Page 52 of Of Blood and Banes
The other guard recognizes me, his eyes widening as he elbows the one who spoke, and motions toward me silently.
The first guard lowers his spear, clearing his throat before he speaks, “My apologies. Please continue on your way. But hurry back, the forest is no safe place for two ladies on their own.”
“We’ll manage,” Marge grumbles as she grabs the back of my arm above my elbow and steers me away.
We venture into the forest, the pine trees stretching into the sky like an army of still soldiers watching us coldly. The moonlight seeps through the pine needles, washing the forest floor in grays and shadows. Marge holds up a hand to stop me as we near the edge of a clearing.
“What? Why did you bring me out here in the middle of the night, Marge?” I whisper.
“Shh!” Her gaze is glued to something in the distance. A breeze picks up, lifting her hair and shuffling her cloak. She slowly looks at me over her shoulder. “Do you hear it?”
I blink hard, straining to listen between the whispering of wind in the leaves and bubbles of the river farther south from us. “No, there’s nothing out there. This is ridiculous?—”
“Shhh!” she warns again and hobbles toward me. “Close your eyes.”
I eye the forest around us, my skin prickling at the thought of closing my eyes if she actually heard something in the distance. She hits the side of my leg with her staff, and a dull ache springsin my muscles at the contact. I squeeze my eyes shut and am swallowed by darkness. The breeze dies off, leaving an eerie stillness settling around us. I listen hard, looking for whatever Marge was trying to hint at, but still, I find nothing. I peek an eye open and Marge is still standing in front of me, staring.
“Focus!” she barks.
I squeeze my eye back shut, forcing myself not to shiver in the cold night air now that I’m motionless.
Marge murmurs, soft as if she might scare something off, “Listen…you’ve grown accustomed to its sound, because it’s become a second nature to you. You’ve tuned it out because it’s something you’ve heard your whole life, and it’s been right under your nose, all along.”
With my eyes still closed, I shiver in the bitter cold. Still straining to listen for whatever delusion Marge has convinced herself is out here, in the middle of the night. Perhaps I should be concerned for her mental stability if she’s pulling me from bed after midnight for…a sound emerges from the trees. Sliding through the canopies, gliding along the wind, and whispering through the undergrowth. A soft, subtle, hum. My jaw drops. The longer I focus on it—the louder it becomes. The buzz surrounds us, echoing off the tree trunks.
“Yes…” Marge whispers, closer than she’d been moments before. Her body heat radiates near in proximity. “You hear it.”
Perplexed and curious, I nod, considering opening my eyes. But something stops me, as if I know better. As if once I open my eyes, my focus will slip, and the sound will disappear. The deep humming relaxes every nerve ending in my body, singing in my bones, and slowing every rush of blood in my veins.
Marge’s hand softly rests on my shoulder. “Good…I want you to kneel down.”
My normal hesitation is swept away by an indescribable wave of enchantment. I lower myself to the ground, slowly and obediently, until my knee hits the cold dirt.
“Now…” she says, as soft as a breath. “Remove your gloves…put your hand to the ground. And feel it.”
I remove my gloves and toss them to the side. Slowly, I bend forward, the humming growing louder as I reach my hand out to where I sense the ground is. I hesitate before I touch it, hovering above the surface. My skin grows rigid with goosebumps breaking out along my forearm, every microscopic hair on the back of my neck stands. A magnetic gravity pulls my hand closer, and I fight against it momentarily, before I push through my hesitation and press my palm flat to the dirt.
A living, surging essence breathes beneath the surface. It’s buzzing energy whispers out around and beneath me. The black behind my eyelids glows with an incandescent burst of blue and white. I’m fully drawn to it as if it could tear me through the layers of dirt to get to the core of this world. It whispers to me—calling me. Tempting me. Nearlypleading.I put my other hand on the dirt and draw closer to the ground?—
A pain flares in my shoulder, and I rip open my eyes. My sight takes a moment to adjust, the blurry shapes and lines around me forming a picture of Marge and the dark forest.
She’s pale. Her eyes are wide and voice shakes. “That’s enough for tonight.”
The rest of my senses wash back over me, despite the fact I hadn’t noticed they were missing before. The river bubbles in the distance, the whisper of a breeze snakes through the leaves, and the tapping of Marge’s staff on the ground grabs my attention.
“Katerina, are you alright?” she asks.
I nod slowly. An unknown heaviness swarms my head, and I grab my gloves before I push up to my feet, stumbling as I regain my balance. Smoke taints my nostrils. “What was that?”
She scans me head to toe in suspicion. “Magic.”
“Magic?” I nearly laugh.
“Had your mother never told you of the great magic?”
“No.” I don’t want to tell her my mother had been terribly ill and couldn’t get a coherent word out. I don’t need her pity, and part of me doesn’t want to simmer in such painful memories.
“The magic of our realm flows like a river. But those rivers are underneath the ground in what are called ley lines.” She drags her staff through the dirt to draw intersecting lines. “The essence of dragons come from the ley lines, and it’s where their power to create elemental magic stems from. Though, dragons are second in power next to the rings. The rings are the one thing that can manipulate the magic however the bearer deems fit.”
