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The temple was quiet, the loudest noise to be heard was the heavy breathing of Terra. She sat in front of the altar, the candles being the only thing illuminating her face and the smell of nature flooding her nostrils. She tried to be calm, to focus on her ability, on her power, on the connection that the forest spirit and she shared.

But how could she, with everything that was happening?

Coriane opened her eyes again, letting out a snort of pure frustration. She had tried three times to connect with the spirit world, but nothing.
She needed to talk to Tekara herself, ask him what his plans were, why she was being kept waiting. She needed to hear the advice of her ancestors.

It was said that when a Terra dies, its spirit acquires divine wisdom. That was one of the factors why the Terras were the leaders of the Elementa. The wisdom imparted by their guides was one of unparalleled comparison.

But Coriane still couldn't connect, and it was driving her crazy.

She sighed as she rubbed her eyes with her hands, and as she opened them again, she turned to look at the green medallion hanging around the neck of the statue of the great White Stag; the representation of the spirit of the forest.

The thought of taking it briefly crossed her mind, but she dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. If she couldn't even connect with the Ascendits , she would be less worthy of wearing the medallion.

Not yet.
She told herself.

She couldn't stay any longer. As much as she wanted to, things couldn't get any worse outside; with the families of the dead demanding for vengeance, with all the missing, with the new horde of invaders that had arrived, these, she had heard, more armed, older, and many, both Coalition and Union were in matters of unimaginable risk.

Coriane exited the temple, where two guards, two wolves and two felines guarded the entrance. And Aren, Jensen, Krista, Roscoe, Søren and Astrid were waiting for her.

"Nothing?" Asked the redhead.

Coriane simply shook her head, and the three humans sighed, but said no more. The four of them, plus the three animals, walked back to their horses with the intention of returning to Tondc, Coriane was to talk to Indra and ask what she could do to help. Like Terra, there was always something she could contribute.

Before the brunette could climb onto Nix, Isaac's obnoxious voice shouted her name from behind her back. Aren and Jensen immediately turned around brandishing their knifes, but Coriane put an arm in front of them to stop them.

The blond was coming at them with a disgusted expression on his face and a snake on his arm. No, Coriane realized, once he was closer, that she counted wrong, two snakes. The green Python came crawling up his back to his shoulder, it seemed to enjoy the way it was making the boy shiver, and Coriane couldn't help but smile at it. The Black Mamba, on the other hand, simply waited patiently for her transport to take her where she wanted to go.

Even before she had both snakes whispering in her ear, she could foresee that Zeher, the Green Python who was cruelly toying with Isaac as if he were her prey, was bringing some news from Tondc, since the reptile dwelt just outside of town. And Naga, something close to what used to be Skaikru's camp. The two pieces of unheard news made her hair stand on end.

"These... things came while you were in the temple," Isaac reported, looking at both reptilians with disgust.

Coriane laughed. Few, very few people had an affinity for snakes. They were considered vile, cruel, lethal and unpredictable. But it was exactly because of those qualities that they tended to be among Terras' favourite companions.

𝓣𝓮𝓻𝓻𝓪 ↬ b. blakeWhere stories live. Discover now