Celeste Windwhisper's Arc

Chapter 10 of 14

They flew north together until the stranger slowed and dropped toward a hollow in the rocks below. Celeste followed. There, hidden inside a chamber of woven vines and pale flowers, sat the small painting he had carried for seven years. It rested on a tall blue pillar wrapped in glowing leaves. He had built all of this to keep it safe. Celeste landed and stepped closer. The painting was changing. Its old colors were thinning, and something new pushed through from underneath. Green vines. A purple stone. A yellow X at the center. Her breath caught. It was the same mark the boy had left on the tree. The same mark burning behind them in the bark. She had painted it seven years ago and never known. The stranger stood very still. "I thought I was keeping a painting," he said. His red eyes did not leave the orb of moss and light. "I was keeping a map." Celeste pressed her hand to the glass. The mark inside pulsed once, warm under her palm. She had not been alone in the sky for seven years. She had been pointing the way, and someone had been carrying it for her. She turned north again, and this time she knew exactly where to fly.