by Kelly Napoli
CHAPTER 17
DRAINED
The next several days went by rather slowly. Finally, Kiethara healed the last of the burnt trees; it felt wonderful to have the forest whole again. It was such a reward to gaze upon the brilliant green that once again stretched from horizon to horizon. A proud smile stretched across her face as she hovered over everything.
Aaron had been proud of her as well. Not only had he clapped when she tossed the empty seed bag at his feet, but he also rewarded her with a few more stories about former guardians. She paid strict attention, her hopes raised when she noticed that each of them had a happy ending. Maybe her legend would have one as well. But then she remembered the ending of her mother’s legend and her hope quickly vanished.
She had, of course, discussed Durga’s presence with Aaron. He hadn’t been opposed to Durga in the slightest, only giving her a rather weak warning to be careful before dismissing the subject. That had annoyed her greatly. Navadar couldn’t even use magic, let alone make potions with it, but still Aaron had given her so much grief over his presence here. Sometimes, the spirit made no sense at all.
So here Kiethara was, perched on the highest branch of one of the two trees that supported her hammock. It was twilight. In her opinion, it was one of the most beautiful times of day, only surpassed by dawn. The beginning of the day and the end: two separate and completely opposite marvels that both gave and took away. The air was cool; the long remaining heat from the summer seemed to be finally cooling off.
At last, the sun finally dipped low enough to disappear and cast the forest into darkness. With a sigh, she slid off her branch and into the hammock below. The slight nip in the air made sleeping a bit uncomfortable and this time she had no blanket to fend off the chilly air. She didn’t know how to make another one; in fact, she didn’t even know where the original had come from.
Despite the temperature, however, Kiethara was finally able to drift into sleep…