When Naomi blinked again, the memory of the phantom meadow melted away like ice in the summer sun.

She pushed herself into a sitting position, looking down at her palms with disbelief. Threads of gold shimmered like thin chain metal, and her heart thundered like a warhorse on a battlefield.

"Did we see the same thing?" Cassien exhaled sharply from beside her.

"Yeah," Naomi nodded, and her head spun. "My magic was never Lunare's in the first place."

Her magic, her lineage, her legacy; not gifted by the moon goddess, but from a mortal man's compassion that was so strong it had been birthed into wieldable power. Now she knew why it was never as deadly as ice, as swift as shadow, or as commanding as the will that could bend a hundred men to their knees.

But it was as bright as the sun, as hot as a lover's touch, and now, as restorative as the spring rain after a forest fire.

"Cassien," Naomi breathed as she turned to him. "Do you think that your powers are an aspect of Lunare?"

He propped up his healed knee, brows furrowed. "Are you saying I'm cold?"

"N-no!" Naomi sputtered, waving her hands defensively. He grinned at her embarrassment, and pulled her into his arms.

Naomi buried her head into his chest, words muffled. "I was trying to say since you're strong and the ice can enhance that, maybe you represent Lunare's strength. Just like how mine comes from Lore's compassion."

"That seems to be the logical explanation," Cassien nodded before he paused. Naomi opened her mouth to speak, but caught the look of his wandering mind.

She stayed silent for some time, allowing him to think. Instead, she removed his gloves to trace the thick veins and the rough callouses beneath, and peppered kisses from the tips to his knuckles.

She caught the flicker of something clicking in his expression. "What is it?"

"Something about what Kaelen said, back at the cave. About Alistair harvesting the magic from our bloodline. And now this. So if my magic really is an aspect of Lunare…"

Gold eyes met pale blue, a startling realization in the space between them. They both spoke so rapidly that it was in unison. "And the others, too."

"I don't understand." Blood roared in Naomi's ears as she began to speak in a rush. "First, it was about Lunare's resurrection, then it became about resurrecting Lore's body that was buried in a grotto. But to do that, he apparently needs her powers which we may have now discovered are aspects of her, which to me - and maybe I'm crazy - means…"

"There's a lot more going on than we think," Cassien nodded. "Okay, let's start from the beginning. We need to understand more about this."

"Radiant magic doesn't come from Lunare. It's Lore's, who supposedly is buried in this grotto. A grotto that has been a maze from the very start," Naomi stated first.

"As if she didn't want him to be found," Cassien added. "In a canyon, surrounded by sinkholes and illusory tunnels."

Naomi's thoughts tumbled around and around, and she bit her lip in concentration. "She's the only one who would've cared enough or even had the power to build this place as a resting ground. But… Cassien, what if he's not dead?"

He frowned, not at her suggestion, but rather at the mystery of a lost history. "You think he's alive?"

"Maybe? If he died, shouldn't the properties of healing be lost to him forever?"

"We don't know that for sure. She could've revoked it, taken it back before he died."

Naomi shook her head, unaccepting of the explanation. She didn't know how to say it - maybe it was the deep tenderness that she saw in their eyes within an ancient apparition - but the explanation didn't feel quite right.

"I think…." Naomi's voice was barely a whisper, and she felt Cassien squeeze her hand. "I think she sealed him. Temporarily took his magic so that no one would look for him, and hid him away until she was ready to find him again."

Cassien's eyes widened at her implication, winding together the logical connections. "The original Pillars of Magic. They wanted to steal her remaining eye; Kaelen said Alistair was working with one of them - an ancestor - before he killed him. He would've had a source of magic, too."

"They wanted more magic, more power. So they would've gone for him as well, not just Lunare," Naomi murmured. "She saved him. But she never came back."

"I would rather be subjected to eternal loneliness than to trade for anyone who was not you," Cassien quoted Lore in a hushed voice. His heart dropped to his stomach at the double meaning. "...He's waiting for her."

"And we're all that's left of her," Naomi said breathlessly, and it was only then she noticed the stream of tears that ran down her cheeks. "Damn it."

Cassien took her into his arms without another word, another breath - he held her so tightly that she could feel the hammering of his heart, her nose overwhelmed with his scent. She let the tears flow freely, though not a single sound echoed from her.

Her heart ached, and she wept for the goddess who, despite her unfathomable powers, lost everything. If even she could lose such a great love, what chance did she have to keep Cassien safe from the same fate?

Naomi's body shook at the looming possibility that she may never be in Cassien's arms again, to never touch him again. The fear rocked her to her core, and she couldn't stop herself from pulling back, only to press her lips against his.

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It took him only a single heartbeat to respond with the same ardent dance, fierce and hard. Their lips parted and closed in harmony, tongues entwining with each other's heat and the occasional tug of a bottom lip between teeth. Her hands felt the hardness of his body beneath the chained tunic, shaking at the hem as she began to lift it. He clasped both her wrists in one motion, and the other gently pulled her away.

The weeping tree seemed to wrap them both in its embrace as pure white petals floated down like winter snow.

"Naomi…" Cassien brushed his thumb against her swollen lips. She could see the heavy bob of his throat, and his grasp that held her trembling hands shook equally as hard. "We shouldn't…"

She swallowed deeply, lashes wet with tears. "I just… I just want to touch you."

She leaned in again and pushed him flat against the floral earth, her legs straddled around his hips. He groaned in response, and rough hands gripped the back of her thighs - still, he broke away long enough to speak in a thick voice. "Not to complain, but… what's going on?"

Naomi sat upright, every fear rushing out like a broken dam. "What if that same thing happens to us? What if after all of this, we never get to see each other again? This is the last chance we'll ever get to be with each other. And I'm not saying that we need to have sex - I would count every blade of grass with you, if that's what you wanted. If we stay… If we stay here, at least I know I won't lose you. But the second we leave…"

"...The danger becomes real again," Cassien finished for her. "Oh, sweetness."

"Can we please stay for another minute?" Naomi sniffled, eyes squeezed shut. "We don't have to do anything. I just want to be with you."

He kissed away her tears before he pulled her back down to him, wet saltiness mingling between their lips. "We can stay longer than a minute."

**

They left the meadows the same way they entered by using combined magic against the opposite side of the stone wall. This time when they stepped through, they didn't return to the muraled room. Instead, the world before them shifted to a path they hadn't ever seen before. The stoney ground was covered with twisted vines and bundles of moss drooping from the ceiling and around every edge; it was cramped, low, so much so that even Naomi had to hunch over.

A loud thump sounded from beside her, and Naomi fumbled her fingers to conjure wisps of light. Her eyes adjusted to the brightness to see Cassien hunched over on his knees, rubbing his forehead.

Naomi couldn't hold back, a melodic laugh echoing down the path. "Hey, careful. The ceiling's really low."

He grunted and threw her a dirty look. "Oh, thanks. Why don't you come here and guide me?"

Naomi squeaked as she ducked beneath a curtain of moss, but he had always been the quicker one. He caught her by the wrist before she could wriggle away, and yanked her on top of his chest. The walls of the tunnel were so narrow that their collapsed bodies nearly filled the width. His hands raked up and down her ribcage, and she sputtered out helpless chokes of laughter in between panicked squeals.

"Okayokayokayokayokay, I'm sorry!" Naomi breathed, face red and tears prickled at the corners of her eyes.

"Uh-huh," Cassien teased. "I'm sure you are."

He finally relented and kissed the tip of her nose before releasing her, though Cassien was resigned to crawling on his knees the further they went. Naomi lowered herself to his level, her palms scraping against the rough stone.

"You don't need to do that," Cassien said from behind her. "Your knees are going to hate you."

"I'm guiding you," Naomi replied. "My back was starting to hurt, anyway."

"Right," Cassien grinned. "At least the view's nice."

'You-!"

After some time, the tunnel began to gradually open up, enough that they both could stand and stretch out their legs. The path seemed to continue endlessly, and Naomi turned her head back to see how far their descent had been. To her shock, there was only a solid wall behind them.

"Cassien," Naomi tugged at him. "The path's gone."

"What?" Cassien frowned, turning back. He patted around for any openings, but not a single crevice was found.

Naomi blinked. "I think that was another illusory wall. It has to be - we came through a secret entrance to the meadow, so it would make sense if the exit was hidden, too."

"It'll have to be the only explanation," Cassien said, though his face had a smidge of worry. "I don't like this. We don't know where we're heading to if these paths keep diverging."

"We'll be careful," Naomi kissed his cheek. "Let's keep going."

The cave continued to widen more and more until it more resembled the entrance that had taken them deep into the canyon in the first place, juts of hardened rock protruding from the ground and ceiling. The air was cool and musty, and the overgrowth of heavy moss continued to sprawl across the walls.

Just as Naomi's last orb of light snuffed out, Cassien halted and gently took her under his arm, forced into a crouched position. He shook his head and pressed a finger to his lips in a silent signal.

They stayed in total darkness, and Naomi strained her ears to catch whatever it was that caught his attention. At first, it was only the gentle tickle of moss that hung above her head - but then, off in the distance - a low murmur of voices barely louder than the hiss of wind. Cautious of every step and shuffle, they approached at a snail's pace, zoned in on every instance of sound.

One, two… Five, six, Naomi thought to herself. Each voice is distinct.

Naomi leaned in, lips brushing against Cassien's ear. "I count six."

Cassien nodded. "We'll have to scope it out. Stay low to the ground, and don't let go of my hand."

Cassien pressed one leather gloved hand against the ground, and a thin sheet of ice began to form under the soles of their boots. Naomi didn't understand at first, but when they started to move, she realized it muffled the crumble of loose stone and gravel beneath them. His grip kept her steady, though he had somehow forced the surface to be as matte as possible.

"You've really got a handle on your magic again," Naomi complimented in a soft voice.

Cassien flashed her a grin that could be seen even in the dark. "I have to protect my duchess, after all."

Even in the darkness, he could see her blush.

As they inched around a corner with bated breaths, dim firelight spilled onto the ground in the distance. Naomi could see a broad stone threshold that seemingly was reinforced with beams of wood and a single standing torch, manmade and heavily guarded. As they expected, six armed men sat facing away from them as they tossed playing cards atop a warped wooden table. Her heart thudded at their thematic armour - leather straps that exposed the bulk of their tanned chest, heavy weaponry strung around their backs or against the cavern walls, and the emblem of an unmistakable brown cobra.

Seravethian warriors.

Their attention was focused outwardly on a broad path that wound down from the opposite end of where they were crouched; had they not come through the illusory wall, they surely would've been ambushed. But now, at their vantage, the guards' backs were completely exposed.

But the canyon's maze seemingly had other plans, physically bypassing their trap entirely.

"-can't believe we're still here. Over three fuckin' weeks without ale or any bitches to screw."

The slap of cards hitting wood. "I'd ditch if I knew how to get the fuck outta this hellhole. You know Sid got lost for six hours yesterday after he left to take a piss?"

"Shut your fuckin' mouths," one gravelly voice replied darkly. "Unless you want the boss to hear ya all bitchin' and talkin' about abandonin' ship."

"Ah, he can't hear shit from where we are," another mouthed off. "He's been practically living beside that creepy coffin since we got here."

"Plus, this is just the first point," the first voice added. "We've got a lotta space to piss about."

Naomi caught a dangerous, wolfish grin on Cassien's face at their blatant confirmations, and surprisingly felt no fear nor worry at the idea that was plastered openly on his expression.

She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Go get 'em."

His grin only widened, wicked and alluring. "You aren't worried?"

"No. I know exactly what you're capable of," Naomi responded with complete faith. "Go. You know I've got your back."

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