Heir to Light | Fablehaven AU

V - tree house talks

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The thunder punctuated Kendra's impact to the ground. She barely had a second to protect her head before she was gasping for breath—the ground had knocked the wind out of her.

A dozen thoughts whizzed around her head, dazing her like the tilt of her gaze. She could've just been struck by lightning. She could've been dead. No second chances. Zip. Zilch. Dead.

Her last moments could have been riding on a horse with Garreth. Warm and content. Not too bad in the grand scheme of her life's moments. Nonetheless, the lightning hadn't hit her.

Instead, it had split the tree in front of her.

Glory's neigh rang through the atmosphere, mimicking the roar of the sky. It was a familiar call soured melancholy as Glory raced into the brush. A deep tug in Kendra's gut longed to call for her horse, but she was still trying to catch her breath.

Wood creaked and the tree that was struck began to fall. No, no, no, no. Leaves rustled as each piece of bark began to break away. Panic overtook her breathing, and it shredded her throat like a knife.

She rolled to the side, the mud slurping against her dress. She didn't roll far enough before one of the thick boughs of the tree crashed onto her leg.

The crash deafened her ears—but still wasn't as loud as her limb's pained screams. The heaves of her body scratched herself against the huge tree.

Once her vision sharpened, she found a plant next to her. With her eyes locked on the sapling mounted in the mud, she managed to wrangle her breathing to somewhat normal. Raindrops slid off its two leaves.

What a tiny seedling. Did it rejoice for the other tree's departure? Surely it must enjoy the greater sunlight and nutrients to reap. Unless the joy of more resources didn't trump the mourning of a fellow tree. Kendra would agree; greed didn't defeat grief. Her golden crown nonetheless came from blood.

"Kendra!"

"Garreth," she whispered. His voice was a lifeline.  After a moment, she swallowed. "Garreth!"

She pulled herself into a sitting position and pulled her leg out from under the tree bough, nearly blacking out from the movement's agony.

Great. She wasn't just bruised and battered, something was actually wrong.

Kendra grasped at her skirt. Whether her skirt was wet from blood or rain, she didn't know. What she did know was that her shin was a bloody mess. The red mixed with the clear rain, forming a river into the dirt and her dark-colored skirt.

Her clammy hand closed over her leg with a whimper behind clenched teeth. She closed her eyes and barely pushed out the incantation for "life."

Once she uttered the sounds, the hum of life and nature all around her strengthened. With concentration, Kendra pulled the surrounding energy into her leg.

The agony in her leg hurt less, but she had nowhere near the strong stream of magic she needed to pull to fix it. Pulling that amount was made difficult by the constant thunder and wet clothes and pounding headache. Besides, that amount of energy would cause her to pass out on a bad day. Which this definitely was.

"Kendra! Are you okay?" Garreth's voice made her slip her skirt back over her leg.

Her wound was closed but Kendra wasn't medically skilled enough to know if that was enough. She wished Tanu had come to Terrabelle so he could have helped her. Maybe Vanessa's veterinary knowledge would transfer. Terrabelle probably had a court physician, but Kendra wasn't keen to let their royal court know she had an injury.