Page 36 of When Ashes Fall

I froze to search the woods, but nothing stirred. Slowly, my gaze fell to my feet.

“That’s right! I’m right down here!”

Only decaying leaves and dirt lay below me. Mushrooms didn’t even grow in this spot.

How tiny is this creature? I wondered.

Kneeling, I plucked a couple of nearby mushrooms. I had to lean over to get them, but it could look like I was trying not to step on any of the precious fungi.

Setting them in my basket, I ran my fingers over the ground, prepared for something to skitter across my hand or sharp teeth to chomp into it. All I felt was the power of the cool earth.

Tingles ran up my hand, through my arm, and around my shoulders. When they spread down through my chest, my heart warmed, and I swore it swelled.

Before my Needing, I was too young to be bound to either the sun or moon gods, so I gained strength from the earth and plants. Since my Needing, that ability had intensified until I felt their life thrumming within me and filling me with energy.

I closed my eyes as I dug deeper into the ground, and power swelled within me. Still, I didn’t encounter anything.

“What are you doing?” Knox inquired.

I didn’t open my eyes as I replied. “Thriving.”

And that’s exactly what I was doing. Like a tree growing taller and stronger as it stretched toward the sun, I was digging my roots in and thriving off the nourishment of the land.

“Well, that’s… unusual,” Gizzi whispered in my head.

“Not to me; not anymore,” I told him. “Plus, talking to animals is unusual, and you like it.”

“I do indeed.”

I expected Knox to tell me to stop or make some asshole comment, but he remained silent as I dug deeper. I’d buried my fingers nearly an inch into the ground when they connected with something hard.

I felt along the surface, expecting to find the jagged edges of a rock, but encountered only a smooth structure. With reluctance, I pulled my hands out of the earth, brushed aside more debris, and tore out handfuls of dirt.

Boots appeared as Knox came to stand beside me. “What are you doing?”

“There’s something under here,” I muttered.

“It’s me! It’s me!” the voice squealed.

“You’re a rock?” I asked out loud, my astonishment over this revelation causing me to forget about my determination to keep Knox from learning about my newfound powers.

However, the shock of learning I could talk to inanimate objects, as well as animals, could definitely be blamed for my blunder. Anyone would have blurted out that question at this revelation.

“Who’s a rock?” Knox asked.

At the same time, a giggle sounded in my head. “No, silly. I’m under the rock.”

Am I digging up a snake or something? Please don’t tell me it’s a baby basilisk.

Such a possibility should have caused me to hesitate or stop, but I didn’t. The mystery of what lay beneath the rock propelled me onward, and my movements grew frantic as I tore at the earth, ripping it open and flinging away handfuls of debris.

“Who’s a rock?” Knox demanded.

“No one’s a rock,” I muttered, and according to the voice, it wasn’t a lie, but I didn’t know what else it could be. “There’s something under here.”

“I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but there are rocks in the ground.”

I paused only long enough to glare at him. “Thank you for that bit of information, oh wise one who knows it all.”