Sable Morrow's Arc

Chapter 5 of 6

The next night Sable came back to the shrine with a plan. She could call her light blind. Tonight she had to do it with her eyes open. Kael waited by the glowing altar, arms crossed. He had already shifted and shifted back, she could tell. His hair stuck to his jaw with sweat. "Eyes open," he said. "That's all. You've done the hard part." But it wasn't all. The grotto was full of small movements. Vines swayed near the entrance. Water dripped from the damp stone. The old sun amulet sat heavy in her pocket, useless now, a crutch she no longer trusted. She fixed her gaze on the altar and reached for the warmth, the way she pulled thread through cloth. A shadow slid across the far wall. Her heart kicked. Gold flared up her wrists, bright and wild. It was only a moth, or a trick of the glowing stone. It didn't matter. Her fear had already snuffed the steady light and replaced it with panic. "Again," Kael said. She tried again. A branch creaked outside. Her eyes darted to the sound, and the light surged and died. She tried a third time. A drip of water fell. Her gaze snapped to it. The gold guttered out. "I can't," she said. Her voice cracked. "Every time something moves, I lose it." Kael crouched low, bringing his silver eyes level with hers. He did not fill the silence with comfort. He never did. "Then stop fighting the movement," he said. "You're looking for threats. Look for one thing instead." "One thing?" "Pick it. Hold it. Let the rest move." Sable looked at the altar. The carved sun on its face. She chose a single line in the stone, a crack worn smooth by years. She breathed in and held her eyes there. Another shadow crossed the wall. She saw it. She did not follow it. She kept her gaze on the crack and her breath slow. She reached for the warmth. This time it rose and stayed. Gold spread across her palms, calm and even, while her eyes stayed open. A vine swayed at the edge of her sight. The light did not flinch. She let the grotto move around her and held the one still point. "There," Kael said quietly. Sable lifted her hands. The gold held steady in the open air. Her eyes stung, but not with fear. She had called her light awake and watched it burn, and it had not run from her. Kael stood. He wiped his jaw and reached for his coat. "You can call it with your eyes open now," he said. "That changes things." "What things?" He paused at the cracked steps. "Calling it here is easy. No one's watching but me." He looked back. "Next you do it where people can see. In daylight. That's the real test." Sable looked at the gold fading in her palms. The shrine had taught her all it could.