The Open Sky: Eternal Forest Saga - Book 3

Chapter 8

 "No!" Moriah screamed. Her knees hit the ground and her face fell into her hands. She sobbed hysterically. "No! Terrex! No!"

Orchid sat with her in the dirt. She put her arms around her shoulders and let her cry against her chest. A tear rolled down her cheek as well. "He sacrificed himself so we could escape, so the Open Sky wouldn't be found by the Temple."

Moriah gave no response. She couldn't talk through her tears. Terrex had always been there for her. She was alive because he rescued her from her burning hut when the demons marched through Faith Haven. They'd left to rescue Jorah before she even awoke that morning. She never even got to say goodbye.

"His sacrifice will be in vain if we don't get moving," Sunrise said. The former acolyte stood with Zehylr behind the two women kneeling on the ground. "Meadowgold's guards could find us any minute."

"You have more time than you think," Viyana interjected. She was sitting against the base of a tree away from the crowd. Her hands were folded with her arms resting on her knees. Though she spoke, her eyes were distant, as if trying to stare past the present in search of a future that was no longer certain. "I ordered the searches only a mile into the trees around the city. I figured you'd be farther out than that, but I didn't think you were this deep in the Savage Lands."

"Lady Viyana," Firefly began, "we have also survived this long thanks to you. I can't thank you enough for your faith in me."

Viyana pushed up to her feet, letting her arms swing at her sides. "I'm sure my standing in Meadowgold is plummeting as we speak."

"What you said to the acolyte was true," Zehlyr reminded her. "You are bound to no law from the Temple."

Viyana shook her head. "That's not how the tribe will see it. The whole reason we finally elected to have a high priestess is because I've spent so long speaking highly of Tranquility. Rainstorm will tell Ilderra of what I've done and the whole city will turn against me." She paused to sigh. "Oh, Ilderra; what have I put on you?"

"The Open Sky is a refuge, Lady Viyana," Firefly said with a smile. She fluttered to the human woman and landed on a branch next to her face. "All are welcome with us."

"But what is us?!" Viyana demanded. She stormed away, but not far. It was more the need to move than a desire to go. She pressed her fingers to her forehead as she paced back and forth. "If I just threw away my life for this cause then I need to know what in Lady's name I've gotten myself into. What are you all doing out here? How did you learn to use magic? What is this whole Open Sky thing anyway?"

"We are the true Temple," Firefly answered. "Not the artificial one of stone and glass, erected by mortal hands to seal themselves away from the very thing they claim to worship." She lifted off the branch and hovered in the middle of the group. With eyes skyward she spread her arms. "We worship the Lady in the house she built for us. Look around you. This is her holy sanctuary; the very forest that embodies her spirit. Here, pillars of wood hold up a ceiling of blue sky and white clouds. The birds sing her eternal hymns. The Lady is not in their prison of lifeless stone. She does not adhere to their Seryans."

She thrust out her left hand, letting a ball of fire spring to life above her palm. "This is proof that magical power is for the Lady to give, not the Temple. It is as wild as the forest itself, terrifying and beautiful. It is part of the bounty she provides for us."

Viyana glanced around at the Harmonious humans. Their eyes were alight and mouths smiling as they hung on their prophet's every word. Firefly had truly captivated these people. She only hoped she wasn't leading them to her doom. But for now, they were all she had. "That is all... very interesting," she said after giving her words careful thought.