Page 56 of Forsaken Secrets

Lynk just stood there, though, his body relaxed as the ghoul lumbered ever closer. It was as though he wasn't intimidated at all by those gnashing teeth, already dark with the blood of previous victims.

When it was within sword reach, he spun that blade again, and its head and arms toppled to the ground.

It paused for a second and I waited for it to collapse like the others. Instead, it lurched forward.

My pulse raced. Why wasn't it dying?

"It's too strong," Eli whispered.

Lynk cast a look back at us, then dropped into a crouch.

A strange pulsing spread through my body and pain like lightning shot across my lower back as Lynk let out a loud roar and swiped with the blade once more.

This time, the darkness coating the blade expanded out and enveloped the ghoul in writhing shadows.

After what felt like forever, the shadows retreated to the blade and my jaw dropped.

The ghoul was nothing but an empty, crumpled uniform on the ground.

It was eerily similar the military gear the guards at the Fort wore …

What in the seven hells was happening around here?

I turned to Lynk. Some of the shadows were sinking back into the blade, while the rest climbed his arms and seemed to melt into him.

"Wh — wh — " I tried to talk, but my tongue was too big for my mouth.

Lynk met my gaze and my heart stuttered. His eyes swirled like deep black pits.

Eli grabbed my arm and pulled me away. Had the wraiths done something to Lynk?

His lips twisted into a familiar sardonic grin. "What did I say about needing to protect you two?" He wiped his blade and slid it into its sheath. "You wouldn't last a day without me around."

I couldn't look away from his black eyes — the shadows were receding, but I could practically feel that energy still pulsing off of him.

The blade was obviously a korra interrupting relic of some sort, but what was he to be able to wield it?

"Uh — what was that?" Eli whispered, taking the words right out of my mouth.

"Just me doing my job, lordling."

I cleared my throat and stepped closer. "No. I don't think so. You obviously aren't a normal mage, Lynk. What are you?"

He grimaced and turned away. "Same as you, little thief. Same as you." Then he strode off down the hall.

What in the seven hells was that supposed to mean?

"And here I thought Jaiel was the only Eater!" Eli's voice was a few decibels less cheerful, but he sounded much more positive than I.

"What does that even mean?" I asked. "And why are these wraiths human?"

"What did you think wraiths were?" he asked, cocking his brow, then turned to chase Lynk. "When humans use too much tainted magic, they change into wraiths, but they're still human at their core.

Well, when he said it that way, it seemed obvious. But I'd never thought of them like humans before …

"You coming?" he shouted over his shoulder.

"Only if you promise to explain what an Eater is," I muttered, moving fast to catch up.

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