Page 11 of Of Empires and Dust

Ella sucked in her cheeks and nodded. It was easier said than done, but at least Tamzin had given her some actual instructions this time. Once more, Ella focused on her breathing and the beating of her heart, then looked outward and began to paint.

“There’s a forest,” she said after a moment, a sense of relief as the tall trees and broad leaves took shape in her mind. “And a stream. It’s rushing… I can hear it.”

With each piece that slotted into place, each leaf and rock and branch that formed in her mind’s eye, Ella’s excitement grew.

“Good. What else?”

“A mountain. I can see it through the canopy. And…” Ella allowed her voice to trail off as a doe appeared in her mind’s eye, lifting its head from the stream, its eyes watching her. The creature was as it would be in the waking world, its fur white and brown, its nose black, ears pricking up. But just like Tamzin, a glowing white mist drifted from its body.

“What is it?” Tamzin asked, urging Ella to continue.

“A doe… drinking from the stream.” Even as the words left Ella’s lips, she noticed more creatures trickle into life around her: birds darting among the trees, fish glinting in the river, bees swarming around a hive between two rocks. She didn’t just see them, she couldfeelthem, their hearts and their souls.

“Open your eyes, Ella.”

For some reason, Ella felt something she hadn’t expected: fear. What would happen when she opened her eyes? What if nothing had changed and she was once again left floating in the vast emptiness.

Her pulse quickened.

“You’re not alone.” Tamzin squeezed Ella’s hands, repeating herself. “Open your eyes.”

Ella let out a long breath, feeling the wolf prowling in the back of her mind, rumbling in her blood. Whatever darkness they faced, they would face it together.

Ella opened her eyes. The darkness was gone, the emptiness eviscerated. Everything she had seen in her mind now stood before her. Both she and Tamzin were in an open forest with towering broad-leafed trees and a stream that rushed past behind them. The doe still stood by the water, its eyes fixed on her, two fawns at its side.

The world was not as it had been in the mortal plane, though. Pearly white mist drifted from every surface, light shifting as the leaves rustled and the water flowed.

“What is this?” Ella looked to Tamzin, finding the druid’s pupils now dominated the whites of her eyes. Ella’s gaze fell on her own hands, which still gripped firmly onto Tamzin’s wrists. The light that had comprised her body was now flesh, the same white mist wafting from her skin. “Even before, it was never like this. How?”

Tamzin’s lips curled into a broad smile, revealing two pairs of long fangs among her top and bottom teeth. “Like I said, this place holds more secrets than you could begin to imagine. Your eyes were closed, now they are not. Now, come with me. We must find somewhere safe. Then I will answer your questions.”

Ella made to step after Tamzin, then hesitated. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you helping me?”

“Because I’ve been you. Now come.”

Ella followedTamzin through the woodland for hours. Every tree, every branch, every blade of grass moved with that same ethereal glow. The ground beneath her feet was as solid as anything, the bark of the trees felt as it should – rough and harsh. Even the wind felt right as it swept Ella’s hair back. It was the same as the world she knew, and yet it was not.

Not a moment passed where she wasn’t aware she walked through the Sea of Spirits. Every creature radiated their emotions and thoughts.

She could feel the single-minded determination of the spider weaving its web, the hunger of the young fox, the contentment of the kat curled in the high branches of a nearby tree. And at times, she felt darker things… eyes watching her, hungry and wanting. She thought she saw dark shapes floating amidst the trees, shifting and twisting like clouds of black smoke, their faces almost human. But as soon as she saw them, they were gone.

“This is not the Níthianelle I know,” Ella said, feeling the waxy texture of a leaf as she ran her fingers along its surface. “Before, all I could sense were the animals. They were nothing more than lights, spheres of energy. Is any of it real?”

“Oh, it’s real,” Tamzin said, springing onto the trunk of a fallen tree. She reached back and extended a hand to Ella, heaving her up and onto the trunk before dropping down on the other side. “Your eyes are simply open wider now than they were before. This is a reflection of the mortal plane.”

Ella jumped from the trunk, landing with a thud, her feet pressing into the soft earth. “I can sense things I couldn’t before… things that send a chill through me. They’re?—”

“Wraiths,” Tamzin said before Ella could finish. “Those who were lost here, their souls doomed to wander endlessly. Some simply drift… others hunger.” Tamzin pointed to the base of an enormous tree with gnarled roots that lifted from the ground. “We will rest here. We’ve moved far enough. Tiredness affects you here just as it does in the mortal plane, though you won’t have to worry about food.”

The woman turned and leaned against one of the thick roots, folding her arms and fixing her gaze on Ella. She pointed towards a rock nestled near the tree’s base. “Sit.”

“I’m fine standing.”

“Suit yourself.” Tamzin bit at her lip with a fang, drawing a long breath through her nose and exhaling slowly. “So, you’ve entered Níthianelle before?”

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