The Open Sky: Eternal Forest Saga - Book 3

Chapter 25

 The chill in the morning air didn't bother Moriah. The Grove, with its high, stone walls, let in very little sunlight in the early hours, which meant each fireball the young woman hurled at them lit the small corner where she practiced her magic. She was on the southern side of the Grove, roughly thirty yards from the base of the cliff. There was a single boulder resting against the rock wall. It was narrow and stood a little taller than she did. Earlier that morning, its surface was indistinguishable from the other rocks around it. Now it was blackened from the dozens of fireballs Moriah had hurled at it.

She'd started much closer. Each time she got to where she could consistently hit her target, she took a few steps away and started over. It had been many months since Firefly first taught her Open Sky followers how to use magic, and Moriah was adept at conjuring many kinds of spells, but she'd never honed her craft to be used as a weapon before. Making fire and lighting appear was easy for her now. Accurately throwing it at a target was something else. It was a skill she'd hoped she'd never need. She wanted nothing more than to never use these abilities to do battle.

Terrex's death changed all that.

Her expression was stoic. In the days since he was killed, she'd gone wildly back and forth between the far ends of sorrow and rage. All the anger and pain had centered her now, sharpening her focus to a razor edge. Moriah cast a lightning bolt at her target, but it struck the rock wall about a foot to the left. Without hesitation, she cast another. It hit the rock on the right side. Better, but she was aiming for the middle, so not good enough. It took two more tries before she hit the center and another thirteen before she managed to hit it five times in a row. At that point, she took three wide steps back and started again.

"You're getting really good at that," Firefly said as she fluttered up beside her.

"Thank you, proph... Firefly," Moriah replied. She'd called her Prophet for so long now that it was hard to break the habit. But it was what Firefly requested, so she made the effort.

"Care to take a break?" Firefly asked.

Moriah wanted to say no, but the question made her take notice of how much lighter the sky was now from when she started. No one could see the position of the sun from the valley until it was close to mid-afternoon, so keeping track of time was difficult, even when her mind wasn't focused on training. "I have been at it for a while," she said. "I should probably rest." She sat in the grass. 

Firefly landed on her knee. "I miss him, too," she said.

Moriah looked away as her lips pulled tight and her fists clenched.

"We've not had much time to talk since he died," Firefly continued, "but I..."

"Murdered," Moriah softly interrupted. "He didn't just die; he was murdered by an agent of the Temple. He should still be with us, but they just won't leave us alone." Her heart felt heavy as she gave voice to her sorrow, but she did not cry. There were no tears left in her. "No matter where we go or what we do, Tranquility will keep hunting for us."

"That's not true," Firefly said. "There is somewhere you could go."

"Where is that?"

Firefly sighed and looked up into the young human's eyes. "Home."

"I don't understand."

"The Temple is only hunting for you because you are with me and Sunrise," Firefly explained. She lifted into the air again, hovering at eye level with Moriah. "Their goal is only to control the use of magic." She took a moment to look over her shoulder at the ever-growing camp at the center of the Grove. "You all could just go back home, back to Faith-haven. You could rebuild your village, renounce the use of magic, and all would be well. When we found each other and I showed you all how to use magic, I never meant to upend your lives like this. I'd only recently discovered the ability myself and was eager to share it with others."