The next morning came and the sun had yet to peak out of the trees. The wind blew lightly, just barely caressing the trees. Scents of this forest were both sweet and musty, familiar and yet no longer home.
Kyera stood on the balcony looking out over the kingdom that she was about to compete to make her home. Her heart yearned for the snow and ice, far from the dangers of this wood. She could still feel the hidden power building in the forest.
They were planning something. She could feel it deep in her soul just as she had felt the Ash Spirit's cries. This was going to come to a head and soon. Kyera turned around and looked at her husband and daughter who were both fast asleep on the bed, her spot open behind Raina. Would she be able to protect them when the time came? She had to. There wouldn't be anyone else who could.
This thought sent a dark shiver down Kyera's spine. Dangerous thoughts played through her mind. Almost without her notice, her body shifted like soft clay into her Tigress form. She looked back at her family one more time, before leaping off the balcony in an elegant arch. Kyera landed lightly and padded her way through the courtyard making eye contact with the guards, most of them were her own. Clovis had felt safer that way, because the shifter guard were unshakably loyal to The Forest Law, and Kyera was its keeper.
Her personal guard still stood outside her bedroom door, suspecting her to be asleep with Clovis and Raina. Her sent was strong enough in that room that they wouldn't suspect anything for a few hours as Kyera began to trot into the Palace gardens and toward the waterfall. She needed space and air, a place to gather the things the forest begged to say. Her guard would protect her family while her heart searched the earth.
The familiar waterfall came into view and Kyera turned back to her human form. The shadows swirled readily to cloth her, but she did not bid them to do so. She dove into the water and let the coolness awaken her nerves. It was a sharp slap of sensation that made her mind slow and take in the world around her. The prickeling cold sent shivers down her spine, and made her pupils widen. Through a state of heightened sensitivity she looked at the world through open eyes.
Her energy field found the earth magic vein and seeped deep into the earth, seeking that connection. It was one she had not made in nearly a year and her soul was hungry for it. Her soul met that of the land and they danced together. In her mind's eye she could see the emerald home of the lander's spirit. It was as if one stepped into a tree. A irregular but rounded shaped room, large and filled with vines, grass, a river and all manner of flora and fauna that the spirit surrounded itself with. Seven doors lined the walls, most of them firmly locked, except the door Kyera entered through. Black wood with silver designs Dancing across the surface and the signature purple stone.
Kyera's focus turned to the spirit without much thought. The spirt was neither male nor female, it was elegant and beautiful with flowing hair and soft eyes, but a smooth angled body hidden beneath a robe. It was one color, emerald green like green fire Dancing in a human form. However, it should have been brighter… more lively and its eyes were deep and cold with mourning. The land was uneasy and weak, such a foreign sensation to Kyera. There was a tired beaten quality that was feeding from Kyera's energy rejuvenating the land. She willingly gave forth her energy as she searched for the source of weakness.
She found it then. The warm brown door with it's beautiful wood bark texture caught her eye. There were markings on the surface splintering out as though something crashed into this door with force. One crack was open, a blackened light trickled through and seemed to drag the energy from the room. It just needed to be sealed.
Kyera walked forward and reached out to touch it but the spirit blocked her hand. The slow shaking of the spirit's head warded Kyera off. She took a step back and frowned, tilting her head as if asking the question on her mind. The spirit raised its hand and touched the door, flinching as black fire drenched her hand. Kyera instantly used the shadows of her soul to smother the fire.