The Last Goddess

Chapter Ninety-Two: The Goddess of Nature

Aryan

The gentle look on Silas's face as he stared down at Samara really pissed me off for some reason. And I know he's not really seeing Samara—especially after hearing Izara loud and clear. But when she put her hand on his face, I couldn't stop myself from interrupting the cozy scene. "So, where is the goddess of nature anyway?"

Suddenly, Samara blinked several times, blushed, and quickly pulled her hand away from the towering god. "Sorry..." she nearly whispered, glancing at me before turning away.

Silas seemed at a loss, frowning at her. "No need to apologize." Then, he started off quickly, making all of us speed up after him. "This way."

I walked beside Samara as Silas went on ahead. Taja caught up to us, and gave me a strange, sympathetic look as she stared between Samara, Silas, and myself. My brows pulled together, but oddly enough, I wasn't as irritated about it as I would have normally been. The expression would have been almost reassuring if it hadn't come from her.

Ignoring the witch, I glanced over at Samara whose face was blank, but internally, her emotions were erratic.

"Are you ready?" I whispered.

Her jade eyes peeked up at me from her eyelashes. "I think so." She smirked a little as she said, "At the very least, Izara is."

Seeing her make light of the situation was unexpected. She normally took everything much more seriously.

Why would she... Quickly, a thought came to me. When we returned Zenaida, back in Willow, she became unconscious and weak for a bit. Is she worried about that happening again? Or is there something else she's not telling me?

Before I thought better of it, I reached for her hand, rubbing my thumb against the back of her hand. "It'll be fine." I whispered, pulling my hand away quickly when I caught Ivy staring at us.

Thankfully, I didn't need to worry about the dryad's scrupulous gaze long because Silas stopped, placing us in front of a tall tower of thorny vines with pink, yellow, red, and salmon-orange blooms.

Samara

"Ivy," the god of beast called with a subtle sense of urgency. "If you would be so kind."

"Of course, my lord." Ivy nodded, raising her hand in the air, and then pulling it back like she had grabbed something we could not see. In the moment her hand was pulled back, the vines and flowers slithered away, revealing that the tower was made of colorful mosaic glass. The scene against the glass was a recreation of the woods below us, and the way the sun hit the tower, left me breathless. It glowed, beautifully.

"Izara is here?" I wondered, thinking how different her resting place is from Zenaida's. The goddess of light was found in a cave that had sentimental value to herself and the god of darkness. But the goddess of nature seemed surrounded by that which she commanded. Both sites were surprisingly fitting for each deity.

"Yes," Silas nodded, smiling softly at me. "This way."

We walked through the newly revealed opening to find the sunlight gave the inside of the tower a vibrantly warm glow. The inside of the tower was quite spacious, there was no furniture to be found, and the only people inside were a sphinx and chameleon guard at the bottom of a swirling, mosaic glass staircase.

Silas nodded at the guards, and they nodded back before looking at me with a hopeful gaze. I gave them all a small smile as we began to silently ascend the stairs. Soon, we arrived at the top of the tower, where Iris was watering the surrounding plants, but the dryad didn't hold my attention for long because in the center of the room, on a rather large bed, lay the goddess of nature.

I vaguely heard Iris excitedly greeting Ivy, but my body nearly moved on its own as I sat on the edge of the fluffy bed and looked at Izara. She was a petite goddess with long, wavy, chestnut hair, long lashes, and light almond skin. Her dress was crème colored with green butterflies laid about that looked like leaves if you didn't look close enough.

I placed my hand over hers, and the moment I did, vines intertwined us, rising up both out arms and constricting tightly. Just like when I was with Zenaida, my heart stopped, but it felt just slightly longer than the last time. As the vines tightened further, and Izara's soul transferred from me to her, purple daffodils began to grow along the vines. When they fully bloomed, I finally felt relief from the intense pain of the binding vines.

Izara's eyes fluttered over, her lilac eyes looking at me with a moment of relief. But I could hardly even smile as my body went limp. I just barely felt Taja and Aryan each grabbing one of my arms to hold me, and just before I lost consciousness, the dryads and god of beasts rushed to Izara's opposite side, clutching happily to her side.