Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 52: The Path to Calcoon

Gus quirked an angular brow.

"We're only a day's distance away from the Silver Forests of Calcoon," he noted. "I'm giving you a warning, kid... you're going to see things that will most likely crush you beyond repair. Keep a firm grip on your mind."

Xaphile didn't even blink, choosing instead to look at the starry sky above.

The moon was bright, washing them in pale silver light.

"Been there, done that," he quietly retorted. "Nothing new."

Gus tensed, then reached out and grasped his arm, but after a moment he deflated and let go.

"Do as you like," he sourly muttered, spurring his horse and trotting on ahead. "Don't say I did not warn you."

Xaphile didn't bother responding to that blatant warning, merely shrugged it off and tried not to think, as usual. 

They'd already eaten lunch and were nearing the time they usually stopped for dinner and sleep, but somehow, the pine forests around them had turned into forests of aspen, evergreen, and birch. The weird part was that all of them had spotted white bark, even the evergreens.

Leafed limbs arched overhead, throwing long shadows along the ground, interspersed in dappled moonlight. Odd creaks and groans filled the treetops, and the soft moan of the wind through the branches was constant.

It was peaceful here.

For some reason, the further into these woods they went, the calmer he seemed to feel, and by the time they settled down for the night he felt oddly at ease. 

They tethered their horses in a thick patch of grass and got the campfire going, then Vrael tried his hand at preparing their dinner, and once they'd all eaten, the meditation routine began the way it usually did, with Ella struggling and Xaphile playing his music.

He still had trouble slipping into Theta around the others, though.

Amelia eventually turned to look at him halfway through with dismayed eyes.

"If everything goes well once we reach Calcoon, I'll teach you privately, like before," she quietly assured him, nodding towards his pack. "Put your harp away and relax. I've seen that you have a lot of trouble with meditation around too many people, but for some that can be normal."

"Sorry," he muttered, feeling a bit bad for disappointing her. "I'll try to focus more."

"It's all right, Phil," she said warmly. "Just rest."

Xaphile sighed and gave in, slowly standing up.

Tail flicking, he turned to head over to his pack, but a strange pulsing sensation swept through him just as he took a step forward.

He froze in the same moment that Amelia let out a stricken gasp, and his hair stood on end when he looked over his shoulder to see Ella sitting still as a statue and glowing with a familiar azure luminescence.

A pang swept through his entire body and he shivered, eyes blank as he observed the clear blue waves of light radiating around her body. Amelia and the others, similarly, seemed just as stunned.

His chest throbbed and he began to feel weak at the knees as his consciousness bled away from him, fading into the tendrils of light.

Almost robotically, he stepped forward until he was standing just beyond the wall of luminescence and lifted his hand.