I stood there catching my breath, my heart pounding in my chest. Lost. I was actually lost in these woods. Woods I'd walked through since I was a child, and now they felt like a maze closing in around me.

The panic started to rise in my throat. Meli was out there somewhere, crying, thinking I'd betrayed her. And I couldn't even find my way through the forest to tell her I was wrong.

Then I saw the clearing ahead, and that statue bathed in sunlight.

I walked closer, maybe fifteen feet from it now. The old man's face was so calm, so certain. That crown of thorns should have made him look like he was suffering, but instead he just looked... determined. Strong. Like he knew exactly who he was and what he had to do, even if it hurt.

I felt small standing there. Small and stupid and lost in more ways than one.

Who was this supposed to be? Some old god from before my family came to power? Some forgotten king? The forest had swallowed so many temples and shrines over the centuries. This was probably just another piece of history that didn't matter anymore.

But right now, staring up at that stone face, I felt like it knew I'd just tried to run away. To sell the orchard and pretend that was the same as keeping people safe.

Adam's words came back to me. [i]"Be what they should have been."[/i]

I clenched my draconic hand into a fist. The statue didn't have any answers for me. It was just stone. And Meli was out there, real and hurt and needing to know I wasn't going to abandon her.

I turned away from the clearing and kept moving. The Moonpetal Gathering had to be around here somewhere. I'd find it. I had to.