Troubled by the imminent battle with the Dark Celestials and her turbulent relationship with her secretive Founder parents, Spring finds herself summoned into the presence of the traitorous Elementals once more, drawn to them by her own desire for t...
It was two in the morning when Spring Sky pushed open the door to her bedroom. She groaned as she fell onto the bed, not even bothering to change into her pajamas. She was exhausted, frustrated, and royally ticked off—and for good reason. It hadn't even been 12 hours since Fisi and the Dark Celestials had announced their imminent takeover of the Haven Realm, and instead of preparing for war, the First Haven's Protector—the former Avatar Cameron Walden—had summoned a bunch of her friends and acquaintances for a "girls' night out".
And that wasn't all; Spring was still simmering over everything she'd learned about her parents and their past. The existence of Elementals before her and her siblings, the mysterious "traitors" banished to the dark side of the Founder plane, and the rest of the secrets she knew the Parriarchs were still keeping from their children... all of these things were snowballing within her, forming a storm of anger and hurt that couldn't be kept inside for much longer.
Spring put her hands on her face and closed her eyes, trying to rest her troubled mind. "I need answers," she moaned, her voice muffled by her hands. "This is driving me crazy."
She lay there on the bed for a while, searching for peace in the silence of her room.
Until that silence... wasn't.
It started off quiet, like a draft from the window, or a hiss of air from the vents. It was background noise—virtually unnoticeable.
But then it grew louder. Now it was like wind, hushed but audible, creeping through the darkness of the bedroom.
Spring's ear twitched.
Louder still. Now it was discernable: voices, whispers, like rushing waters flowing along the ground, creeping up onto the bed, brushing past Spring's ears. The words were unintelligible, but they carried a sense of urgency, a sense of beckoning, as if they were begging her to answer their imperceptible call.
They were not echoes, carried by pollen according to Spring's abilities.
They were not the voices of her neighbours, seeping through the thin walls of her home.
These whispers... came from within.
Spring's eyes closed, and with the suddenness of a slamming door, sleep sent her plunging into darkness.
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Spring opened her eyes.
For a moment, she was confused; where was she? What was going on? Hadn't she just gone to bed in her home? Why, then, was she standing in a dark forest, surrounded by dead trees and thick, purple fog?
And then it clicked: she remembered this place. In fact, she had been here less than three days ago, and her memories of it were still very, very fresh.
This was the traitors' side of the Founder Plane.
As soon as the realization hit her, she began to see them—shadowy shapes moving through the fog, cruel eyes glinting in the darkness. And she heard them, too—the rattling of their bony weapons, the wicked laughter that echoed from sources unseen.
