For all my years in the temple, this was the first time the magic had reached out to me instead of me reaching for it. It pulled on me, asking me to come and find it, deep within the cave I was standing at the mouth of.
I held my palm out and up, and a globe of light appeared, hovering there. “I’m going in, Elex. I’m an acolyte. If the magic calls, I answer.”
Not waiting for his answer, I passed into the mouth of the cave. I made sure the globe of light would stay where it was and let it float ahead of me. I was going to need more than one of the globes to dispel the darkness of the cave if the first few hundred feet were any indication.
Inclining sharply, boulders of all sizes from bitty to gigantic littered the ground. There was hardscrabble between each of them, making footing dangerous and unstable. Still, they could be useful as I grabbed the boulders around me as handholds. I climbed into the shadows and through the rocks to get to a platform that allowed me to catch my breath and let my muscles rest.
The entrance wasn’t all that far behind.
This was going to be a hard climb.
Elex stumbled into a rock next to me, panting. “You’re insane, Kimber.”
In the light of my magic, I grinned. “Who followed me in, though?”
He grumbled, “To save your ass, if need be.”
Glancing ahead, I could see there was only more darkness. “Do we know if anyone has explored this cave?”
“They’ve all been explored. But when and how much is the real question.” Elex sighed, giving the cave a perfunctory study. “I think this is Cave S’Kir Prime Park North Twelve, but I can’t be sure. It fits the profile, a sharp incline, and a boulder-strewn entrance. It’s been explored, pretty deeply if it is, and we’ll have a slow incline from now on.”
“Well, we’ll just have to explore it too.”
He gripped my arm. “Please, Kimber. Think about this. If you really want to go forward with this insane plan, let’s get the proper equipment. For the love of the Lost God, you’re wearing sandals.”
I shook my head. “No. We have to go now. I have to go now. You don’t have to come with me. But I have to do this.” Pursing my lips, I studied the rocks and walls of the cave and absently pried his warm fingers from my arm. “This is the first time I’ve ever had the magic tell me what I needed to do. So I have to.”
“I won’t let you go alone. If you break your leg, I can go for help.”
I nodded into the cave. “Let’s go. I need to find out what this is. I’ve never—”
How could I ever describe what it felt like to have the magic pulling on me? There was an urgency to it, as if I needed to be somewhere immediately or I’d miss a spectacular event. Elex didn’t need much more convincing than I had given him, so we trekked deeper into the cave.
It was a desperate urge.
The itch called…
I’m coming. I’m coming.
So desperate, I began to run.
I’m coming. I’m coming!
“Breathe, Kimber. Breathe.” Elex pulled me to a stop, allowing me—and him—catch our breath.
Before he could scold me further, the magic shifted.
My light shook in the air and was yanked to the right.
Even Elex couldn’t miss that.
He stood up straighter, searching the cave with a glance. “What in the name of all that is holy?”
“This way,” I said and then maneuvered around the boulders, toward the light. The cave grew narrower and sloped down.
I didn’t travel another twenty paces before Elex pulled me to yet another halt. “No, Kimber. Stop. This part of the cave hasn’t been explored.”
“How do you know?” I asked in annoyance.
Pointing to the archway leading into the small side cavern we were in, Elex gruffed, “If it had been explored, a green medallion would have appeared when we walked by. There was nothing. There was…” Staring down at the ground, his brow wrinkled, and confusion washed over his features. “There are no footprints in the dirt here.”
“Well, if no one has been here—”
“No, you don’t understand. There are no footprints in the dirt here. None, save ours. I was wrong before. No one has even approached this cave. No one knows it’s here.” Spinning around, Elex’s expression flipped from confused to excitement. “We have to go back. We have to get the right equipment, the right documentation, spotters, communication, mapping—”
“Stop.” My word was simple, direct.
It stopped him dead.
“Listen to me. The magic is telling me I have to be here. To go this way. So I need to. And that’s as far as I’m discussing this. Come with me or not.”
“We can go, but let us get the equipment.”
“Let me try this. It might help you understand.” I wrapped my hand around his arm and opened us to the magic around us.
Elex’s eyes sparked in shock, and he inhaled sharply. “Is that what you feel right now?”
“Yes.” I smirked, my hazel eyes sparkling with eagerness. “That’s why I am going to continue into this cave and listen to what the magic is telling me to do.”
He finally understood and merely nodded in agreement. I ducked further into the cavern, following the magic deeper. Elex kept close behind, and lent magic toward my light, the beams brightening. The silence followed us.
The cavern led down, down again, and at some point, crossed under the cave above. I didn’t understand how this branch had never been explored, but mysteries were an adrenaline rush to the system, my hands shaking down by my sides.
The cave trembled around us.
Elex yanked me back against him by my waist. “Kimber, this is not safe.”
Shaking my head, I spun in his grasp and faced him. “Stop. It’s not going to crumble. Can’t you feel that through the magic?”
“No.”
I found that disconcerting, but I didn’t have time to think about it. The shaking rocks compelled me on.
I went.
Deeper and deeper, faster and faster, until I was close to running again. The passageway curled in the other direction this time, taking us in a new route. I rounded a corner and halted sharply.
Elex slammed right into my back. The deep breath he drew to yell at me, he released in a shocked huff.
The cavern beyond was massive and beautiful.
Streaks and cracks packed with colors and light striped the walls. All the glimmering colors of the rainbow shone in the crystals dotting the stone. Thrumming with magic, pulsing with light and life, this was the source of the call.
The cave trembled again.
We both took another step forward.
The rocks peeled further in the tremors, crumbling into dust. Not pebbles or boulders, but dusty powder coated the floor.
Magic pulsed through the room, taking our breath from our lungs. I put a hand to my chest, trying to draw a breath, and stared.
There was so much power.
Love.
“What is this?” Elex asked, breathless.
“The mountain is breaking.” I could scarcely believe my own words.
Elex grabbed me and turned me to face him. “What?”
“The mountain is breaking. The chosen love is awakening.” I blinked up at him. “The legend is true. The chosen love is awakening! Can you feel it?”
His expressive dark green gaze stared in wonder.
I recited the poem from our childhoods.
“Magic is life.
Without magic, we are nothing.
Without life, there is no magic.