Slipping in my faith until I fall
Marcus let himself be pulled.
He could have outpaced her, but he didn’t. He matched her instead, boots scuffing through drifts of red and gold as leaves cracked sharply beneath their feet. The air tasted of damp earth and sap, cool against his lungs. Nova’s hand was warm in his. As he was pulled through the forest he watched the way she saw it all — the glittering moisture caught on curling edges, the blaze of color overhead, the way sunlight fractured through branches like stained glass. She looked at the world as if it had been waiting specifically for her to arrive.
Marcus tried to see it that way too.
When she stopped abruptly, he nearly walked into her. His free hand lifted instinctively toward her waist to steady her, but she balanced easily atop the root. He stepped back instead, giving himself space to take in the sight before them. The tree was immense, certainly the biggest the Halovian had ever seen. The bark was ridged and ancient, dark grooves carved deep by seasons uncounted. Above, the canopy burned in layered fire. Marcus tilted his head back, gaze climbing the vast sweep of branches.
“Yeah.” he said softly, awe threading through his voice. His fingers tightened briefly around Nova’s hand. “Do you think it knows we’re here?” It, because he didn’t know how else to place the Mathair.
He could have outpaced her, but he didn’t. He matched her instead, boots scuffing through drifts of red and gold as leaves cracked sharply beneath their feet. The air tasted of damp earth and sap, cool against his lungs. Nova’s hand was warm in his. As he was pulled through the forest he watched the way she saw it all — the glittering moisture caught on curling edges, the blaze of color overhead, the way sunlight fractured through branches like stained glass. She looked at the world as if it had been waiting specifically for her to arrive.
Marcus tried to see it that way too.
When she stopped abruptly, he nearly walked into her. His free hand lifted instinctively toward her waist to steady her, but she balanced easily atop the root. He stepped back instead, giving himself space to take in the sight before them. The tree was immense, certainly the biggest the Halovian had ever seen. The bark was ridged and ancient, dark grooves carved deep by seasons uncounted. Above, the canopy burned in layered fire. Marcus tilted his head back, gaze climbing the vast sweep of branches.
“Yeah.” he said softly, awe threading through his voice. His fingers tightened briefly around Nova’s hand. “Do you think it knows we’re here?” It, because he didn’t know how else to place the Mathair.
Marcus
He never returned that call
