Page 14 of May: Bloom & Bane

“I am breathing, Droot,” I rasp.

To prove it, I lean in and breathe against the glass.

Day 299: Tonight, the silence finally broke.

There was a tiny, sharp snap. The sound of a single willow branch outside our hut finally shaking off the weight of ice.

Then came another.

And another.

The Iron Frost is losing its grip on the meadow, Saevúra.

I slump at the base of the glass, my wings wrapped so tightly around the stone that I can feel the tremble of every shift beneath the earth.

I am exhausted.

The string inside my chest feels so thin I’m afraid a heavy breath might snap it.

A drop of water hits the top of the willow dome and trickles through the roots. The first one in a hundred days. It lands in the center of the glass, directly over Eden’s forehead.

The crystal hums, and a surge of heat radiates from the box so suddenly the frost on my arms begins to steam.

Did you know I needed you? I wonder.

The Sun is waking up! Droot screams in my mind. Sage! The Sun is hungry for the light!

I press my palm to the glass and wait for the world to turn green.

Winter is over.

We survived the dark.

CHAPTER 7

a garden with no gardener

Day 312: The snow didn’t melt; it surrendered.

The grove is a swamp of silver slush. The first of the peonies have started to return. They aren’t orange yet. They’re pale, as if they’re afraid to commit to the world after such a brutal winter.

I spent the morning on my knees, breathing my own magic into the soil. I felt the life leaving me and entering the roots.

My skin has begun peeling away in large, itchy strips of bark-like foliage, revealing the raw, green flesh underneath.

It hurts to exist right now. Every breeze feels like a slap.

Sage is shedding! Droot chirps. He tries to help by tugging on a loose piece of bark near my shoulder. Sage is becoming soft-skin again!

“Careful, Droot,” I groan. “I’m not as tough as I was last summer.”

Day 320: There’s a tug in my chest.

When I press my ear to the glass, I can hear a low hum, like a beehive waking up for its queen. It thrums to the beat of my heart.

I think… I was sent here to watch over the meadow. The more I connect with it, the more it responds to me. I’ve started practicing with my magic. Once I can control it, I want to grow a home for us.

Day 331: The scent is nearly unbearable now.