RYLIE
Time passed quickly, and soon, the day of the solstice arrived.
Excitement sang through the trees. Women wrapped from head to toe in their greens were stationed on bridges, calling out haunting melodic tunes to each other time after time.
Their voices were magical as they sang the song that wasn't quite a song, with its rising and falling notes.
The excitement was palpable, and I wasn't immune to it. I couldn't wait for nighttime either. In the early evening, we were to gather at a point of meet, then descend to the foot of the trees from there.
I was with Rayah and her family, unwilling to show up at the point on my own.
"We have to hurry," Rayah insisted, meticulously fixing my head wrap with unsteady hands. "I want Kai to take me down. If we arrive too late, he'll be too busy for me."
"You can't fly?" I asked incredulously, but I had seen her move with speed like Silas.
