Luminescent (Inheritance Cycle and Beyond)

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Blinding

"Isn't it magnificent?" I asked him, a smile stretched across my lips. Murtagh sighed before shaking his head and letting out a laugh.

"Not as magnificent as the creature before me." I rolled my eyes and swatted at his arm.

"I'm fatter than a horse gorged on hay," I retorted. "that hardly qualifies as magnificent."

"You're not fat," Murtagh said as I walked up to a maple tree and brushed my fingers on its bark.

"I feel fat, and it's only going to get worse." I huffed as I took in the energy of the tree. Its life force was thriving. Putting my free hand on my stomach, I took a deep breath and let the energy flow through my entire body. I patted the tree, it was willing to become our home. "I found our tree."

After my announcement, I took several steps back and began to sing a tune. Almost immediately, the tree started to expand. First thing's first, a foyer to greet people for the rare occasion someone visits.

The maple expanded side to side, backward, and upwards as the tree formed a central foyer. Next, I sang in a kitchen, dining room, and living room.

"Mal..." I held up my finger, indicating to Murtagh that he better not interrupt me.

"The tree and I are having a moment," I growled at him as the tree kept expanding, several rooms that I hadn't told it to make, emerged as it started working on the second level. By now, the maple had recruited several of its neighboring trees to support the structure.

The maple seemed to have a mind of its own as it expanded, creating spaces for window's to be placed and adding architectural elements to the outside of the treehouse. I cocked my head to the side as the treehouse began to look more and more like a home fit for a pair of Rider's.

"Going a little overboard, Mal," Murtagh muttered as he walked up to stand next to me. I looked at him.

"I'm not telling it to do anything anymore." One of his eyebrows shot up as we returned our gaze to the ever-growing house. "It's doing this on its own."

"They did tell me that the woods of old were fairly magical. The tree must be happy to have something to do." Murtagh said as he latched onto my hand. "I'll need to find some window's, but we now have a roof over our heads."

I looked down at my stomach and patted it. We now had a home for the little girl. That provided some comfort that I had lacked these past weeks.

"Feels odd," I said.

"What does?"

"Normalness?" I replied shrugging. "I don't know, after all this time to something like make a home and live in it seems so... Mundane."

"I think I could come to terms with the mundane." I smiled and looked back up at him.

"I think I could as well."

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

We started working on our home the next day and continued to do so from thereon. Or should I say Murtagh began to work on our house the next day, the idiot wouldn't let me do anything in current 'delicate position.' So I was back to tutoring Grifen on the dining room floor while Murtagh put in the windows and worked on the rest of the things we needed like lighting and plumbing.

Our home might have been entirely constructed in a day thanks to a delighted maple tree, but we had no furniture, clothes, or kitchen supplies. At least the bathrooms had a carved tub in them.