The silver serpent's song grew louder, a shimmering wall of sound that vibrated the very sand beneath her feet. It didn't strike; it circled, its liquid body leaving trails of chrome light in the golden air.
"The choice is simple, little spark," the serpent sang, its voice like wind through crystal chimes."To save the sun above, you must become the dark below. To seal the door, you must stay behind it."
She looked at the small, bracelet-shaped cavity at the base of the amber pillar. The lilac glow of her jewelry was a mere flicker now, exhausted from the descent. Her hand trembled as she reached for the clasp.
"Wait!"
The voice didn't come from the serpent. It erupted from the silver river still swirling at the edge of the chamber. The "Yesterday" girl pulled herself from the metallic flow, her from no longer flickering, but solid and glowing with a fierce, white light.
"The serpent speaks half-truths,"the girl panted, her eyes locked on the amber heart." The Wood doesn't want a prisoner. It wants a conductor. It's been starving because it's been closed off for centuries."
The serpent lunged then, it's silver mouth opening wide to swallow the newcomer, but the girl didn't flinch. She stepped into the strike, her hand catching the creature's liquid neck.
"We don't seal the door," the girl shouted over the serpent's hiss."We open the Heart! Use the bracelet, but don't leave it. Connect it!"
She understood.She didn't drop the bracelet into the hole. Instead, she kept it on her wrist and thrust her hand into the hollow cavity.
The connection was instantaneous.
The lilac light met the golden pulse of the amber, and for a Heartbeat, there was no girl, no wood, no serpent. There was no girl, no wood, serpent. There was only a blinding, prismatic explosion of color.The silver serpent dissolved into a thousand harmless droplets of rain, and the amber pillar cracked open,. releasing a wave of warmth that smelled of spring.
The Elder Wood wasn't hunting anymore. It was breathing.