-Eon-

Drew opened his eyes to hundreds of branches reaching and interlacing over his head, coated in the most brilliant green leaves he’d ever seen. Sunlight streamed through the canopy, and he felt strangely refreshed.

And disoriented. The last thing he remembered were the pair of huge blue eyes looking down at him from inside the tower and the strangest sensation, like his Orenda was greeting an old friend.

Then blackness.

And Alic. Drew sat up, frantically searching for the boy. Drew was sitting on a bed of sorts, and far below him was the forest floor. An intricate rope-and-what-looked-like-green-steel bridge led from the small “room” he was occupying to an impossibly thick tree trunk with the same strange metallic emerald steps carved into it leading down to the ground far below.

Intrigued, Drew started across the bridge, eyeing the strange material underfoot. Looking closer, it almost looked like stone the color of jade Orenda, which he’d heard about but never seen.

The material looked like large round pieces of gem, fashioned into thin slats for walking across. Looking up, Drew noticed the same strange stone fashioned into orbs that hung in the branches and were filled with every color of Orenda imaginable. Although the orbs were high above his head, he thought he could faintly pick out shapes and figures in the orb bowls, prowling or flying or crawling.

He didn’t see anyone else on the bridge or on the stairs leading down to the floor below, but if he had been taken to this vast forest unharmed it made sense that Alic would be here somewhere as well.

The stairs were just as well crafted as the bridge, the green stone underfoot polished and carved with different designs. Whoever lived here, they seemed to be master artisans.

The Jadelin?

Who else would live in these ancient forests? The trees were all as massive as the trunk he was climbing down currently, their bark various shades of white, ash, and a rich black that bordered on purple.

And the leaves—leaves of every color. Sunset reds, sunbeam yellow, even shimmering amethyst and brilliant sapphire. As he studied the leaves he almost fell down the smooth green steps. The leaves shone as though also infused with Orenda, but he’d never heard of anyone imbuing the very trees with Orenda.

He imagined that even at night these trees would gleam for miles with such a powerful aura, but he had flown over the supposed Jadelin woods with Isle on his way to Deporta and had seen nothing but darkness and the suggestion of trees below.

His feet touched down on the forest floor, which was slightly spring and soft and completely masked the sound of his boots. He was about to wander onto the path in the forest formed from the same green stones when he stopped in his tracks, wary and amazed.

Striding out in the open confidently was a creature Drew had only heard about when he was growing up and an exasperated Acelin had wanted to put a much younger Drew to bed as quickly as possible. A starcrosser, resplendent with a full rack of ivory-white antlers that gleamed with gems the color of gold that seemed infused with Orenda.

Its eyes were a shade of knowing silver, and its sleek fur was also mostly silver, with black speckles on the flank. The starcrosser’s four legs were as slender as young branches, long and supple, ending in small, delicate hooves. Its tail swept the ground and looked like corded rope, with the same beautiful golden gems sprinkled throughout like beads in a woman’s hair.

Acting on an impulse he couldn’t put words to, Drew bowed deeply to the creature, as though he were approaching a particularly powerful rowder. When he stole a glance up at the divine creature, it eyed him before slowly walking forward on the path.

Come.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

He felt the invitation as though Gracelin had asked him out loud to follow her, although there was no one in sight—just the starcrosser. As the creature strode along the path, its hooves ringing out softly on the green stone underfoot, a silver light seemed to pulse from its lithe body. Light that looked suspiciously like Orenda.

But creatures didn’t wield Orenda, did they?

Maybe he’d died in the Ruins and was taking a tour of the next life, but if anything the surreal landscape surrounding him seemed more real than Whisten and Deporta, or even Mount Solis.

Drew followed behind the creature, observing the mighty trees that reached far above his head, making him feel like he was back in the old Forlorn cathedral he’d stumbled upon with Ace. That same sacred feeling permeated the space here. Many of the other trees had emerald staircases spiraling up to the higher sections of the tree, but other giant trunks were fitted with elaborate doors, presumably leading into the trees themselves.

And still Drew saw no one on the path or on the stairs of any of the towering trees. He began to hear something, however, a piercing melody shot through with a delicate, insistent harmony that hit him like a fierce gust of wind.

The starcrosser was making its way to the music. It seemed to have slowed, because Drew found himself catching up to the majestic animal until they were side by side. Up close the creature’s apparent ability to wield Orenda was obvious. The same sensation of heat Drew felt in his fingertips when summoning his own Orenda seemed to sheathe the starcrosser’s whole body. Hesitantly, Drew reached out a hand and gently brushed the starcrosser’s silky, short fur.

The black spots on the flank shifted to a rich ruby color that perfectly imitated his Orenda. The starcrosser turned to meet his gaze, lowering his head, startling Drew with the intelligence he found in those silver eyes.

Mount.

That same sensation, like the creature was communicating directly to his mind. Unwillingly, Drew cautiously moved forward and the starcrosser bent down, allowing Drew to gently mount the tall creature. As soon as he was sitting atop the creature, the starcrosser began gently loping toward the music, radiating a simple melody that joined in with the ethereal music ringing through the forest in front of them.

Drew heard whistling overhead and craned his neck to see thin, almost arrow-shaped black-and-white birds flitting through the branches. The forest here seemed alive in a way other forests did not, like every living creature was teeming with extra life and vigor… Orenda.

Drew still wasn’t convinced he hadn’t died and gone somewhere akin to heaven.

But heaven became a shade darker when the starcrosser entered a break in the trees where a massive stone jutted from the landscape, hollowed out to allow beings passage in and out, almost like a mine. Standing outside the mine were two muscular, tall forms with those penetrating, large blue eyes. Each being had distinct white markings, one with stars on the right side of the face, the other with white speckles on the top of the left hand that flowed up onto the wrist.

Jadelin.

Drew knew instinctively. He knew his body should be shaking with fear at the alien beings, but he instantly noticed similarities between the Jadelin and himself. Although both stood taller than Drew would unmounted, their arms and legs looked similar to his, although Drew noticed both Jadelin had built, lean muscles visible through the strange material of their clothes, which matched their skin, an ebony-black like a precious stone. Drew had seen various skin colors among the Reapers, but he had never seen skin this perfectly black; it was like their skin was hewn from stone.

Although Drew was still a fair distance from the pair, he felt heat radiating off the Jadelin, almost like the sun was trapped under their skin. A heat that was more powerful and consistent than the warm, snapping heat of Orenda.

The Jadelin on the left was clearly female, her black hair long on one side and shaved close to her head on the other. She was more curvy than her companion, but it was clear she could probably take the Jadelin standing next to her in a fight if needed. The other Jadelin, male, stood a couple inches taller than his female companion and had longer hair than her, although his had been woven into many small, tight braids and pulled back from his head in an impressive tail that draped over his shoulder.

Both wore fitted black clothing that blended almost seamlessly into their skin, and strange weapons made from polished black wood and what looked like twine or string hung at their backs.

When the Jadelin saw the starcrosser they raised their right hands in unison and brought them briefly to their foreheads before slightly inclining their heads and closing their large, icy-blue eyes in an obvious show of respect.

“Come, strange Forlorn,” the male Jadelin said, his voice rich with an accent Drew couldn’t place. “I have been waiting to study Orenda like yours among your people for many decades.”

Drew dismounted the starcrosser, which swiftly turned and galloped into the woods, vanishing like a shooting star, the speckles on its back still clearly ruby.

Taking a deep breath, Drew followed the male Jadelin into the mine, rich voices resonating off the black stone and causing the ground below to shudder.