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She swallows hard, her throat contracting, and I sigh, raking a hand through my hair.
“I don’t know why the realm is asking this of you. But the day you came here, you were wounded.”
She nods. “I know that.”
“You fed the Shadow Realm your blood, and for weeks, it was stronger than it’s been in decades.”
Her fingertips dance over her side, where the faint scar from the beast’s wound stretches across her abdomen.
“I didn’t understand it at first,” I continue. “I thought your mere presence was keeping everything together.”
“So you put up the wards to keep me here.”
I nod, jaw clenching when she hugs herself tightly. She’s waiting for me to continue, so I oblige her.
“But the realm began to weaken again. As it had before. So I went out to the spot where I found you. Trying to make sense of it, of you and your arrival here.”
“And what did you find?” she asks when I don’t continue.
“You brought life to the Shadow Realm. Wherever your blood touched the ground, vines sprouted and grew. I traced them back to the veil where you must have crossed over from Acaria.”
She shakes her head, unconvinced. “There is life in the Shadow Realm already. The people of Videva grow plants, tend animals.”
“That is sustained by my power. This was something else entirely. This pulsed with something outside of me all on its own.”
“It’s not possible.” Her eyes meet mine, full of questions and uncertainty. “How is it possible?”
I take another step closer, grateful when she doesn’t retreat from me further. Meera’s ears flatten when I advance again, and I stop. I won’t hurt the horse just to get to Elora, but I don’t like how closely she’s standing to the veil. She could easily slip through to the other side. And then I would be forced to follow her.
“I don’t know. But Railan saw it. When you were injured in the sparring ring. A drop of blood bloomed on the ground, and vines took root.”
She shakes her head in disbelief, her fingers reaching for the hilt of the dagger strapped to her thigh. Unsheathing it, she holds the tip against her forefinger, pausing for a heartbeat before pressing it in and breaking the skin.
Squeezing her finger until a drop of blood wells, she turns it upside down and watches it fall to the ground. Almost instantly, the black dust of the forest floor where it makes contact turns into spongy earth, and a single, thin vine sprouts, curling at the tip.
Her head jerks up to look at me, eyes wide and breath sawing in and out of her lungs.
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I. But I am not asking this of you. I will not sacrifice you to the realm. I would sooner sacrifice myself.”
“What happens if it falls?” she asks, gaze dropping to the tiny vine.
She squeezes another drop of blood next to the second, watching in awe as the process repeats. The vines curl toward each other as if seeking comfort, their stems twining.
When I don’t answer, she looks up at me and draws a deep breath. “Thieran. What happens if the Shadow Realm falls?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not going to let it fall.”
As Railan’s was, Elora’s face is full of disbelief.
“It doesn’t matter. Because you will be somewhere safe, somewhere far away from here, if it does.”
“What happens?” she whispers.
“If it falls, all the souls on this side of the veil will be free to roam through Acaria.”
“Even the ones in Síra and Meren?”
