Chapter 53/54 Combined✓

                                    

                                          
Carter
Serena walks past the marble statue and towards the opposite side of the clearing without waiting to see if I follow. It takes a minute for my brain to catch up to me before I'm scrambling to catch up. She approaches a wall of brush so dense that I can't see past it.
She looks back at me and gives me an all knowing smile before lifting her hand and pulling one of the branches to the side, allowing me to see a new path that I never would have noticed before. She nods her head at me to continue and my nerves pick up again.
A low babbling sound fills the enclosed area, and my eyes widen and snap back to look over at Serena. She giggles softly and a huge smile takes over her features.
"Come on, my girl. This is the fun part!" She waves her hand at me once more, telling me to step through to the hidden pathway.
Taking a deep breath, I continue walking, not sure if I should believe anything that she says could be "fun." The tiny woman makes me damn nervous sometimes.
I duck my head and step through the shrubbery. It is much darker on this side of the wall of leaves, and it takes my eyes a moment to adjust. Serena follows behind me and drops her hand, letting the natural doorway come to a close behind her.
I gasp at the sight in front of me. There are beautiful, low lying white flowers nestled into dark green, leafy vines that cover every inch of the forest floor. I didn't see a single one of these flowers anywhere else throughout our crazy journey this morning, so this must be the only place in the area they are growing. It reminds me of the night sky, perfect little bloops of white against the darkness of the foliage; it takes my breath away.
"It's so beautiful." I whisper softly and look over to see Serena smiling back at me.
The babbling sound is much louder on this side of the hidden doorway and I look around to see where it was coming from. Water bubbles up from the ground a few feet ahead of us and flows slowly into a small pond. I walk up to take a closer look and I'm surprised at how clear the water is.
The trees overhang the sky and block out most of the sun. It's hard to tell what hour of day it is, but enough light shines through for me to see the finite details of everything around me.
Tiny lily pads float around the edges of the pond, smooth rocks littering the floor under the water. Movement catches my eye and I watch as a little green frog hops into the water and swims away.
"This is the Sanctuary of the Luna." Serena says as she moves to stand beside my once more.
"Those little white flowers you see? Those are Moon Flowers. The water that you see comes flowing up from under the ground and settles into this perfectly pristine pool. It's beautiful, isn't it?" Her voice floats to me in awe.
"It hurts my chest a little bit, to be honest. I've never seen something so perfect before." I whisper.
She smiles widely and nods her head in agreement. "Okay, time to get started. Your task here is to pick six moon flowers." Serena commands softly.
"Is there a reason that six is the number I need? Seems so... specific."
Serena nods. "One for the sun, one for the moon, one for the Goddess, one for each of your mates, and last but not least, one for yourself."
"Okay, that makes sense."
I start to walk through the low lying flowers carefully. I reach down to pick a flower but as my hand hovers over top of white petals, I stop. A heavy, sick feeling fills my stomach, and it takes a moment to realize that picking the flower doesn't feel right. It feels like I'm about to do something wrong. I sand up straight and look back at Serena confused.