Page 11 of A Baron of Bonds
Was I supposed to do something? Say something? How had the lumens made it through this abyss, and what secret did the Blightress know and should have told me?
I continued walking, never knowing how long, unable to time the moments that had already passed. My green light pulsed, the only evidence that time moved at all.
Flare…dim.
Flare…dim.
Flare.
Nothingness surrounded me. Endless space of…nothing. Any hope I held dwindled rapidly like the last rays of light at deep dusk, and I caught myself slipping into madness.
I began to speak, my voice soft and stagnated in the dim light. “My name is Karus,” I began, clearing my throat of its imperfections. “It means beloved.”
I thought of what I might say to the Blightress’s portal. I thought of what I could possibly confess to leave.
“I chose my name. I took it for my own. I have been loved so fiercely in the last seven years, that I do not recognize anything but beloved.”
My light pulsed brighter, faster, evidence of my body’s refusal to stay calm and quiet.
“I am loved by many, and I love them in return, but my heart belongs to one man.”
Please let this be what the portal needed. If the doors to Viridis could request the soul who enters to know themselves at their truest name, it was possible this portal requested something of its inhabitant as well.
“Rev. His name is Rev. He loves me more than I can explain, more than words could ever weave to tell, and his heart is mine, and I—” I wiped the tears that fell down my cheeks, wanting to fall with them.
My feet pushed me forward, even in my stumble, my soul continually being pulled all over.
Minutes passed. An hour.
In my creeping insanity, I stiffened and promised myself that I would get out. Imustget out. I didn’t care anymore about the answers to my questions. No one who would trap me in a portal could possibly help me understand more of myself.
I didn’t want to know her. I didn’t want to leave the lumens, but I would. I would fight my way back to Revich andneverleave his side again.
I wiped my nose with my sleeve and spoke into the dark. “I must get back to him. I cannot stay here. Iwill notstay here!”
A determined rage burned from the deepest part of me, and I seethed my next words. “I will leave.Now. I’mdonewith this place.”
I turned around, no longer caring if I lost all sense of the direction I had gone.
Faster now—flare, dim, flare, dim.
“Do you hear me!” I screamed. “I will leave! Show me the way out! NOW!”
A light blinded me, and I fell forward, catching myself with my hands. My orb of light extinguished the moment they touched the rocky earth.
Hard, wet, solid earth. I muffled a cry of relief, shielding my eyes.
I’d tumbled into a massive cave, the light of the surface beaming through a small opening above.
I glanced behind to see the swirling mist of black—the portal had let me go, or I had forced myself from it. I didn’t know which, and I was too relieved to care.
I stood and wiped my wet hands on my dried dress. The previously white fibers were now gray and dull.
How much time had passed? In my heart, I refused to believe it had been more than an hour or two, but based on the stiff, dry, and discolored fabric of my dress, I knew it had been longer.
I wiped my eyes, rubbing them as they adjusted to the light. I was standing in a cave at least double the size of Viridis. The sound of water trickled down the walls, leaving the air riddled with moisture.
I took in my surroundings. A structure hung in the middle of the cave, tree-like limbs sprouting from its top, tangled and black. They adhered to the cave ceiling, and I rubbed my eyes once more, unsure of what I had just seen.
