“Let go of me. What’s going on?” Kiri demanded as she struggled against Johann’s embrace. He saw something he didn’t want her to see, but she had to know. She heard the scream just as he did.

The Mother Tree was dead, killed by Zafira because of her own weakness. Kiri believed her, that she would take an Amber Heart and use it to rejuvenate Gaia without having to harm anyone. She forced herself to hold back the tears at such a devastating loss. All dryads came from the Mother Tree and without it there could be no new dryads. The humming energy that normally engulfed the entire Grove already vanished and within a few hours all the leaves in the branches would crumble.

“You shouldn’t look. Let’s just go back to Pilamo and tell the other Elders, so we can stop Zafira.” Johann cradled the back of her head and held her tightly against his chest. His warmth and soothing voice helped ease the pain ever so slightly. She wanted — needed — to know.

Kiri pushed back and freed herself from him. A few hours ago they were curled up together, and she didn’t want to separate, but circumstances changed so quickly. She swung her gaze over her shoulder and spotted the woman laying on her back. Her hands were at her sides, drenched in a pool of blood stemming from the knife wound in her throat. Kiri darted to her corpse and lifted her head into her lap. Gems fell out of the woman’s hair and toppled to the ground. She brushed the Elder’s eyes shut and whispered a prayer so her spirit wouldn’t get lost.

Lefaljac was her mentor for so many years and helped broaden her perspective outside the Grove. She never would have decided to become a Warden without her guidance. Kiri’s breath caught in her throat as emotions welled up inside her. A part of her nagged on her heels for her to run after and strike Zafira down. The other filled her with sadness and warned that Lefaljac never approved of her using violence. Lefaljac always believed in the good within people and the ability to solve any problem without force.

“Kiri—”

“It’s a dark day,” Kiri said, interrupting him. “I never thought it might come to this. It'll take years to overcome the amount of loss we suffered on a single day. I must inform the remaining Elders what occurred here. They’ll know what to do and then I should be able to escort you to the cove and see you safe to your world.”

“We can’t let them open the portal. They’ll be taking all the Amber Hearts with them.” Johann kneeled beside her and grimaced. “I’m not sure what Zafira’s chances on Earth are, but if we don’t stop them lots of people will die.”

Kiri averted her eyes from him and looked down at the Elder she still held, as if she could wake up at any moment. The past few days had seen more deaths than the past eight hundred years of her life. If only she had never gone through the portal but just reported her findings right away, everything would have gone differently. “There’s nothing I can do to stop them without breaking our ways. Lefaljac lost her life because she believed in Zafira, but she’s grown deaf to reason.”

“There’s got to be something. Doing nothing is accepting her wrongdoing.” Johann reached out to help raise the Elder. “Let me take her back and then we can still figure out what to do.”

Kiri rose and gently handed Lefaljac over to Johann. They walked the way back to Pilamo in silence. She forced each step forward to keep up with Johann and as they drew nearer the Alseid took notice. They came and graced Lefaljac’s forehead or wove their fingers through her hair. Soft prayers left their lips. Off to the side, some fell to their knees and sobbed when they recognized the Elder.

The Elders Renili and Sharina stepped out and stiffened at the sight.

“By the gods,” Sharina said, moving forward to lay her hand over Lefaljac’s face. She looked back to Renili and pressed her lips together. “We should give her to the ground and free her from her bodily prison.”

“Of course. See to it that she is properly prepared. I’ll speak with them in the meantime,” Renili said. She waited for Sharina to take the body and usher away the onlookers. Kiri recalled her encounter with Zafira while Johann was asleep, their argument and how they came across Lefaljac. “Zafira didn’t seek reconciliation after all. I feared as much when I saw her walk in, but Lefaljac was ever hopeful.”

“What are we going to do to stop her?” Johann asked. Kiri heard the eagerness in his voice, demanding that they go after her. He didn’t have any abilities that could help in a fight against Zafira.

“They have the Amber Hearts,” Kiri said, wiping tears from her eyes. “I never thought another nymph could ever go so far.”

Creases appeared on Renili’s face, betraying her youthful appearance. Her shoulders slumped a smidge most people wouldn’t recognize but Kiri spent enough time around the Elders to notice the subtle shifts. “I’ll miss my long conversations with her. Nonetheless, the world continues on, whether or not we act. I feel it in my bones that by now we are too late in sealing the cove and preventing Zafira from crossing over.”

“So then we chase after her, no matter where she goes. We can’t just let her get away with it,” Johann said.

“And do what? Fight her? Spill more blood until the soil is soaked with it?” Renili asked with a stern voice. She collected herself and turned to Kiri. “We had our chance to seize and sap away her strength as long as she was in our midst. No, we must continue as we have for centuries. Kiri will guide you back to Gaia, after which I will seal the cove and lock Zafira away for eternity.”

“There must be something we can do to help the humans,” Kiri said. “If only to salvage the Hearts and secure our future.”

Renili frowned at her. “The loss of the Mother Tree is dire but sending any of you out there would risk dwindling our numbers further. We can’t afford a confrontation, Zafira’s too strong and won’t hold back. As long as the cove is sealed, she’ll be trapped and we’ll be able to service our world. By the will of the gods, Lefaljac may become our new Mother Tree.”

“You’re just going to give up like that?” Johann snarled. Any reservations he held back moments ago slipped away. The Mother Tree and Lefaljac didn’t have the same meaning to him as it did for her and the Alseid. He feared for the people on Gaia and what they would go through once Zafira arrived. “You’re against fighting the Erythrai because some of you might die. But if you seal the portal and let Zafira go through with her way, countless more lives are going to be lost.”

“I don’t expect you to see things as clearly as we do. Alseid do not weigh lives. The willingness to break principle would only lead to further breaches and we would be no better than the Erythrai.” Renili held out her hands. “By that measure we would judge all life-forms on their behavior. Are the carnivores to be removed from the ecosystem because they eat the herbivores? Or the herbivores removed because they threaten the plants? We must keep the balance. Now we must say farewell to Lefaljac as we knew her and then I shall seal the cove once and for all. You should ready yourself. It will be your last chance to return home.”

Kiri felt a stab go through her heart at the words. Once Johann left, there’d be no way for them to see each other again and any hopes she had of traveling the universe would be swept away.