Crossroads of Canopy (Titan's Forest #1)(114)

Unar forced herself to take Leaper’s hand. Moving away from Aoun was more difficult than making tallowwood walk. For an instant, she could hardly breathe. There he was, in the corner of her eye.

No, she wouldn’t look at him. She would look at Leaper. His face shone with eagerness. There was plenty of light still left in the day. Plenty of time to cross the border.

“No,” she said, feeling the lives, bright with power, behind her. Bernreb, wry. Audblayin, decisive. Aoun, obedient. “I’ve never been there.” Not to the Canopian part of it, anyway. “But I hear tales of towering floodgums, black from being struck by lightning, and houses that blaze at night like moonlight poured through the veins of a giant leaf.”

“And what about Airak? Is he as tall as one of the great trees? Does lightning shoot out of his eyes?”

“I never met Airak,” she said, “but I met one of his Servants. A brave man, and strong. Let’s find out together.”

Outside the house, there was a patch of sunlight. It wasn’t as wide as the glorious sunlit spaces of the high heart of the Garden, but it would have to do from now on. The boy pulled free of her, put his arms into it, and shouted with joy.