The Guardians of the Forest: Book Two Read online

CHAPTER 32

  RELIEF

  Relief. Pure relief blossomed in her breast, expanding through her entire form. It was amazing, truly; nothing had ever hit her as hard as this feeling did now. It almost suffocated her, restricting her airways, bringing tears from her eyes and causing them to fall down her cheeks. Kiethara had never felt this happy. She found the feeling rather strange, alien, for—considering the previous events—she thought the only things she would have the strength to feel were pain and despair.

  Fortunately, that was not the case. And she didn’t really feel like dwelling on the implausible emotions she was feeling. Instead, she stood rooted to the spot, basking in the glorious sensation that was lifting her heart. She knew that, if she had had any magic left to her, her crystals would be glowing. Perhaps even a rose would have blossomed at her feet.

  Apparently, she had used all of her magic last night. Accidentally, of course, and almost all of the phenomenons that had occurred last night were unknown to her. How had she blasted him back like that? Aaron had never once hinted that she had the ability to do that. Did it fall under one of the elements? Wind, perhaps, but she had not been concentrating on her fear. Although, he had also said that things didn’t necessarily fall under one element, or any at all.

  Kiethara shuddered as she remembered him soaring through the air…smacking numerous times upon the ground. She could have killed him with the way she had lost control like that.

  She shook her head. She did not wish to brood over her mistakes or Navadar’s foolishness. Before her lay a happiness that promised her no pain and she wanted to focus on it and it alone.

  So Kiethara set her attention back on the beautiful scene before her. There, in front of her navy blue eyes, was a line of trees. Whole, healthy, unmistakable trees that seemed to welcome her back with open limbs. She smiled at each and every one of them. Already, the air seemed lighter and her breathing came easier.

  There were some changes that had befallen it in her absence. Autumn seemed to have finally hit the forest and some of the trees had changed their colors in preparation for winter. Lavish reds, oranges, and yellows bespeckled the rich brown bark and the emerald green grass beneath it. Not all the trees were colored, of course. Some were still green, as they would stay year round, and others were already bare, as though winter had already stripped them. Still, the forest was home.

  And it had never looked so welcoming.

  Kiethara stumbled forward, catching herself at the last minute before she could fall into the ground. Maybe she wouldn’t make it to the forest, after all.

  No, she had come this far and she would make it. She pulled herself forward, one agonizing step at a time, still smiling all the way. Kiethara paused in front of the trees for only a moment, inhaling deeply, her stomach curling in anticipation. She was so worn, so tired, but at that moment she could feel nothing but pride in the fact that she had made it back. She had survived every trial that had come her way. Maybe, at last, she was worthy of being a guardian.

  At long last, she entered the forest.

  Oh!

  It was an overwhelming sensation, as almost everything else she had experienced these last few weeks had been, although this was different: this one cried with a fulfillment so painful she almost gasped. She, for the first time in her life, was aware of how much magic there was in the air and—being in the state that she was—it hit her like a ton of bricks.

  Kiethara was able to drag herself past a couple more trees before her vision faded and her legs gave out beneath her.