Lyra Wanderlight's Arc

Chapter 13 of 14

Lyra backed away from the clearing's edge, pulling Diaspor with her. Her amulet had gone completely silent. The fragment she'd thrown still lay on the scorched ground between them and the robed figure, who hadn't moved to claim it. That should have been reassuring, but it wasn't. The blade-wielder lowered the crystalline portrait and slid it back into her robes. "I have no interest in your fragments, wanderer," the woman said. Her voice was young, almost gentle. "Only in him." The blade caught the dim light as she raised it, not in threat but in display. Lyra's amulet suddenly flared hot against her chest, responding to the citrine handle with violent recognition. The woman took a step forward. Diaspor tried to pull away, but Lyra held his arm and lifted her amulet with her free hand. Violet light poured from the crystal, flooding the clearing with pale radiance that made the woman stop mid-stride. "You can't hide behind that forever," the blade-wielder said. But she stepped back anyway, her gown of layered yellow and lavender shifting as she moved. The light from Lyra's amulet pushed against her like physical force. "I'll find him again. I always do." She looked past Lyra directly at Diaspor. "You know why I'm coming. You've always known." Then she turned and walked toward the dark structure that loomed beyond the clearing—a house wrapped in golden vines, its lit windows watching like eyes. The building seemed to shift as she approached it, walls bending slightly as if acknowledging her presence. She disappeared through the door without looking back. Lyra let the amulet's light fade and released Diaspor's arm. Her hand was shaking. She'd held the blade-wielder off, but only because the woman had chosen to retreat. The fragment still lay on the ground near the pool, abandoned. Lyra walked over and picked it up, feeling it go cold and quiet as it rejoined the bracelet on her chest. Diaspor stood where she'd left him, staring at the house. "We should go," Lyra said. "Put distance between us and her." Diaspor didn't move. "She'll keep coming. She said so." Lyra nodded. "Then we stay together. That's what stopped her today." She held out her hand. After a moment, Diaspor took it. They walked away from the clearing side by side, leaving the dark house and its golden vines behind. Later, when Lyra looked back, she saw a white stone statue standing where they'd clasped hands—two figures walking forward together, wrapped in flowering vines. She didn't know if it had always been there or if the land had made it to mark her choice.