Page 81 of Fractured
Small and cold and full of white liquid, the vial had no answer for me. The figure continued to blink in and out of existence ahead, somehow staying underneath those two lights that were still hovering in the air, as if it knew. As if it had a mind to think with—aclearmind, not like mine.
But the vial.
It had a lid—I popped it open with my thumb.
I considered drinking it because that’s what one did with liquids, didn’t they?
The glass touched my lips—cold.My eyes closed and I could have sworn the chaos in my mind came to a halt. Held its breath. Waited. And in the sudden silence, I heard a whisper, almost whole:pour this where the world forgets itself.
A memory. An actual memory that was not complete by any means, but I understood the words. Finally,I understoodsomething!
A small scream broke out of my lips. With my heart in my throat, I raised the vial and turned it over.
The next second, everything changed.
twenty-three
The liquid pouredout of the vial in big drops, which fell toward the ground, but stopped before they reached it. Turned. Moved up again and gathered into a ball as big as those lights that hovered in the air close by.
I didn’t breathe, didn’t blink as I watched it spinning around itself for a moment, then shoot straight ahead like a damn arrow, right into the ever-changing shadows that were mere feet away from me.
Screaming again was out of the question, but I did somehow make it to my feet. The contents of the vial had disappeared into those shadows, and now they were gaining color. A tiny bit of color—and an actual shape that didn’t change with every passing second.
A deep grey cloak made of what I could only describe as dried lava wrapped around its shoulders and fell to the ground, as if it was finallyanchoringwhatever creature this wasto one place. It spread over its head, too—there was definitely a head over those shoulders. And a face.
Awoman.
A man.
A child.
A face thatchangedright there in front of my eyes, just like the entire shape of it had until now.
Memories trickled into my mind as if coming out of a slightly loosened faucet. They dripped into the center of my consciousness one after the other—the very thoughts I hadn’t been able to reach a moment ago, now clearer by the second as I watched the creature in horror, wearingthe groundas a cloak, and changing faces with each new shallow breath I took.
“I am the Chronicler.”
The world could have broken in half.
The voice wasn’t male nor female, and it was coming fromeverywhereat once, all around me, and the ground, too.
“Speak your questions—two, and no more.”
Goose bumps covered every inch of my skin. Every bit of me was shaking. I knew who I was and I knew why I was here, and God, I wanted to smack myself in the face for coming here like this, with only Vair to stand beside me—Vair who refused to move a single inch as he looked up at the changing faces of the Chronicler.
What the hell was I thinking?! I didn’t even have it in me to try to make a deal with God to help me get out of this alive—I wasterrified.And certain that I was going to die.
Then the creature repeated, “Speak your questions—two, and no more,” and I about passed out standing.
Questions, questions—speak!my own thoughts shouted at me. Turning around and running away right now didn’t even cross my mind because just imagine if this…thinghere tried to stop me. Imagine if it actually ran after me.No, thank you.I would rather give it what it wanted and hope itwent back to changing shapes and disappearing every few seconds—andthenI could run.
I could run to the end of this world and never look back.
“Who am I?”
My own voice startled me. I thought I wouldn’t be able to even whisper, yet I spoke clearly, so loud the words echoed in what I was certain was never-ending darkness that this monstrous tree somehow contained within itself.
“What…what…” I closed my eyes, squeezed my fists, breathed in for a second.
