Page 60 of Shadows of Light
Lexi released her shield to chase them away. There wasn’t enough moonlight here to allow for much of a glow, and it certainly wasn’t enough for her to chase away the shadows.
Frustrated and knowing they wouldn’t obey her command over his, she turned and strode through the opening beside her. Only focused on getting away, she realized too late what she’d walked into.
The garden.
Her footsteps slowed but didn’t stop. She hated this garden with all its barren bleakness and the awful fountain somewhere inside; she despised the shadows more.
She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of following her further. Unlike the outer walkways she’d left behind, the garden was wide open with no cover. The half-moon shone down on the dead plants with a radiance unequaled by that of the Earth’s moon.
As she strode into the moon’s light, her glow intensified to chase the shadows further away. Lifting her chin, Lexi smiled when a sound of annoyance issued from them.
When the shadows reported back to him, her actions would piss off Cole, but that was too bad. As she walked, bathed in luminescence, she felt something inside her stir.
Overhead, the beat of the dragons’ wings increased as, drawn by her glow, more of them circled overhead. She couldn’t quite put a finger on what it was and had no idea what it meant, but something inside her came to life as she moved through the deadened plants.
This wasn’t the first time she’d lowered her shield while in Dragonia. She felt a connection to the land the last time she did too, and now something new vibrated to life within her.
Though she didn’t want the shadows coming closer again, the increasing number of dragons overhead would alert someone that she was out. She stopped and resurrected her shield before calling out to them in a whisper they would hear.
“It’s okay. I’m fine; you don’t have to worry about me.”
She’d put her shield back into place, but the vibration continued. The connection rose from her booted feet and spread to her fingertips before pulsing across her hairline.
Her connection to the earth… no, that wasn’t right either.
To the gardens?
Walking over, she kept her shield in place in the hopes the remaining dragons would stay asleep, but more of them took to the sky. She stopped before a plant so dead she couldn’t tell what it was.
But then, she might not know what it was even if it was alive. So many things in this realm differed from Earth.
When her fingers brushed over the plant, it twitched beneath her hand. Lexi almost jerked her fingers away, but the plant’s unexpected reaction wasn’t unpleasant.
It feltright. As she stroked the plant, she recalled how the luna flowers reacted to her and how they made her laugh while playing with her.
She’d always felt an affinity with nature on Earth, but nothing had ever reacted to her there. However, Sahira’s potion had suppressed her powers at the time, so maybe things would have been different.
She lifted the plant to rub the brown and shriveled leaves. There must be some life left in it as the leaves hadn’t fallen off completely.
Perhaps the plant had gone dormant beneath the rule of those who didn’t belong on the throne. Lifting her head, she gazed around the garden. Maybeallthe plants were dormant and not dead.
As she contemplated it, the stem twitched in her hand, and green spread across its leaves. Lexi gasped as she leaned closer to examine the plant as more green brightened its leaves and brown deepened its stem.
She had no idea why, but the urge to fall to her knees and weep hit her. Amidst all the death and destruction plaguing her for months, there was hope, and she badly needed it.
In this barren place, there was life and beauty. It was all seeking to break free, andshecould be the one to do it.
The now green stalk brushed her fingers before rising to rub her cheek. Lexi gave the now colorful plant a final caress before turning her attention to the rest of the garden.
The whole place was a mess of death and decay, but it wouldn’t stay that way. She would make sure of it.
Releasing her shield again, she used her glow to chase away the shadows. She didn’t want those things here, amongst her hope.
Lexi smiled and laughed as she strolled through the garden, reawakening the lost plants.
CHAPTERFORTY-EIGHT
Cole turned asone of the warlocks unleashed a jagged bolt of something resembling lightning at him. He didn’t know what the warlock’s spell contained, but as it flew toward him, the shadows rose to bring it down.
