Page 127 of Of Blood & Stone

Sitting up, he gripped his chest. Bright hazel eyes stared deeply into his, the crinkles deepening around her mouth as she smiled.

“Mother?” Elnok whispered, a sob crawling up the back of his throat, “Did I die?”

His voice surprised him. Small, like a child.

“You’re very much alive, especially now that the poison has been extracted,” she replied, “But I’m not your true mother. I’m Aretta—the goddess of life.”

Elnok gulped, his chest twisting, confusion pulling at his mind.

She continued, “As the goddess of life, I appear as the one who gave life to you.”

He stared long and hard at her, the details so exact and precise he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to believe her. He wasn’t sure if he should embrace her or run.

“Where are Sylzenya and Kharis?” he inquired.

She waved her hand, motioning behind him, her long white robes flowing like water. He turned, a meadow full of red and yellow flowers rested among a willow grove. It looked endless—unchanging.

The light wasn’t from the sun, rather, it was everywhere. No horizon in sight, as if a wall erected of light circled them. Rivers of gold flowed from ground to sky. Yet there was no sky, only more pulsing light. Gray and white birds flew through the air, their songs filling the space as they landed among the willows and rested in the meadow.

Kharis sat leaning against a tree, hair falling to his chest, leather armor tattered, his belly slowly heaving up and down. Next to him, Sylzenya also slept. She was sprawled among the flowers, the reds and yellows framing her dirtied and bloodied face. Her white robes were ripped apart, barely covering her body, and her hair was muddied. A sudden urge to touch her skin overwhelmed him, needing to know she was safe. He tried to stand up, only for a sharp pain to run along his chest.

The arachni bite.

“Careful,” Aretta spoke softly, gripping his arm and guiding him back to the meadow floor, “You’re still healing, and they need to rest. All of you do.”

“Where are we?” Elnok whispered.

“My prison of paradise. My willow.”

Fighting to find words, he turned to his mother—the goddess—and gripped the green grass poking into his skin.

“We made it?” he checked. “We made it to Aretta’s Willow?”

She nodded. “You three are the first to have found it.”

Elnok’s uncertainty transformed into hysterical laughter as he looked up into the sky, the glowing walls, realizing it was the bark of a tree.

They wereinsidethe magical willow.

“Oh my gods,” he whispered, smiling wide, “We did it. I honestly thought it was just a figment of legend. But, I… I need medicine for my friend, Orym. I’m not sure how to ask for this, but, I was told you have the cure.”

“Elnok Rogdul, you barely survived arachni poison, and now you wish to get onto business? Please, let’s take a few moments to breathe before we jump into why I ushered you three here.”

“Ushered us?” Elnok laughed. “You make it sound like you handpicked us or some bullshit.”

Bird song filled the silence.

“And what if I did?”

He furrowed his brow, turning to her, the picture of his mother difficult to reconcile as a centuries-old goddess.

“You said it yourself—you’ve been trapped here,” Elnok replied, “We all had our own agendas for finding your tree. You didn’t do any of that.”

Lacing her hands behind her back, she stared past Elnok—towards Sylzenya—in silence.

“I’m here for Orym’s medicine, that’s it,” he said, “He doesn’t have long to live, so I don’t have long to sit here and discuss things with you.”

Aretta sighed. “I understand this was your main goal, but we have a far more dire situation at play than your sick frien?—”

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