Biana's Other Half

Wanderling Woods

Those who wander are not lost.

I hate the Wanderling Woods, if that's what it's called, already.

There's nothing actually bad about it. The trees are beautiful each in their own ways, the atmosphere peaceful and still, (A/n: I almost wrote peachful and still), but to me, it's ominous. I watch numbly as Grady and Edaline plant Sophie's seed and Kesler and Juline plant Dex's seed. Sophie's tree was pale, scrawny, and weak-looking, but still beautiful, with gold, star-shaped leaves with deep brown seedpods peppered among them. Dex's tree, on the other hand, had a twisted trunk, spiky strawberrry red leaves, and periwinkle berries.

There was something so inherently Dex about it. Even if I wasn't at the planting, I probably could still guess it was his.

They had graves.

This isn't something unconfirmed.

A rush of nausea forces me to leap back at Everglen. I can't stay there at the Wanderling Forest. The guilt pushes me and shoves me even more than at Everglen, where there are hints of Sophie everywhere. Trees we chose as our base in base quest. Dad's office, where she would often talk to him about 'classified things'.

At dinner Fitz freezes, in the kind of trance he has when he uses telepathy. Then he turns away, hugging the Albertosaurus Sophie gave him for midterms.

Something is up. Telepathy is rare. He can't actually be talking to anyone, because Dad's right here, looking at him, confused, like me and Mom.

"What?" I ask him.

His face looks pained. "Nothing."

Experience as a living elf has taught me that 'Nothing' is certainly something, but I don't push for answer.

Fitz keeps having these, as Biana calls them, 'transmitting trances' for a long time.

Then he calls Biana and Keefe, to explain something to them. Then Biana tells me that Sophie's a Telepath, which actually makes sense, and that she, Fitz, and Keefe are going to look for them at the Four Seasons Tree in Lumenaria.

I wring my fingers. Please let them be alive, please let them be alive, please let them be alive.

Biana glimmers at the gate, which she licks. She dashes through the doorway and crashes into me.

"The... Imparter... now," she pants.

I fish the square-shaped gadget from my pocket and hand it to her wordlessly.

"Show... me Elwin... Heslege."

Elwin's face pops up immediately. "What?" he asks. His eyes are hollow. Sophie's death has taken a toll on him, too.

"Sophie'sattheFourSeasonstreeinLumenariaandusedallherconcentrationonDexsoshe'sfadingandKeefejustleapedhimtoEverglen!" Biana tells him in a rush.

Sure enough, Keefe and Dex start to glitter and reform on the lawn. Unlike the time when I heard about Sophie's death, I'm the one who dives out of sight this time. Biana opens the gate for Keefe from the inside.

(A week later)

Dex heals quickly. But Sophie is still half faded. Still on the brink of death.