Soul Seeker

33: Bloom

She relished the burn along her legs as she ploughed across the tundra, the way the wind ripped a fine mist of snow from the surface, the feeling that she was the only thing that existed in the world. The sky seemed endless, the horizon beckoning, and the colours were so bright.

Her thoughts turned to Sköll, the lone Outrider. They had not been this far south since Jost. Until she met Sköll she had never seen an Outrider without his steed, and never completely alone. Where was he now, and what was he doing? Did he remember her at all, or was their night in the woods not that extraordinary to him? She had been trying not to think of him – it was foolish when so many more important things had happened since they met – but for some reason every so often her thoughts would drift in that direction. She put it down to his unusual name, and all their recent talk of the guardians.

Ciara stumbled over a rise of snow, and her breath caught in wonder.

The rise dropped away before her in a long, gentle, rolling slope down to the village, but this part of the tundra was fiercely, vibrantly alive. Vegetation grew past the snow which had melted, and in patches it was so thin that the undergrowth could poke through the crust. The riot of colour almost brought her to her knees.

Reindeer-rose flowers were brilliantly purple against their green leaves, interspersed with white dryads, butterwort, and a thick cover of pale lichens and burgundy dwarf willows. Bright yellow two-leaf violets shone like tiny suns, and pink beach pea flowers were a mosaic amidst the green.

She hadn't seen anything like it since midsummer.

Full of wonder, Ciara walked into the meadow, breathing deeply in the faint, sweet scent of pollen. She had not thought this area was sheltered enough to allow such plants to continue to bloom at this time of year. Was this one last gift of nature before winter fully claimed the land?

Hope rose in her chest like a bird. They were nearly at the Protectorate, and once they arrived, Hati wouldn't be hanging over them like a dark cloud of doom. Faced with justice and the Suzerain himself, the wolf would see sense and the world could be changed for the better.

Ciara knelt to brush a flower with her thumb. A wind swept through the meadow, rippling through the shrubberies and creating small waves that reminded her of the ocean.

Something made her stand and turn.

He was silhouetted against the azure sky on top of the ridge, but there was no mistaking his handsome lean brown face, or that mop of shockingly white hair.

They stared at each other.

Was it really him? No, surely not; she had simply been inside for too long. It was a trick of the light, especially since she had just thought about him. His name rose to her lips, but she seemed to have lost her voice.

He walked towards her, avoiding crushing the delicate flowers, and that small, heartbreakingly beautiful detail alone sent her running forwards.

"Sköll!" she cried.

"Ciara." He smiled.

Ciara threw her arms around him on pure instinct, the instinct that seemed to drive her towards him unrelentingly. He held her back, but only for a moment before she pulled away, panicking.

"I'm sorry – are you still injured? I forgot –"

"I'm fine. I healed," he said.

"I'm glad. I can't believe you're here, and I'm seeing you again!" She felt giddy, child-like.

"Neither can I. You look well."

"Really? I thought I looked as if I hadn't seen a bath or a comb in months."