Shades of Starlight (Hiatus)

Book Two: Chapter Twenty-Three

"Maybe it's sick," Sophie suggested, studying the bark from a safe distance. I shook my head.

"Wanderlings don't get sick." I stepped closer, now just inches away from the tree.

"Don't touch it!" Sophie cried as my fingers reached out. I pulled them back.

"Why not?"

"It could be dangerous, and I don't want anything to happen to you!" Sophie said, a scared look in her eyes. I saw how she was feeling now. Seeing our graves must have reawakened the emotions she had faced when we had been taken just over a year ago. For some reason, the Wanderlings didn't have that effect on me.

"I think... I think I have to," I told her slowly. "I feel... drawn to it somehow." And before she could stop me again, I placed a hand on the blackened trunk of the tree.

Dark colors flashed in front of my eyes, dancing and sparking like shadows exploding into a thousand pieces. I heard a familiar voice, though I couldn't quite place it, saying 'Sleep well'. Sounds and words echoed in my mind, tearing it apart at the seams.

I saw cloaked figures, standing in a cave, pointing at something behind me. I heard the scraping of metal, the whooshing of a strong wind, the icy cold of a harsh winter. I felt water rushing beneath my feet and a horrible smell in my nose. I saw a city, humans passing, and a beach, with dark sand and dark clouds overhead.

I felt unimaginable pain, a scream reverberating in my head, mirrors all around me. I watched lights displayed in the sky, small creatures running, the silhouette of a horse. I walked through a tunnel, sat on stone, scraped an image in the dirt.

Images flashed through my brain at lightning speed-trees, a flood, a hood, a burning building, snow, a cliff, a dark-haired girl, water, two people turning toward me, dirt, a mountain, shattered glass, someone screaming, blood.

And then it all went dark.

***

"Cass, are you okay?" Sophie's voice said, sounding worried. I blinked and pulled my hand away from the Wanderling, shaking my head.

"How long was that?"

"Just a few seconds. You touched the tree, and had this really weird look in your eyes, so I thought I would check," she explained.

"I'm fine," I told her, twisting my fingers around.

"What did you see?" Sophie asked.

"Nothing."

"Well, whatever you did, it worked," she said, impressed.

"But I didn't do anyth-woah." Backing up a few steps, I looked up at my Wanderling. It was much shorter, though still twice as tall as Sophie's, and seemed graceful and springy, with tan bark, blonde heart-shaped leaves, and ice-blue flowers replacing the smoky berries.

"What do we do now? Who can we tell about this?" Sophie pulled out her imparter. "Who should I hail?"
"What?! No, we can't tell anyone about this!" I exclaimed, snatching the imparter out of her hands.

"But, Cass, don't you want to know why this happened? Someone will be able to help you," Sophie said reasonably.

"We-I fixed it, everything's fine now!" I pointed out, gesturing to the tree. "We probably just imagined it."

"Cass, I really think that we should ask someone about this." Sophie bit her lip.

"I don't want anyone to know that this ever happened!"