“I’m surprised I didn’t dream of this place.”

Light, the Ancient toddler we had somehow adopted into our crew, looked up at me curiously.

“You’re right,” I said, pretending to hold a conversation with the young creature. “How could I? I didn’t even realize Hidden Springs had views this glorious.”

The little tyke smiled contentedly, as if understanding completely, then went back to snacking on a sack of nuts and berries he’d brought. He lifted the bag up to offer me some, but I politely declined.

We sat on a gentle hillside in one of the vast underground caverns at Hidden Springs, Emery’s home. Somehow, this cavern was even larger and grander than the one Dick and I had visited on our last trip to Hidden Springs. Emery said there hadn’t been much need to come here before, as this place was reserved for deep healing and long recoveries. It was apparently used by the animals they rescued as much as the people who inhabited Hidden Springs.

After being teleported here during our fight with Slack-Jaw, I had been comatose and near death. Ironically, it was likely the teleportation itself that had saved me. It refueled my Zodian energy and allowed my healing tattoo to keep me alive. In addition, the Everwyld Clan enjoyed a complex mix of technological medicine and magic-based healers that helped save my life.

Next to me, Light chirped some adorable toddler sound, and I wondered once again whether he could read my thoughts.

“I know you would have saved me if you could, buddy,” I assured.

But Light had been hours away by transport and wouldn’t have arrived in time to heal me. His presence later, I heard, had certainly sped the recovery of my body.

“Did you really throw a tantrum when they tried to move me back to the ship?” I asked, amusedly. He paused with a berry midway to his mouth and smirked, shrugging nonchalantly as if it was no big deal.

I had woken up to find Dick watching over me, clutching my arm in the same place he had in my dream. My mind had taken a bit longer to heal than my body, and I spent three weeks convalescing unconscious in this healing chamber with the Everwylds. A lot had been happening, Dick and Vomero filled me in slowly as I regained myself after awaking.

One of the things Dick had mentioned was the spectacular tantrum Light had thrown when they tried to transport me back to the ship. I found it curious. A deep current of Ancient energy flowed through this place. I had felt it before in the main chamber of the Everwyld stronghold, but in here, it was almost tangible to my senses.

I knew I was more attuned to these forces than most, my body having played host to cosmic power since I was a teenager, but I wondered if the others felt it. I looked over at Light.

“You feel it too, don’t you?” I murmured more to myself than to him. “He wasn’t supposed to bring you here, you know.”

“I didn't really have a choice,” Dick said, his voice gently piercing the tranquil atmosphere. “You went and got yourself almost killed. I can’t risk going too far away from him, and I damn sure wasn’t going to just hang out at the ship and hope for the best.”

I offered him a smile as he crouched down beside me on the softly sloping hillside.

"But you feel the Ancient magic, too, right?” I asked, avoiding the implications of his comment. “Remember the energy you said felt similar to Light? Don’t you feel it exponentially stronger in this chamber?”

Dick closed his eyes and focused in silence for a moment. Finally, he opened his eyes and gazed curiously at me.

“I do,” he said. “It’s crazy that I never thought of it before, but when I focus on it, it feels a hundred times more potent. Yet, somehow it’s still so subtle you barely notice it otherwise.”

I nodded. “It’s odd, yeah. Pervasive but somehow unobtrusive, hard to pinpoint.”

“You think Light feels it?” Dick asked, peering down at the toddler contentedly eating snacks by my side.

“I think there’s no way he could possibly miss it,” I said, confidently. “It’s like a refreshing mist seeping from the stones themselves.”

Light finished munching on his snack and reached out his index finger at me as if pointing. The tip of it glowed his signature warm hue. It was one we had witnessed many times. His eyes seemed to be imploring us to understand something.

“It’s healing magic?” I guessed correctly, judging by the excited nod and flutter of movement. I glanced at Dick who was studying the child’s face intently.

As far as we could surmise, Ancients tended to have powers that seemed intrinsic to their identity. Light’s appeared to be healing and cleansing in general. He had enough inherent power to heal minor cuts and wounds. But he was not developed enough to heal more serious injuries like the one I had sustained.

Nor could he revive someone on the precipice of death the way he had done with Dick on Kalo-Mahoi. He’d had to consume a powerful, Ancient magical item in order to channel that much power. That decision, made by a newborn child acting on instinct to protect its “parent”, bore a high price for the people of Kalo-Mahoi.

I wondered if the little tyke understood the ramifications of his actions on that planet. That thought led me to wonder if Dick ever dwelt on what his life had cost the people of Kalo-Mahoi. If not, I certainly wouldn’t be the one to bring it up to either of them.

It was that exact scenario that had prompted us to avoid bringing Light to Hidden Springs. Whatever was keeping the Everwyld’s grotto paradise supplied with life-sustaining magic needed to stay there, not be consumed by a toddler throwing a tantrum.

“But where is it coming from?” Dick asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. Light pivoted his still-glowing finger toward the streams of water falling majestically from fissures in the cavern walls.

“It’s in the water?” I asked confused. “That’s a little reassuring...”

Dick glanced at me askance.

“He can’t possibly eat all that water, right?” I clarified, looking down at Light. The little Ancient was happily spinning in circles, waving his glowing finger. “Right?” I repeated, this time more uncertainly.

“It makes sense then why Light didn’t want us to take you back to the ship,” Dick said. “It could be the latent magic in this place is what kept you alive long enough for the healers to do their work.”

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He looked away as he spoke the last part, seemingly unable to hold my gaze while thinking about it. I did the same, glancing back over the tranquil cavern. Sunlight streamed in from holes in the cavern’s ceiling, much like it did in the main chamber. It cast everything in a comforting golden light.

It seemed awkward to apologize for nearly dying. Although Dick and Vomero had caught me up on how badly I was injured and what had happened while I was unconscious, it was Ryuuk who mentioned that Dick had barely slept in those three weeks. He recounted an exhaustive list of excuses Dick gave as to why he needed to stay in Hidden Springs while I was here.

“One time he said he promised one of them Everwyld kids he’d help them plant some flowers by their treehouse,” Ryuuk had guffawed. “It’s too bad you were unconscious, Skye! What a sight! Dick tryin’ to figure out how to garden with two Wyld kids and Light creating all kinds of havoc! I laughed so hard I nearly molted!”

"Thank you,” I said, suddenly to Dick. He looked down at me again, a look of confusion on his face. “For watching over me while I decided whether or not to die.”

He shook his head bemusedly and looked away again.

“And I’m sorry,” I continued. At this, he looked back in earnest. “I got ahead of myself with Slack-Jaw. It was a hastily concocted plan. Luckily some of my brain was working enough to plan an exit strategy or Cash and I both would be dead.”

He just waited silently for me to continue, as if sensing I had more to get off my chest.

“But while I slept,” I continued, “I was reminded of how shortsighted my actions have been, how out of character I’ve been acting lately. Rash, gung-ho, and maybe a little more ruthless than normal. I just...I guess I hadn’t considered how much I’d started to think of you all as...friends. I just knew I didn’t want to lose anyone again. Especially, after Paul.”

A brief silence ensued as I finished pouring out my thoughts to Dick. Finally, he huffed and let out a beleaguered sigh.

“I guess it was an ill conceived plan, but your heart was in the right place,” he said, then his tone turned sardonic, “and then it was almost in a dozen places.”

He paused to compose himself, as if repressing an unpleasant memory. Finally, he continued. “Maybe just don’t pull stunts like that again...okay? It was...not fun...seeing you like that.”

“It means a lot that you worried over me,” I offered.

“I mean, I wouldn’t say...I was already here for...” he stopped and shrugged, grinning. “I wasn’t that obvious.”

“Ryuuk told me,” I rebutted. “If it was obvious to him, it was obvious to everyone.”

“Ah, Damn.”

* * *

I spent a great deal of time over the next two days talking to Emery about Hidden Springs’ history. During that time, Dick kept me updated on what was happening with the rest of the crew.

After getting Cash’s arm fixed, which surprisingly had been no easy task in New Iberia, he and Vomero had been researching the juicing process Slack-Jaw had been using. We all knew Slack-Jaw wouldn’t stop coming at us, especially now believing he had the upper hand.

Given the fact that our enemies also knew exactly where we were, it had also become necessary to find a new port for our ship. Currently, Dick was moving it around the outlying territories of New Iberia every few days or so. It was a temporary and imperfect solution. If we wanted to operate effectively in the city, we’d needed to find a place we could dock it.

I had some ideas on that, but wanted to follow up on a few leads in Hidden Springs before leaving. That’s what had me reminiscing with Emery. I had a suspicion that her clan’s home was founded by Ancient magic, and that magic somehow produced the water that kept the caves habitable.

“My ancestors used to talk about the healing waters of this cavern,” Emery said. “There are stories upon stories of how people were healed almost miraculously in ages past.”

“You’re familiar with Dick’s Lycan problem,” I responded. “Has anyone been cured of a curse before here?”

Emery nodded. “Many. But when I say ages past, I mean it’s literally been 500 years since something like that happened. Whatever magic you think might be in it this place seems to be fading...in fact...” she hesitated, as if unsure if she should say anything further.

“In fact, what?” I pressed.

She sighed. “It’s something of a sensitive topic among our people, one nobody wants to talk about, yet also one they cannot avoid. Hidden Spring’s magic is fading so much that many fear it will disappear completely within another century or so, and it will fall to our generation and possibly the next to figure out a solution before we’re essentially homeless.”

In my dream, Trace reminded me that I was reverting to some old habits. One of those, I knew, was my tendency to isolate myself, to try and take on things that were too big for one person by myself. In the past, my crew had helped me overcome those destructive habits, teaching me how to relax and rely on others.

The Everwylds would not want their enemies realizing their vulnerable state. I could sense the level of trust Emery was putting in me by telling me this. So, I decided to trust her in return.

“You’ve met Light?” I asked.

“The little humanoid that follows Dick around?” Emery asked, quizzically. “I’ve never seen a species like him.”

“We...believe he is from a race of people who seeded powerful magical locations in this sect of the galaxy using incredibly powerful relics,” I divulged. “Light himself has his own mysterious origin and limited use of his powers because he’s a child, but we’ve seen him work miracles with the right objects at his disposal. The problem is, those objects are few and far between.”

“And you think one of these relics powers Hidden Springs?” Emery asked, contemplating everything I’d said. “Do you think it’s losing it’s power?”

I shook my head. “That wouldn’t make sense with what we have witnessed. The relics we encountered on another planet had been in operation for eons and appeared just as powerful when we interacted with them as they’d always been.”

“In what way did you interact with these relics?” Emery questioned, pseudo-suspiciously.

I gave her a sheepish shrug. “Well, Light ate them.”

“What?! Why? And what did that accomplish?” she asked incredulously. “This doesn’t sound like the same level of power operating in Hidden Springs if a child can eat it.”

“I mean...he did use the power to resurrect Dick from the dead,” I mentioned casually. “So...”

“What did this relic do before that,” Emery said, looking shocked.

“Held up an entire planet’s worth of floating islands?...” I admitted.

Sudden realization dawned in her eyes. “I’ve heard of this! Kalo-Mahoi. It was practically destroyed!”

“An unfortunate, unforeseen, and unavoidable circumstance for which all parties involved are extremely sorry about,” I rushed to explain. “But that’s why we were very careful about letting Light come here...sort of.”

“Wait. You think Light might consume whatever relic you think might be blessing Hidden Springs?” she exclaimed. I could tell by the rising pitch of her voice that I needed to do better at explaining and fast.

“Emery, Light did that when he was literally just born,” I said. “He was acting on instinct, trying to save Dick who had just given bir—you know what, suffice it to say, we don’t think that would be his intent to harm anyone and he seems much more cognitive now. Either way, my goal is not to harm Hidden Springs. Maybe we could even help it.”

She sat in silence for a long moment and contemplated everything I’d said. “How could you help? And why?”

“Dick and I sense that the magic here is like the magic flowing through Light, through those relics I mentioned before. Light senses it, too. I don’t know how the Ancients might have seeded this place, but obviously something has gone wrong with it or it wouldn’t be fading.”

“My people have been searching for a century looking for answers to the origins of our springs. They are supernatural, we know this, but who created them is still a mystery. You think it’s these Ancients, someone like Light, who created all of this?”

“I know it seems like a stretch, but whatever path Light is on, we all seem to be stuck on it,” I said, realizing that particular truth as I spoke it. “If that path leads to an answer for your people, you’re welcome to walk it with us.”

She contemplated that quietly for a moment before shifting the focus of the conversation slightly.

“There’s something else, though? You were talking about Dick earlier, hoping the power of the springs could heal his curse.”

“Half-curse, actually,” I said, absently. “Initially, yes. That was my thought. But given everything we’ve discussed, I may have another idea. But...”

“What?”

“You guys don’t happen to know any druids, do you?”