a makeshift salve to the slash on my face, Cobal offered to take the first watch. Resting seemed unthinkable, but the many portals and the duel with Tey had exhausted me. The next event could come any time after sundown. So despite my initial protest, I slept. The mossy clearing curled around me, and I sunk in. The mid-day sun warmed my core and I drifted into a sleep so strong, so enticing, I had the passing thought it could be magic.

And then I dreamed.

The detailsand edges were blurry. First, I saw a flash of lightning. And then another. And another. Six Witches stood on a rock under the night sky—connected somehow. Sharing power. The lightning struck again, this time touching all of them. They fell, not one by one, but as a unit, save their leader. She roared, blood trickling from her eyes. And then her scarlet dripping gaze turned to me.

I fought and fought to focus on her face. But I could not make it out. The scent of a female filled my nostrils as she movedcloser, her likeness still hidden from my mind. It wasn’t until her face drew close enough to mine—so close I could feel the tickle of her breath on my skin—that I saw my mother’s eyes. The blackness in them threatened to swallow me whole.

“It’s time to go.”

I couldn’t move.

“I said, it’s time to go.”

This is a dream. Just wake up, and you can move.

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