Page 26 of Of Withering Dreams
As we tumbled into the other side, I had the fleeting thought that we were being too reckless, but here we were.
I looked at Kaden and then down at my dress. Tiny beads of twirling light stuck to our figures like soap bubbles on wet glass. The hazy outlines of our shapes remained in the veil behind us, opaque silhouettes devoid of the veil’s colorful, swirling sparkles.
The mystical glow within our eyes faded. Soon after, the dazzling orbs leaped from our bodies, fusing with the mystic mesh once more.
Kaden shook out his arms, clenching his hands. “It feels like my skin is vibrating.”
“Same,” I murmured, my vision wandering over the lustrous forest surrounding us. The trees, moss, flowers … every living thing was bursting with illuminated, coruscating auras as if they could no longer bury their ember within them. I exhaled, creating a soft, glittering swirl of air in front of me. “Is this what the world truly looks like?”
Kaden shrugged and moved forward, smirking. Specks of twinkling light floated around him and his path, caressing but not making contact with him. I shook my head, brushing some errant curls from my cheek, and followed him. The neon motes frolicked around me in the same way.
As we walked, I wiggled my fingers through the air, mesmerized by its shimmering dance. With every step, a rippling glow swept through the moss. I brushed my palm over the rich bark of a tree trunk, its smooth knots and ridges prominent. It felt alive. I grazed my fingertips over pearlescent flowers dancing beside the tree, the petals warm and velvety. Each time my skin connected with the flora, its aura brightened, swaying away from my touch and settling back into the living thing like a wave upon the shore.
I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, the energies around me sifting through my lungs and tingling along my skin.
Little Staaaaar.
My eyes snapped open, a trickle of panic zipping up my neck at the rasping voice creeping through the air.
“Kaden, was that you?”
“Huh? Did you say something?” Kaden’s eyes bore through me like I was made of the same material as the glimmering veil. I reached my hand toward him, but he wandered around and past me—searching for something, forgetting I was there.
“Kaden—”
My voice caught behind my teeth as a chilled breeze washed over me. Irradiant specks of ember churned in a frenzy, as if trying to escape, but they couldn’t stray far from the confines of the orbiting breeze. The creaking voice tangled within the wind as it twirled around me. My nickname echoed, slicing through my thoughts until I was dizzy, my mind spinning.
Liiiiittle Staaaar.
My little star.
I whipped toward the voice, now immediately behind me—melodic and feminine. Familiar. Nearly forgotten. I swept my fingers over my lashes, clearing away tears exorcised by the frosty memories clawing within me.
“Mama?” I rasped, my voice scratching.
She was there, a milky form materializing. The ember caught within the spinning air slurped into her shape as if it drank in the energy, extinguishing its light.
“Yes, Little Star,” she said, a simper splitting her ethereal features. She looked both solid and made of vapor. Her gauzy white dress drifted to the ground, fading into hazy billows around her. The only true color saturating her was that of her wild ruby-colored hair floating around her shoulders.
My mind was made of vapor as well. I clenched my fingers into my palm, the pain a reminder to steady myself. Pulsing frantically, my scar sent tremors quivering down my back and over my arms.
“Where have you been, Mama?” I asked, my words catching in my throat, breathless. She glided toward me, her arms outstretched.
“Here.”
“In Surrelia? Why couldn’t you come home? What happened?”
Her arms wrapped around me, her skin icy and clammy.
She didn’t feel right.
“Mama?”
“Littlllllle Starrr.” Her voice slithered around me.
She didn’t sound right.
I tried to shift within her embrace but found myself ensnared. A tear freed itself, rolling down my cheek and freezing against my skin as I looked at her. No longer beautiful, but eerie and ravenous. My breaths were shallow; each inhale felt like tiny icicle shards sliced down through my windpipe.
