Chapter 76 No resistance
Ira’s POV
Darkness pulls me under slowly, like hands closing around my ankles. My mouth opens in a silent scream but I don't panic, I don't resist at all.
And then suddenly I'm in a dream that feels too solid to be sleep.
Moonlight filters through tall pine trees. I inhale, breathing in the smell of wet earth.
My toes wriggle in the wet grass under my barefoot but I don't stop walking, although I do not remember choosing a direction.
It feels like something ahead of me is calling me, not with any sound, but with certainty. I keep moving, knowing I’m meant to follow.
“Valira,” a young voice echoes softly through the trees.
That's when I stop walking, somehow knowing that's what I'm looking for.
“Valira,”
I turn to the sound.
A boy stands a short distance away. His black hair falls messily over his forehead, shining under the moon like black ink brushed with water.
His striking blue eyes stun me once more. They could be mistaken for white orbs from this distance but I know those eyes up close and I know they're blue.
The little boy smiles. “I knew you’d find me,” he says, like this dream was inevitable. Although the same age, he speaks with more confidence than the boy that hid me under the stairs in my dream.
My throat tightens. I feel the urge but I do not step closer, neither do not step away.
“Who are you?” I ask.
His smile deepens as he takes a step toward me, then another, the moss silent beneath his floating feet. “I’ve been waiting,” he says softly. “For years, I thought you would feel it sooner.”
I stay quiet, my mouth refusing to open again. Thoughts crowd my head instead. Why does he sound relieved?
His brow furrows slightly and he stops a few steps away. I silently watch as his gaze drifts over my face, my hands, my bare feet like he is checking something.
“Something’s wrong,” he murmurs, almost to himself.
“What is wrong?” I want to ask, but the words stay glued to my tongue.
His eyes lift to mine again, and for the first time his expression shifts. Hurt flickers there, exposed and heavy.
“You don’t remember me,” he says quietly.
Guilt washes through me even though I do not know why. I shake my head, helpless. I want to tell him I do remember, but my body isn't moving.
He exhales slowly, then softens his voice. “It’s okay. Now that you have found your aura, I will find you again.”
I wince, my eyes squeezing shut against the sudden blinding light that bursts through the clearing.
I wake with a gasp.
Cold air rushes into my lungs as I sit upright, my heart hammers against my ribs, sweat clings to my skin, my nightdress damp and twisted around my legs.
My room is dark and silent except for my breathing. The rising sun cuts across the floor in a thin line.
With a hand pressed to my chest, I try to slow myself down. The boy’s face lingers behind my eyes.
“It was just a dream,” I tell myself. Another strange, vivid dream.
As my breathing evens out, confusion settles in. I glance around the room.
How am I in my bed? The covers are tucked around me like someone made sure I stayed warm.
I frown.
The last thing I remember is crashing into the floor. I don’t remember being moved. I do not remember waking before now.
A knock sounds at the door, sharp and hurried but before I can answer, it swings open.
Sia bursts in first, her eyes wide, followed closely by Cath, who looks far too cheerful for someone who nearly scared the life out of me the other day.
“So,” Cath says dramatically, her hands on her hips. “Sia highly disappointed me. But I still believe in you, Ira. Tell me you sucked dick last night. Tell me all my lessons were not a waste.”
I groan and reach for my dress. “Can you ever be serious in your life?”
“No,” Cath answers easily, flopping down on the edge of the bed. “Life is too short to waste it trying to be perfect.”
I glance at her. She looks… steady. The color is back in her face and there's no tremor in her hands. “You good now?” I ask.
Cath smiles, wide and unapologetic. “Yes, Ira. I am not bleeding from my nose anytime soon.”
I nod once, feeling something tight loosening in my chest.
We end up in the kitchen soon after. Cath pokes at Sia about Ben again, her voice light, teasing, like nothing ever goes wrong in her world.
I nod along to the conversation, spooning porridge into my mouth without tasting it.
My thoughts keep drifting, snagging on blue eyes and moonlit trees.
I blink when a shadow falls across the table.
Cortis stands there with her arms crossed. The dark vest she's wearing hugs her frame like they were made for her alone. Her hair is pulled back tight, exposing her sharp cheekbones and unreadable expression.
“You are with me today,” Cortis says.
“For what?” I ask, glancing at Sia and Cath, only to find them just as confused.
“Herb gathering,” she replies, already turning away.
A frown covers my face. “Why me?”
Sia kicks my leg under the table, her eyes wide. “Behave,” she warns.
Cortis glances back once. “Because I want you.” she answers.
“Woah,” Cath lets out a low chuckle, looking amused.
I glare at her, already knowing exactly where her mind has gone. Cortis’s eyes linger on me a moment longer.
There is something measuring there, something quiet.
I nod anyway. I mean, fresh air might help. Who knows, trekking under the sun might chase the dream away.
Cortis moves through the forest like she belongs to it. Her strides are long and confident.
I follow behind, my basket swinging at my side. At first she says nothing, then she stops beside a patch of low green leaves.
“Here,” she says, crouching. “Tritcress leaves. They are good for lung fever.”
I kneel beside her, our shoulders brushing. She smells faintly fruity, clean, and I notice the pale scars crossing her fingers as she snaps a root free with practiced ease.
“I can only imagine how terrible it must have been to still look like this,” I say quietly, nodding at her hand.
She glances at it, then away.
“Careful of the sap,” she murmurs, showing me how to twist the root without breaking it, boldly ignoring my question.
We move deeper into the woods, gathering more seeds, leaves… Each plant she names looks the same to me but I nod to all her teaching pretending I'll remember anything after now.
“You are good at this,” I say after a while.
“Had to be,” she replies. “Back home, we lived on what the forest gave.”
I do not answer, having nothing to share about home. I never really had one.
Eventually we reach a quiet path with soft grass and enough shade.
Cortis drops her pack. “Let’s take a break.”