Touched With Gold

Chapter 3

-Laren-

The further Laren walked, the darker everything seemed to get. Trees silently cried out to her, trying to push through the metallic black. Laren felt anguish as she tried to reach back. She really didn’t know what to do. Her magic was emerging again, but after 18 years on the Mainland, she couldn’t quite control it. Once, she had almost learned to control it, but it was not acceptable on the Mainland. So she had left it neglected, and now, a part of her was actually afraid of it. Especially after the last time I used it, she remembered.

The rabbit was terribly wounded. She reached out and gently touched it. Its fur was matted and tangled where its paw had been caught between…something. Gently wrapping her hands around the paw, Laren willed the flesh to heal. Slowly, she felt her magic being welcomed by the rabbit. When the healing was complete, the rabbit nuzzled her hand and looked at her solemnly. Black eyes pierced hers. She hoped the rabbit was saying thank you. Laren patted the rabbit’s head and watched it bound away into the trees. At that moment, lightning crackled through the sky, followed swiftly by a crash of thunder. Wind swirled and the sky parted, letting loose a torrent of rain.

Laren closed her eyes against the unbidden memory. How could she use her power for good when it just left destruction in her path? Her forest was in pain, and she was at a loss. First her parents; now was she going to lose her true home as well? Unable to bear the oppression any longer, she shifted again. Letting her paws carry her to old, neglected paths, she lowered her head in semi defeat. She was not strong enough. It was time to find some help.

-Dhalia-

Shavarlo was somewhere nearby. Dhalia could feel the forest fighting the taint. The taint was such that the only way anything could fight it was with hope. Extinguished hope meant dismay, and eventual defeat. If anything was fighting, that meant it thought it had a chance to win. And Shavarlo was the chance the forest needed, so now it was time to make a plan. Reaching beneath the darkness of her taint, she looked for any trace of living magic. Her magical sight picked up a faint silver thread. There. That must be Shavarlo. In order to preserve her strength, she placed some of her own magic on the thread. Once the tracker was set, Dhalia turned toward the silver path and set off.
As she followed Shavarlo, Dhalia could almost taste her bittersweet victory. She was aware that this plan could essentially destroy the realm she once loved, but the power of ruling the realm was tantalizing to her. Power hungry as she was, there was nothing she wanted more than to become the richest and the adored person in Kantor.
Lost in her thoughts, Dhalia had managed to lose sight of her prey, her magical sight slightly distorting. Stopping abruptly in confusion, she tried to clear her mind and reach for her Chamber again. After a moment of searching, she picked up the trail once again. It was farther away now, and fainter than it had been moments before, but it was still there. Her prey wandered back and forth listlessly, as if unsure of herself and where she was. As she rounded a bend in the overgrown path, she caught the very top of a wolf’s tail. Realizing her prey had shifted and that Shavarlo was closer than she had assumed, Dhalia dropped back to a safe distance to follow and wait.

-Faine-

Upon his further investigation of the taint, he was no more aware of what was going on than before. His search had yielded little information beyond what he already knew, that the Taint was slowly killing everything in its path. Laren would know, he thought. She would be able to fix this. I don’t know how I know, but I am sure of it. Everything within him screamed that if Laren were even here in the forest, something like this Taint would have never survived. Somehow he knew that, but he ignored his feelings. The forest needed her, and he needed her too; the one person in the world who might still care about him. Now, more than ever, failing was not an option. He thought back to another day, long ago, when the world was crumbling down around him.