The wielders are coming, and they're ready for violence.
With a cub in her arms, Arietta James, a dedicated vet technician in training, flees for her life and the life of the little shifter she's ready to die to protect. Her escape lands her right i...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Arietta waded slowly through the water, spotting stone after stone after stone. There were so many. How could there be so many? "I don't understand," she said as she walked the bottom edge of the knoll. Her sneakers were entirely soaked through. She would care about that later.
Gavriel followed slowly behind her, as if he could only spot them as she did.
"How can a simple pebble hold magic?" she wondered out loud.
"This is the heart of our territory," Gavriel said. "It only makes sense that this is where the most magic is."
"But they're just stones!" If only she knew more about magic. Having her mother keep her in the dark about magic made sense at the time—she couldn't use it and risk exposure if she didn't know how. Except now, all she wanted was to understand enough that she didn't feel like she was flying blind. She poked her tongue into her cheek.
Gavriel chuckled behind her.
Arietta turned. "What?"
Mirth made his eyes bright, his teeth flashing as he kept chuckling, even as he crouched to pull another stone from the water.
She couldn't help but feel like he was laughing at her. "What?" Her cheeks heated.
Gavriel lifted another stone between his thumb and forefinger. He held it up to the light, turning it left and right. "When Galetta bestows her gifts upon her people, she gives us a connection to nature. It is a type of magic that connects us directly to this territory. It does not surprise me that the very elements around us have found a way to host that magic."
Arietta's eyebrows came together. It made sense. But then... "Why were you laughing?"
As if reminded, Gavriel cracked another smile. "You."
"Me?"
"Your frustration is... endearing."
Endearing. "How so?"
Gavriel dropped the stone somewhat reverently and stood. "I imagine if I sent you out into the territory, you'd find quite a bit of magic everywhere."
"But it's clustered here," she said. She had felt nothing like this when they were at the Eastern Falls.
He wiped his hands on his jeans. "As I said, the young shifters often come here for their first shift. It is where we feel closest to Galetta's magic. We have utilized this space for centuries. Even I—" he cut himself off. Then said, softer. "Even my sister and I had our first shift here."
Arietta took a breath. Made herself slow down. Resisting the urge to squeeze Gavriel's arm in comfort, she instead held out another stone. "You feel nothing?"
To his credit, he tried. But after a moment, said, "nothing more than the general call of magic this place gives off."
Arietta traced her bottom lip with her thumbnail. The more she thought about this place, the more her stomach tied itself in knots.
