Wucaii

Chapter Nineteen

Aelana sat on Leld's lap, twisting his beard into braids. She had just learned how to do it days before and felt the need to practice on everything. It was the first thing she'd figured out how to do on her own, and at six cycles old, it was a pretty big deal. The third one was done, and she was ready to start on the fourth. As she gathered his hair, her fingers brushed against the eye hanging from his neck. She pushed the beard aside to get a better look at it.

"How does it work, Leld?" She twirled the gold in her fingers.

Leld averted his attention from his meditation and looked into her face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, how does it keep the magic? How does it remember?"

Leld smiled, the corners of his eyes wrinkling deeper. "It's quite simple, really." He picked the amulet out of her small fingers. "You see right here, in the center of the eye." He pointed at the amulet.

Aelana squinted and looked deeper. "It's black."

"That's right. It's the pupil. And that is made of a very rare stone. You know how the earth has the ability to remember things?"

She fingered the middle of the eye and nodded her head.

"Well, the universe has that ability too. Everything we see in the sky, even us, was created a very long time ago. There was a huge explosion, and things flew out into the vastness of space. We all came from one place, and parts of that place are in everything out there." He pointed toward the sky. "Like the planet, that place has the ability to remember, to absorb memories, but at a much higher rate. The small piece in the eye will remember several lifetimes of things. It stores the magic and memories. Does that make sense?"

Aelana wrinkled her nose and stared at the tiny rock. It wasn't any bigger than her fingernail, and her small brain had a hard time believing it could remember so much. "I guess. But it seems so small."

Leld chuckled. "It is small, but it's full of lots of energy. Even with all my wisdom and power, when I go, it won't even fill a fraction of that rock."

Aelana stared from the amulet to Leld and back again. She still didn't get how something so small could do so much, but she was still young. She probably would understand one day. Without saying another word, she buried the eye back under Leld's beard and started on the fourth braid.

***

Aelana's head pounded. Her brain attempted to push itself through her skull. She opened her eyes slowly and tried to sit up. She couldn't budge. She stared down at her body. It was covered in vines. Her eyes took in the surroundings. She was still in the War Room. The statue was in front of her, Kalen still lying at the base. Dek crouched in front of her, staring. She focused on the plants and willed them to move away. They started to, but then stopped and snaked back around her, tightening as they did.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Dek said. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Aelana narrowed her eyes and stared at him. It didn't matter what he was up to; she was done playing his games. She was stronger than he was, and if he wanted her to prove it, it would make her more than happy to oblige. She focused on the plants again. Instead of curling away from her body, they exploded from her scales. She jumped to her feet and grabbed Dek by the throat.

"I'm still stronger than you are." She lifted him to his tiptoes. "And I'm tired of messing around."

Dek wheezed out a laugh. "That's true, for now. But don't forget about him." He pointed toward Kalen.

Kalen was still unconscious, but his body writhed on the floor. His chest heaved up and down as if he couldn't breathe, and his skin took on a blue hue. Aelana snarled at Dek and let him go. He crumpled to the ground.