Later that night, she was followed. Shawna was sitting under an Elysian-Tree when Orin silently approached. Everyone else was fast asleep, even Antares, though he had promised himself to keep an eye on the boy. He now lay slumbering many yards away, his red curling light glowing eerily. Shawna was looking up at the vast branches that were stretching and melting into the darkness above. The tree looked like the night sky as little specks of light winked in and out of existence throughout the leaves. When they had come upon it, everyone stood in silent awe of the magnificent tree for a long time. Shawna had finally asked about its strange nature: its dark brown bark pulsating with patterns of blue light, blue-veined black leaves, and most of all its shimmering white fruit called pomum. Mira explained that it was an Elysian-Tree, very special, and very rare.
“It is legend,” she had said. “That they are connected to the stars, and if one tastes the fruit on a certain moonless night, you will open the universe itself.”
Shawna just raised her eyebrows, filing that away under ‘woo-woo,’ but was still spell-bound by the tree.
Later that night, it beckoned her. She sought the tree’s calming presence and now sat beneath its beauty, the twinkling lights above mirroring her thoughts, thousands of them flashing in and out of her mind.
A hand touched her shoulder and she yelped before realizing who it was. She flushed as Orin glanced over his shoulder, then sat down beside her.
“Sorry,” he muttered, grinning. “I didn’t mean to surprise you.”
Shawna moved her mouth and made a few awkward faces, trying to think of something witty to say, then just bit her lip and stared at the tree again.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” he said, putting his hand down an inch from hers.
She glanced at his hand, then up at the branches flashing with tiny lights. It felt like her heart would super-nova any moment.
“Yeah. What makes it do that?”
“I don’t know, but there used to be more of them. Now this is one of the only ones I’ve ever seen, and I’ve traveled far.”
Her fingers spread a little wider, a little closer to his.
“Where?” She stared at his upturned face.
He turned to look at her in the dim glow, his eyes reflecting the flashes of light above. She wondered if he was looking at her the same way she was looking at him.
“Where have you gone?” she said, remembering her train of thought.
He shrugged. “Places.”
“Why?”
“Had to.”
He looked away and they remained silent for awhile. Shawna’s heart leapt into her throat when she felt a small brush of his finger against hers, then it was gone.
“Do you want to get away from all this?” he said.
She didn’t know what to say. What exactly was he asking? His torso turned to face her, and she found it both difficult to look at him and to look away.
“Whatever the dragon told you, Shawna, doesn’t mean it’s fate. You’re free to do what you want. I can tell what he told you upset you.” He shifted a little closer.
She leaned away without realizing it, and his eyes searched her.
“Well,” she said, looking down. “I can’t just run away.” Her thoughts were finally forming through the fog of his presence. “I can’t,” she said, shaking her head. “I was upset, even angry, but I can’t just turn back. Not now.”
A fleeting look of disappointment crossed his features before they softened, and he said in a deeper voice, “What did he tell you?”
The words almost spilled out of her open mouth before something in the back of her mind caught her. She snapped her jaw shut, and shifted herself a little further from him like he was a blazing fire. His face remained expressionless, and that’s what scared her. She stood up, and he looked a little shocked.
“I just…I have to do this. No matter what he said. I’m not going to run from anything anymore.” She was a little surprised at herself as she realized how true that was.
He rose to his feet, looking down at her from his tall height, and took a quick deep breath.
“You run from me,” he said, almost too quietly for her to hear.
It was so unexpected that she just stood there, staring up at him. He stepped closer, an arms length away.
“What are you so afraid of? I’m here for you.” He was reaching a hand up towards her arm.
Her whole body seethed and roiled with adrenaline; her throat clenched, her hands clenched, and her stomach knotted up. She felt the warmth of his hand curl around her arm, the crumbling space as his body closed the distance between them. His eyes never strayed from hers as he leaned in, his other hand grabbing her shoulder, then sliding down her back. She felt herself melting under the pressure of his gripping fingers. She closed her eyes, tilted her head, parted her lips. His fingers dug deeper, clenched harder, and she flinched.
She suddenly felt a rush of danger. Her mind screamed at her to fly. When she opened her eyes and tried to pull away, he yanked her closer to him, and she saw in his eyes a passion, a desperation.
“Let me go,” she said sharply, trying to pull away again.
The softness in his voice was replaced with a harsher tone. “Tell me what the dragon said. Did he say anything about me?”
She stopped struggling at this, and his grip loosened a little.
“You? Why do you think he would’ve said anything about you?”
He released her as suddenly as he had grabbed her and stepped back, the fever in his eyes receding. For an insane moment she had the urge to comfort him, but clenched her teeth and laid her hand where her sword usually hung on her hip. She glanced at it resting against a rock behind Orin, then felt stupid.
Right. He’d disarm me in, like, two seconds.
He hadn’t seemed to notice her glance towards the sword.
“I’m,” he started to say, not looking at her. “I apologize. I was afraid…” He looked at her with such intensity it felt like a jolt of electricity.
She shook her head slowly. “He didn’t say anything about you.”
Without further explanation, he turned, jumped the boulder, and disappeared over the other side. She was left standing there, completely bewildered. She slumped down against the rock and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Her arms and hands felt like a swarm of wasps were buzzing under her skin. When she looked down at them, she almost jumped and shouted out loud. The light was flashing along her veins again. She held them up, amazed and frightened at the same time. Then she noticed the tree.
The tiny sparks of light amongst the leaves had become brighter while light crawled along the trunk and throughout the branches. She turned her arm to look at it. A horrific groaning and cracking came from the giant tree as it too twisted from its roots, following the twist of her arm. She screamed, leapt to her feet, turned, and smacked straight into a large hairy chest. Mira jerked her head up, snorted, and pranced backwards.
“What happened?” she said urgently to Shawna.
Shawna was speechless. She looked down at her hands. They were normal again. She looked at the tree. It had twisted back to its original state and looked unharmed, the bright streaming veins of light gone. Mira pawed the ground.
“Answer me. What was that noise?”
“I,” she stuttered, “I…I don’t…I don’t know. That’s why I screamed.”
Antares and Lula came up over the slanted boulder. Antares lashed his tail.
“What’s going on?” Lula said, flying over.
Mira was staring at Shawna almost as severely as Orin had been, then said, “I think we should move on, and you”—she laid her ears back as she addressed Shawna—“aren’t to stray far from us again.”
She then turned, and began walking away from their encampment for the night.
“Great,” Lula said, landing on Shawna’s shoulder. “You were kissing that boy again, weren’t you.”
“No.” She hadn’t meant to say it so biti
ngly, but Lula had struck too close.
Lula flew up and hovered to face her, crossing her arms, as Antares loped over. She gave Shawna a scathing look before flying away. Dragging her feet, Shawna sighed and picked up her sword. The cold iron comforted her some as she curled her hand around it and tied it to her waist. She jerked her head around when she heard a growl, but it was only Antares. He was looking past her at a nearby tumble of boulders.
“Get going,” he said.
She looked back at the outcropping where Orin had been standing moments before, and took a deep breath. She hoped he hadn’t been able to see right through her and realize she had lied.