Page 149 of Flame and Sparrow

His expression shifted into something unreadable, the white glow of his eyes overtaking the black for a terrifying moment. I braced myself and retreated a few steps, worried I had said the wrong thing.

Then he turned his back to me, pointing at something in the distance, and said, “If that is the case, I believe you’ll want to venture deeper to find what it is you’re after.”

My chest tightened at the thought of having to descend farther into the darkness. But I managed a nod, and as I did, a path appeared where he was pointing—another sloping route twisting into the depths.

How far underground did this tower go?

I started to walk before fear could grip me more fully.

The path, which was made of translucent, faintly glowing blue crystal, led to another flat room with shining black walls that seemed to absorb most sound. There was no keeper here—only another pool that was much smaller, much brighter than the first.

I realized then that bypassing the first pool had likely been a test, and a chill shot through me as I wondered what would have become of me if I’d actually given in to the temptation and drank from its waters.

My shivering didn’t cease as I approached the second pool. I peered into it, expecting to see my tired and scarred—but determined—face.

It was not myself peering back at me.

The reflection’s dark hair fell in similar waves past her shoulders, but her eyes were blue, not green. Her skin was a perfectly sandy, unblemished beige, unmarred by scars or anything else. Her smile was bold. Unbothered. The confident, familiar expression I’d never managed to fully imitate.

My sister.

I blinked and she disappeared, leaving my face—and my face alone—in the water.

Another blink and she returned, only to disappear again in the next breath. Back and forth it went, the water rippling gently even though I never touched it—it was as though Savna was trapped beneath the surface, trying to break through.

I clenched my hands into fists and hugged them hard against my sides, fighting the urge to reach into the water and grab her. This was a trick. Iknewthis was a trick.

That didn’t stop the aching in my hands and heart as I stood there uselessly, letting her drown.

I sensed the Tower Keeper approaching, though his footsteps and everything else about him remained silent.

“She’s the one you’re seeking, is she not?”

I couldn’t answer with anything more than a numb dip of my head, an almost nod.

“She stood here, years ago,” he informed me.

I spun around to face him, heart in my throat.

“Her reflection was much clearer than yours.”

Of course it was.

My sister had always been so certain, so clear in her decisions. She would never have wavered as I did now. She never would never have questioned what she was meant to do, who she was meant to be, what she was meant to look like.

I glanced back at the water. At my reflection alone, now. Like a distant observer I saw my hands reaching for my scars, clawing a path across my cheek and throat. I dragged my fingers back down into fists at my sides and asked, “What is this pool called? What is its magic?”

“Melithra,” he replied. “And its waters have the power to completely transform you with merely a sip.”

“To trigger ascension, you mean?”

“It has such power, yes.”

My pulse quickened. It couldn’t be so easy as taking a drink of water. There had to have been a catch.

“The power to completely transform…” I repeated, “…but what will it transform me into?”

He took so long answering that I finally turned to face him again. His smile had become almost pleased. As though we were playing a game, and I’d proven a worthy opponent.

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