Shifted Fate (Amy) novel Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

+25 BONUS

My father skidded to a halt at the edge of a small clearing with a stump in the center. I slid off Loki’s back and he trotted off to shift. He walked back to me and gestured to the center. “Go sit.”

I nodded and walked into the clearing. The tree’s shadows were still deep, as the sun has just breached the tree tops. I shivered, not from the cooler temperature since wolves burn hot, but from the feeling of woods. It felt like something was here. Something was waiting for this moment.

I turned to face my dad, and he was still at the edge of the clearing “Why are you still back there?”

“This isn’t for me, it’s for you. I have already done my time in this place.”

“Your time? What are you talking about?”

“This is a sacred place. The clearing here holds our family’s power, and it’s warded against it.”

“Against it? Dad, what are you talking about?”

“Just listen. Sit down on the stump.” I sank to the top of the stump and then looked back to my father. “Take your shoes and socks off, then plant your feet.”

“Why?”

His laughed cut through the quiet air. “Are you going to question everything I tell you?” He shook his head and then waved his hands.

I took off my shoes and socks and then quirked an eyebrow at him. “Happy?”

“Yes. Now the first lesson you have to learn is connecting to nature. We pull our power from the world around us. Give and take, push and pull, every action has a reaction.” My father planted his feet and took a deep breath. The

trees

shifted toward him, like his intake of breath was pulling them to him, and then he blew out. The trees bent backwards and shivered in the wind, almost dancing like they were happy. “Sometimes we take power, sometimes like now, I give it.”

My mouth was hung open, and I was looking around. “How did you do that?” My eyes darted from the dancing trees to my father and his face was alight.

“Magic.” His laugh was contagious, and I laughed with him. “Now to do that, like I said, the first step is to

connect to nature.”

“How?” My mind was blown, and I had no clue how to connect to anything other than my phone.

how “Focus on the air around you, the way the wind blows. Focus on your feet, how the grass tickles your soles, the ground supports you. How the trees pull energy from the sun and the land. How the animals survive off the land. Everything is connected and once you connect to the land, you can feel it all. It will be overwhelming. You will feel…alive. For the first time in your life, you will truly feel alive. That’s the only way I can explain it.”

“Okay” “I closed my eyes and felt the wind blow around me and it whispered through the trees. I wiggled my toes in the grass and I felt..stupid. “How do I know if I’m doing it right?” I cracked open my eye and my father was gone. “Hello? Dad?” I stood and started walking to the edge of the clearing and called again. “Hello?” The dark trees shifted and I took a step back.

I was alone in the woods, and I had no idea what I was doing. It was too dark to stumble through the trees alone and I felt like eyes were watching me from the darkness. My skin pebbled, and I turned away from the dark shadows in front of me.

“Dad? Hello!” I called again and panic started to set in. How was I going to get back?

#25 BONUS

Chapter Fourteen

He told you everything he could. Focus. He will come back for you once you have tried for a few hours.

Nix’s voice jolted me, as I was so focused on my father being gone. “I don’t know what I’m doing ”