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"Apologies, Tulip," he says quietly, holding his hands up, palms towards her. "I have a lot to apologize for, butthat will wait. There is something you can do to help."
She looks up, sniffling from the angry tears that spilled out of her eyes. "What can I do?"
"I will shield you. You will then help me boost Viola's magic through devotion." He lowers his hands.
"How would we do that?" Tulip asks skeptically. "She knows I believe in her."
"Devotion is stronger with a sacrifice," I say suddenly, locking eyes with Zeph and smiling. "Zeph is saying you need to walk with him and tell him secrets."
"Excuse me?" Tulip yelps. "No, I'm not telling you my secrets."
Zeph laughs. "Sacrifice is an interesting word. Some interpret it to mean death and death only. And, of course, that ultimate sacrifice is a huge gift of devotion. But there are so many other ways to sacrifice for something you believe in." He looks at all of us. "You can sacrifice blood, yes, but you can also sacrifice time. When people used to journey to the Cliffs of Barez to pay respects to the Gods, what was that but a sacrifice of their time?" Zeph holds up his hand, ticking off fingers as he speaks. "I believe that you can sacrifice secrets. Things you hold close to your heart for only yourself." He smiles, shrugging. "I'm sure there are other ways to sacrifice, too, but if you're repeatedly cutting yourself, I'm sure Viola's bloodlust would become insatiable."
Tulip rubs her fingers between her eyes. "And this will boost Viola's power?"
"I believe it will. As high priest, I am a conduit, able topull the devotion from the realm and direct it to her. She would still eventually realize the devotion, but it's more immediate and stronger through the service of a high priest."
Taking a few moments to think, Tulip eventually relents. "Fine, I will walk with you and tell you my secrets. They stay with you, right?" she asks, eyes darting around.
"Of course," Zeph says with a laugh.
With that settled, I try to pull the Godly essence within me to continue to direct me toward the artifact. The pain of longing within my very being hits me again, and I follow it.
Chapter 23
Viola
Dawn is brightening on the horizon. All of us have now been up for an entire day, and our bodies are weary and worse for wear. Every so often, I get a painful jolt from my essence, directing me to the artifact much in the way the Witch's Ladder brought me to the elevator.
Something I'm learning is that if I step back and trust my magic, it is capable of more than I could ever expect.
Shadow crawls in front of me on the underfoot vegetation, enjoying his time as more snake than shadow. That is until he moves from the ground to my neck before I can even blink. I swing my head around, uneasy from his sudden return.
"Shields up," I say quietly. "I think we're coming up on something. Use it now, then drop to conserve energy once we know what we're up against if you can."
Zeph pulls Tulip to him with a gentle hand on her wrist, erecting a shield around them both as he ignores the way she cringes at the contact. He whispers, and she nods, gulping visibly, and then begins to speak to him in a voice so low I'm surprised he can hear it.
I push through a curtain of branches and almost fall backward at what I see. Mace comes throughand sucks air through his teeth. The creature is sleeping and hasn't noticed us. "Let's turn back," Mace says, grabbing my shoulder.
Shaking my head, I rub my chest. "It's here. I can feel it." I sweep my eyes over the area, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Under the creature's front leg is a leather bag. "That has to be it."
Mace groans, pushing us back out of the clearing.
"What's going on?" Morrow asks, dropping his shield when he sees we're not fighting.
"I've never seen a beast like that before," Mace says, glancing at the branches that conceal the beast. "It's massive, and its body is long like a snake but broader, with thick, pointed scales or some sort of exoskeleton all over its body. It's got wings, giant ones the color of rotten leaves. And legs, but they're short. I imagine it'll still be low to the ground when it stands up. The whole thing is this rotten, blackish-green color."
"What could it be?" I ask, peeking back through the branches to get another glimpse at the strange creature. "It's fucking scary."
Plume's mouth is wide open, her hand covering it. Her bright eyes are watery, and she's shaking her head. "What is it, Plume?" I ask, tapping my fingers on my thigh. "Because it's guarding some sort of pack, and my gut and my magic are telling me what we need is in there."
"A wyrm," Plume says, her voice croaking. She clears her throat. "It's a wyrm."
Tulip scrunches her nose. "What's that?"
"Massive reptilian thing," Morrow says, scratching the back of his neck. "Said to be a thing of legends, of course."
"Oh, big surprise, another legend. I'm beginning to think legends and myths are all just things people are too scared to admit exist on this island," Tulip grumbles.
