Magic. Every child in Somniox knew it existed, but very few humans ever had the chance to witness it in practice. The mystical energy and the ability to use it belonged to those who were divine, though it had been stolen and twisted by the foul Terrors as well.

Dreamwoven were the only exception, but they were humans chosen by the gods themselves to face the gravest Terrors and the mightiest villains.

Ash belonged to none of those groups, which was why she couldn't understand why she was following behind Roan—a Scion, the very descendants of the gods—trekking deeper into the forest to find a secluded spot to begin his ritual.

The ritual that would give her magic.

This day couldn't be real.

Wind gusted through the trees, scattering their leaves and causing everything around her to rustle. Despite knowing it was paranoia getting to her, she glanced over her shoulder. The leaves' sway made the forest shadows dance, and for a moment, she could swear one of the dark swaths had the shape of a human.

Shivering, she pulled her cloak closer to her and faced forward again. Putting herself in the position to be on the run from the gods and receiving magic that she had no place to have. What had she gotten into?

As if in answer, her left hand drifted to her right ring finger. A silver band encircled her finger, loose enough to move with ease but not so much it would slip off on its own. It would be easy for a passing glance to miss the small design engraved on the top: a heart formed by weaves much like the Dreamwoven symbol, but it was split in two, with a small blue gem separating both halves.

Odella had a matching ring. According to her, the split heart was the symbol of twins. The town had rained free offerings upon her the moment her fate was sealed, but Odella only accepted a few, including a favor she redeemed for the ring's creation, so the woven aesthetic she'd chosen was to symbolize her own new Dreamwoven status.

Odella. Through all the insanity, Ash would remember that. She did this for Odella.

"Just up ahead."

Roan's voice jolted Ash from her thoughts. She tore her gaze from her ring and took in their surroundings. They'd broken away from the thickest part of the trees, and before them gaped the dark opening of a cave. Roan had come to a stop and half-turned so he could look back at her.

When their eyes met, he gestured toward the cave's entrance. "I found this spot when I was on my way to your village. It's been serving as my camp since."

Ash glanced over her shoulder. She'd grown lost in her thoughts during much of the walk, but they couldn't have gone far if there was still sun in the sky. "Will the Modika not find us here? Or sense when you use magic?"

Something about what she said brought a smile to Roan's face. "Let's get inside first. I'll explain in there while I prepare."

Though not reassured, Ash followed behind Roan into the cave. So far, he'd done nothing to make her distrust him, and she would be a fool to doubt a Scion's understanding of magic.

Crumbled rocks formed the steps down into the cave's base. Roan went first, showing her the most stable of stones. Even though she took the same steps he did, she still needed his hand for extra balance. She wasn't the clumsiest of people, so she could only assume Scions had a grace greater than humans from the ease with which he traversed the rocky path.

The cave itself wasn't much bigger than her bedroom back home. The floor was mostly clear, with only the scattered pebbles littering it. A large pack leaned against the far wall. Other than that, though, the space was barren. Not that she expected much more from a random small cave in the forest, though.

"Stand there, please." Roan gestured toward the center of the cave as he walked toward his pack. He moved his bedroll out of the way and then produced a small blanket and a couple of closed pouches.

Ash fidgeted with the cloth of her cloak as she watched Roan lay the blanket out in front of her. In one fluid motion, he folded down into a cross-legged sitting position. He looked up at her. With the deepening night and shadows of the cave, his eyes glowed an even brighter green. It made his stare more intense, and she felt small despite standing over him.

"Join me." He gestured to the opposite side of the blanket, which rested right in front of Ash.

Gulping, she sat.

For a single heartbeat, they simply stared at each other. Something seemed to lurk in the depths of Roan's eyes. Then, with a flash of brilliant emerald, he smirked and turned his attention down to the pouches.

"All Scions have a basic influence over the strings of magic that weave our world together. We have our own specialties, our own ways that we may bend or change the flow around us. Similarly, there are certain properties within the very creations of Somniox that may enhance our abilities."

As he spoke, he pulled the drawstrings of various pouches and spilled out bits of materials: glittering gems, rich herbs, thin threads that could have been anything from fibers to furs to hairs.

"A combination of specific components and their way of influencing the workings of magic can produce amazing results. We don't rely on outside ingredients often, but when we need something more powerful than our manipulation alone can manage, such as, say, tracking the usage of magic..."

"Oh," Ash said, so quietly it was little more than a movement of her mouth. "So, for the Modika to track us, they'd have to cast one of these more powerful spells?"

Roan nodded without looking up from his material. He rearranged the pieces, focusing particularly on finding different colored gems from his stones. "Or have an innate talent for it, but last I heard, none of the current Modika do. It is possible they have the components for the spell, but if they did, they would have sensed us earlier."

Ash nodded slowly and smoothed out her dress. "Alright. If you are sure, I will trust you."

Roan paused in arranging his materials. He glanced up at her, an almost mischievous spark in his eyes. "If I were to be wrong, and they were to find us, I assure you I have ways to escape them."

Something about his certainty brought a small tilt to Ash's lips. With a small, confident grin of his own, Roan focused on his work again. They fell into a comfortable silence where she curiously examined each object he set aside and tried to catch the whispered name he gave some of the components. Some words may as well have been part of a foreign language, but other ingredients contained the names of beings she'd only heard about in legends.

"These should be the most potent enhancements for what we need," Roan finally said, setting aside a combination of gems, furs, and herbs. He scooped the others back into their specific pouches, stowed them away, and then leaned back. The air grew weighted as he observed Ash. "Are you ready?"

Her throat dried, almost as if she had swallowed a desert. She gulped. "As ready as I can be."

"Well then," Roan said, placing his hands together, "let us begin." And then he ripped his hands apart.

Strands of vibrant green energy extended between his palms and fingers where they had touched. A pale green light began from the center and slowly expanded, and as it did, the magic strands multiplied, forming a web within the light. A tingling warmth spread through Ash when the light enveloped her. She shuddered, a light gasp escaping from her lips.

After it fully encompassed both her and Roan, the circle ceased to grow, simply existing as a ball of light with threads of magic crisscrossing within it. Ash didn't dare move except for breathing. She didn't want to risk messing up the spell by brushing against a thread, and as it was, she was content watching Roan as he began waving his hands through the air.

He tugged at different colored threads peeking out from the ingredients he had left out—deepest violet, clear-sky blue, burning red, molten yellow—and wove it together with his own vibrant green strands.

The entire time, his eyes remained wide open, sharply focused and brightly shining.

"This will feel uncomfortable, Ash," Roan said, his voice even, almost emotionless. "I need you to remain as calm as you can be to disrupt your own energies as little as possible."

Before Ash could ask him what he meant, Roan reached forward with one hand and pulled. A gasp ripped from Ash's lips as she doubled over, putting herself face-to-face with a tangle of crystalline blue threads slithering their way out of her chest. She followed their slow extension. They encircled Roan's hand and wove through the mess of other threads he'd already collected.

"Ash." Roan's voice had gone hard, and his eyes snapped to her for a moment before returning to the mesh of energies. "Calm yourself."

He stated it as if it should be easy, but her insides felt pulled taut even as they squirmed within her. The sensation almost drove bile up her throat. That alone would have been bad enough, but there was also a tickle in the back of her mind, creating an irritating itch. One couldn't scratch their mind, though. Instead, it left her feeling watched and uneasy.

Her fists clenched the material of her dress, and for a moment, she thought the bile would win, and she would really be sick.

Maybe the light caught the gem, or maybe she simply glanced at it from the corner of her eye, but Ash suddenly found herself looking at her ring once again. Her insides clenched. This time, it had nothing to do with Roan's spell. If she couldn't handle this, how did she think she could help Odella?

Steeling herself, Ash straightened her spine. Everything within her seemed to quiver, but she took a deep breath, held it, and then slowly let it out. She continued this process and, struggling to find anything to distract her mind, she watched Roan work.

She had seen her mother sew and had sewn before herself. The process reminded her of that. He dissected the blue threads that came from her and then wove his own threads through it. Sometimes his would break apart, and he would have to meld his own energy with the threads from the material he had gathered.

Altogether, it couldn't have been a few minutes, but every passing second was heavier than the last.

Sweat drenched Roan's face when he breathed, "Finally." He inched his hands away from the woven creation before him. Blues and greens with the small spattering of other colors spun together in an unfamiliar dance.

"What is it?" Ash whispered.

When Roan glanced her way, his eyes appeared feverish with the glow in them. "It is the shape your energy weave had to take for you to safely have magic. And now..."

He spread his arms further away from the weave before bringing them back in. When he did, the ball of light followed until only Roan's hands, Ash, and the threads attaching her to the energy remained. Without touching the energy, Roan pushed forward, and the energy moved toward Ash.

She watched the woven threads—her own life energy, mixed with the mystical magic of the divine and the natural—floating to her. Anticipation and fear buzzed in her ears, and the air caught in her lungs as the inches closed to mere centimeters.

Then the energy touched her chest, and her heart began to burn.

*****

All the magical imagery!  It's been forever since I wrote this chapter, but I remember having so much fun visualizing it xD I called the people Dreamwoven and had to have some fun weaving magic go on.  Hope it was also a joy to read and not tedious or anything!  Now to see where it all leads >:D Hopefully not to sudden combustion.

Let me know your thoughts on the chapter down below, and if you enjoyed it, don't forget to vote and comment! I also have a discord open to anyone who wants to join, and we have a section there to discuss the book :D Let me know if you want to join!