I’m standing on the roadside looking down upon the Light fields below. It is daytime, the sun a golden orb in an azure blue sky. I can see a woman walking alongside a little girl of no more than eight or nine years of age. They are heading towards the centre of the field. Every now and then the woman gently touches one of the cylindrical shapes. They are holding hands, talking, laughing. Their closeness and ease with each other tells me that they are mother and daughter. Neither appear to be bothered by the dazzling light surrounding them. The sun is not their enemy, and seemingly not mine. I lift my arm up and look at how my skin remains unblemished. This must be a dream.

I hear laughter and my attention is drawn back to the little girl. Her dark brown hair falls in a sleek curtain over her shoulders. From here I can see streaks of golden highlights within her long tresses. She looks familiar to me somehow.

A light breeze blows my own hair across my face, and when I tuck the disturbed strands behind my ear, Clover is standing next to me.

“Accacia, I knew you would come, despite me telling you not to. Why are you so pig-headed?” She laughs at my gawping face. “Don’t look so surprised. You wanted to speak with me, now you can. It’s good to see you.”

I throw myself into her arms. “Clover, you’re really here?” She squeezes me tightly then pulls away and pinches me hard. I flinch. “Ow, that hurt,” I say, stepping back and rubbing at my arm.

“Well, you wanted to know if this was real or not. I think that makes it pretty clear, don’t you?”

“But the sun. Why am I not burning?” I look up into the cloudless sky.

“Because we are just observing, not partaking,” she says cryptically.

“Observing what?”

She points to an open expanse of space next to the Light fields. I hadn’t even noticed that the land next to it is full of people farming until she points it out. The Forbidden forest has gone, and in its place there are endless fields full of men, women, and children of all ages working together. Several horses are pulling along ploughs which churn up the rich brown soil. Behind them the workers are planting bulbs and packing the dirt back on top. The children are playing, laughing and squealing as they run between the adults.

“Can you hear them?” Clover asks.

“Hear what…?” The moment I ask the question it’s as though the volume has been turned up. The people are singing in the fields. The song is unfamiliar, the words unclear, but the melody is joyous and happy. It makes me smile.

“These are the people of Clan Terra, Accacia. These are my people.” Clover steps closer to my side and takes my hand, gripping it tightly. “Watch,” she says, her face darkening a little.

For a while the people of Clan Terra continue their work, content, happy. My eyes trail to the mother and child who have stopped in the centre of the Light field. They stand in the centre, chatting happily.

Then a loud thunderclap sounds, drowning out all other noise, and the sky darkens so suddenly it’s as though day has turned to night. I can just about make out the people of Clan Terra looking skyward, talking animatedly with each other. Some of the children start to cry. In the middle of the Light field the little girl is wrapped in her mother’s arms. They are both looking skyward. Then another boom sounds, and the sun erupts once again.

That’s when the screaming starts.

Clover wraps her arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to her. “So you understand,” she whispers into my ear, her voice choking on the words.

I watch horror-stricken as the people of Clan Terra are drawn down into the earth, the very soil sucking them into its depths. Children are desperately trying to reach their parents, but they too are being devoured by the very earth they love, their tiny hands waving in the air frantically. One woman is desperately pulling at a little boy’s arms, trying to pull him out of the earth, but she isn’t strong enough and they are both swallowed. He can’t have been more than four or five. I can see others clawing at the ground, screaming in desperation and shock.

One by one they disappear beneath the surface. Then the soil begins to undulate like a stormy sea as thick, green, vines start erupting from the ground. They shoot skyward, sending dirt and rocks rushing up into the air. It takes only a minute, perhaps less than that, for the Forbidden forest to appear and an awful, monstrous, silence to descend.

“Noooooo.”

I snap my head around to the mother and daughter still standing in the Light fields. Like me, they had been watching the scene with dread. Only now their screams are of a different kind. Fear and shock is replaced with pain. All-consuming, overwhelming pain. I attempt to run towards them, to try and help, but Clover holds me fast.

“There is nothing you can do for them now,” she says sadly. “This is what once was. You cannot help them, Accacia.”

The mother has her daughter in her arms, trying to shield her from the light that is now burning their skin off in layers. Their cries are like nothing I have ever heard before, or ever wish to hear again. It takes a long time for them to die, their skin erupting in painful blisters, until eventually they both fall to the ground, still. The light they once adored has reduced them to nothing but ash and dust.

In the distance, over the echoes of their screams, I hear a man’s tortured cry and I know without a doubt that it is Ezra, that I have just witnessed the death of his beloved Thalia and Roseanna. I shelter my face in Clover’s arms and scream until my throat is raw.

Clover holds me against her chest, her hand soothing my back. I don’t think I will ever recover from what I have just witnessed, so how can I expect Ezra to do the same? In this moment, I understand fully what he has lost.

“This is what Queen Adrielle did to our people. This is why I must become fae, so that I can break the curse.”

I untangle myself from Clover’s arms, shock rendering me speechless for a moment. She stands before me, her own face wet with tears. Yet her eyes are alight with a fierce determination.

“It is the only way, Accacia. I have spent the last few months with these people. With Avery, Eldon and Jael. I wear their ring. I am of Clan Terra. They are my people and I will save them, but you must let me go.”

“I can’t…” I begin. Clover grabs hold of my hands, and wraps them in her own.

“You must if I am to help my people.”

“But the curse… the forest is dying.”

“Yes, it is. The forest has been sick for some time now.”

“And you think you are the cure to that illness. That you alone can make it better? You are one person,” I say angrily.

“Yes. I am one of the five, as you are, Accacia. It is my destiny.”

“To break the curse, Clover. Not to become a part of it.”

“They are intrinsic to one another,” she says, sighing. “Right now, it is difficult for you to understand that. This is new to you, all of it. I have been here for much longer. I understand what is at stake and what must be done.”

“It makes no logical sense.”

“Logic has nothing to do with this. Something far more powerful is required. You will understand, but you need to find this out on your own. I brought you here because I need you to let me go.”

“But I came to take you home.”

“I don’t wish to go home, Accacia. This is my home now. These people are my people, the good and the bad. I can help them.”

“You’re not going to change your mind are you, no matter what I say?”

She shakes her head. “No.”

“Damn it, Clover. What will I do without you?” I hold back the sob that wishes to escape. I’ve done enough crying. It is time to be strong.

“You will survive this, Accacia. You will play your part and together alongside the other sisters we will break the curse.”

“How can you be certain that will happen?” I ask.

“Because I have faith.”

“Faith?”

“Yes.” She smiles, her eyes filled with hope. “I know you, Accacia. We have been friends since we were little. You are as stubborn and as pig-headed as I am. You will do what needs to be done, because it is the right thing to do, because you care. I can see something lighting within you, just like it has lit within me. Do not ignore it.”

I stare at Clover for a long time. I came to Ever Vale in part to find her, but I also came to save Rhain from himself, because of a connection I was beginning to feel for him. Now the connection has been sealed with the Claiming I cannot let him go, and neither can I ignore the growing feelings I have for Devin and Ezra too. Clover is right; something is lighting within me and it scares me to death.

“You have your own path that you must take now,” she says with a gentle laugh. “There is only so much Jael can do for Rhain and Devin. He is keeping them safe for now on my request, but the fae king will never set them free. You must rescue them. They need you now, not I.”

“How will I do that?”

“Avery will give you a map of the fae city showing you directions to an inn. Once you arrive at the inn seek out a fae man called Solomon. He is one of the elders who is loyal to us, he will help you.”

“But the city is some distance away. Avery said it was a miracle we weren’t spotted heading to you. There is nothing but open space between your place and the city.”

“There is a secret pass that runs beneath the tree. You won’t be seen.”

“And Solomon, how will I know who he is?”

Clover opens her hand and out of her palm an image of an elderly man appears. He has the same green eyes that all the fae seem to have, and a kind face. Long silver hair hangs in pleats down his back, with a beard to match. On his cheek is a silver tattoo resembling a bee. The image disappears in a puff.

“He has a bee tattooed on his face?”

“Yes, he does. Before the curse, Solomon was Clan Terra’s beekeeper. He looked after the bees, and in turn they pollinated the crops. He reminds me of my friend Dannika…” Her voice trails off as sadness slips across her features.

“Clover?”

“The most difficult part of being here is missing those I’ve left behind. Even though I have my own path, to know you are one of the five sisters makes me feel a little stronger about what I have to do. What we have to do.”

“I understand.”

“Solomon is a good man, he has an affinity with bees, just like my friend Dannika has with horses. His gift is stronger now that he has become fae. It has evolved into so much more and is the only reason why the fae king has not put him to death. Solomon believes in the prophecy, he will help you and Ezra.”

“Thank you,” I say.

“Accacia, there is one more thing you must know.”

“Okay, what is it?”

“Ezra is broken by his loss. You understand now how he feels, yes?”

“Yes,” I agree. How could I not? The pain I felt at watching his wife and child perish must be nothing in comparison to his.

“But he cannot return to the light. You have to find a way to persuade him to take your blood. He must live. It is important.”

“I have tried. He is determined to die. I don’t know what else to do.”

“Find a way,” Clover says, and with that she is gone.