Page 68 of Of Empires and Dust

The songsof the ethereal forest drifted on the wind as Ella marched through the undergrowth, wisps of white smoke rising with each footstep that pressed into the earth. The woodland was as alive here as it was in the waking world. And it was all so much clearer than it had ever been before. Now she felt as though she could trulysee, and in seeing, she found herself enamoured with the trails of white mist that drifted in the wake of the birds that weaved through the trees. The same mist wafted from everything, but there was something about the way the birds moved that was singularly beautiful.

She had awoken from her slumber an hour or so previous. Though, slumber felt a strange word. She had been asleep, but no dreams had filled her mind, no nightmares had haunted her. It had simply been darkness and then light. And yet she wasrejuvenated, as though she’d had the single best sleep of her life. She’d thought about waiting in that spot for Tamzin to return, but she’d never liked standing around twiddling her thumbs and waiting on others to give her direction. Besides, she had no idea how long she’d been asleep. Time was immeasurable in this place. How long did she wait for Tamzin? What if the druid never came back? What if this was Ella’s fate? To walk endlessly through the Sea of Spirits, never quite alive, never quite dead.

The thought sent a shiver through her.

No, she would not sit around and wait. She’d seen her father’s maps many times as a child. If she kept the Marin Mountains on her left, then moved north with the Argonan Marshes on her right, she would eventually reach the Darkwood. Tamzin had found her the first time. She would find her again. Besides, the woman had said it herself that it was best to keep moving.

As Ella walked, her mind wandered, sensing the souls that filled the world around her, hearing the multitude of tiny wingbeats, the scampering of small creatures through the undergrowth, the thumping of hundreds of hearts.

After a while, time slipped away, the ground ceding to her stride, the world blurring around her. But as soon as she noticed the shift, everything refocused and she doubled over, pulling ragged breaths into her lungs. Her head spun, and her stomach lurched. Fighting the urge to retch, Ella stood straight, clasping her hands at the back of her head and drawing long, deep breaths as her father had taught her when practicing with the sword all those years ago.

The memory twisted in her like a knife. She would never hear his voice again, never see his face, never feel the warmth of his embrace. If only she’d known what would happen, she would’ve said goodbye properly before she’d left. In fact, she never would have left at all and Rhett would still be alive…

Ella pushed the thoughts aside. They would do her no good here. She needed to focus. She needed to get back to Calen and Haem and Faenir – to those who needed her.

“Wait, that can’t be possible,” she muttered as she took in her surroundings. When she had started walking, the Marin Mountains had run like an endless wall to her left, their peaks shrouded in cloud. Now they were at her back, the sky clear. How long had she been walking? How far had she journeyed?

Just the thought alone summoned aches in her muscles and lethargy in her bones.

“I told you,” a familiar voice called. “Distances are different here. As is time. I do not understand it, not truly. And nor do I ever hope to. But some things are as they are, with or without our understanding.”

Tamzin walked past Ella, white mist trailing behind her. The woman’s eyes were once again a deep ocean blue, her pupils like those of a kat’s.

Ella kept her hands at the back of her head, slowly filling her lungs and exhaling controlled breaths. She met Tamzin’s gaze, unflinching. She still didn’t trust the woman. There was too much Tamzin wasn’t saying. But for now, she was the only thing that gave Ella any hope of getting back to the waking world – any hope of seeing her brothers and Faenir again. So she would play along.

“You covered an impressive distance. I’ve not seen one so untested move so quickly here. I thought I told you to wait for me?”

“Actually, all you told me was that you would return and that if anything came for me, I was to run. You never said anything about waiting.”

Tamzin rolled her eyes. “Spoken like a true wolfchild.”

“Well, first you told me how dangerous this place was, how many people or wraiths would come to kill me… and then you left me alone in this oh so dangerous place.”

“And you decided to wander into the unknown, with nothing but your head, your heart, and the wolf in your blood.” Tamzin shook her head and laughed. “Definitely a wolfchild. Come. As much ground as you made, there is still more to go. It’s best we don’t stay still any longer than we have to.”

The forest gave way to open plains as Tamzin marched Ella forward at a relentless pace, the Marin Mountains shrinking into the distance. They moved far quicker than they had the first day, the world seeming to shift and churn beneath Ella’s feet. It was the strangest sensation, as though time was moving faster than was natural. Whenever she lost focus, the feeling intensified, seconds and minutes slipping past her before she’d even noticed.

“How did you find me?” Ella asked when they stopped for a moment.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about it. When we walk here, our bodies in the living world stay where they are. So when you left me, you would have returned there. Correct?”

“Correct.”

“Then how did you make it back to me so quickly? If we have to walk all the way to the Darkwood, surely you had to walk all the way to me.”

Tamzin stopped in her tracks and turned fully to look at Ella. Her bottom lip was upturned, her eyes back to a kat-like shimmering blue. “I had a feeling you were quick of mind. We’ll make a Blooddancer out of you yet.” The woman continued walking, talking over her shoulder as she went. “As I said before, this place holds many secrets. There are other ways to travel, paths known as Warrens that traverse this place. There are fewleft alive who know how to travel the Warrens. Which makes me a very lucky woman.”

“I’m going to assume there’s a reason we’re not using one right now then, and it’s not that you just like long walks.”

“Fragments can’t walk the Warrens.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. But they can’t. Don’t test the truth of that statement.” Something in Tamzin’s voice changed, the scent of her shifting with it. She was… sad, perhaps. No, melancholy was a better word. Ella decided not to press the matter.

“I have more questions.” Ella tried not to smile as she spoke, the pair of them carrying on walking. She knew when a memory hurt, and she could see that hurt in Tamzin now.

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