Page 27 of Of Withering Dreams
A deep, rumbling terror rushed through me as my legs and arms numbed, my fingers bending into rigid claws, unable to move or extend. My mind filled with fog as my breathing slowed.
Little liiiitle.
Starrrrr.
The creature’s voice was in my mind, its terrifying grin stuck in place, lips unmoving over glinting teeth.
The creature was wearing my mother’s skin and lurking behind her voice.
Staining the memory of her.
Unacceptable.
Burgeoning fury sweltered in my belly. My teeth ground together as I concentrated on that fire, willing it to spread, to thaw my iced limbs. I thought of my mother. Her unique views of the world that were also instilled in me. The love that radiated from her.
This monster could never understand that. Could never mimic who she was deep within her soul. The blaze ignited, scorching through my body. My hair flamed around me in whipping tendrils. My scar throbbed as iridescence sizzled over my skin.
The being’s eyes—a poor imitation of Mama’s—widened. It released me with a moist pop, its sticky skin releasing from mine. As it stumbled back, the cloudy haze shrouding it flickered, revealing its true form.
A gelatinous, wiggling blob stood before me, balancing on its squishy, corpulent tail. Its muck-colored body, as tall as me, resembled a giant leech with several segmented rings circling its turgid mass. Through a slimy, semi-translucent membrane, its innards were on display, pumping and writhing—gluttonous.
Desperate to latch onto me, a gaping, viscid cavity, filled with needle-like teeth, sucked at the air. A myriad of tiny worm-like arms wriggled from its upper body, grasping for me.
I swallowed a lump of disgust and let power pulsate over me. My aura grew bright and then condensed, rushing down my forearms and hands in splintering, branch-like patterns of luminescence.
My prismatic glow reflected on the slime of the monster’s body. Two glacial-blue orbs reflected in the ooze—my eyes were glowing again, filling with magnificent energy. A sense of relief and tranquility settled into my mind as if my ember welcomed my surrender. One word ached longingly through my awareness:destroy.
Destroy.
A curdling, moist screech cleaved the air. The creature crumbled before me, the blade of a shining sword piercing its bulging belly.
Destroy.
“Seryn!” A commanding shout pried through my consciousness.
Destroy.
Someone was in front of me, shaking my shoulders. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, willing my mind to own itself—scratching through the muddied recesses of my focus.
“That’s it. Come back to me now,” his voice rumbled along my skin.
Steady hands cradled the back of my head and neck, and a soothing warmth radiated from the male’s skin, blanketing mine. My scar hummed with the comforting energy, my aura greedily absorbing it.
The murk cleared, and my aura seeped into my body. My eyes, no longer blazing, focused as I opened them.
“Gavrel?” I murmured in confusion. He nodded, a grim line cutting across his mouth.
“Where is Kaden?” he asked.
“I’m … I’m not sure.” My heart thumped wildly as I took a wobbly step away from him. He went to the slimy pile, and a wet, slurping sound followed as he wrenched his sword free from the beast’s mass. His rune tattoo burned brightly, and the radiance of his sword intensified as he adjusted his grip on the hilt.
“Gavrel—”
A howl of sorrow cut off my words.
“Ma! Noooo!”
“Wait here,” he commanded. He gave me a stern look, knowing I probably would do the opposite of what he instructed. He was right. Grunting, Gavrel ran toward the sound of Kaden’s pleas. I ran behind him on unsteady legs.
