Page 52 of Trial of Thorns
Caelynn
For a long moment,I am surrounded by only darkness.
Hello, old friend, I think to myself and chuckle under my breath.
“Hello,” a whisper responds, and my knees nearly buckle as the panic shoots through me. I swallow, eyes remaining closed.
“Look at you, my little pet. You’ve become just what I’d hoped,” the echoing voice of my nightmares rings through the sphere.
Night Bringer.
“Are you ready to face your task?” he asks.
I take in a shaky breath and finally find enough bravery to open my eyes. “Haven’t I already started?”
“Oh no.” The monstrous voice tsks. “You’ve not yet begun.”
I swallow, watching the shadows shift. Red eyes glow deep within.
Not real. Not real.
He’s not really here. He couldn’t be. Wouldn’t be.
The ancient voice chuckles. “You aren’t happy to see me after all these years?”
“What is my task?” I bark with a shaky voice.
“So eager,” he chides.
The inky blackness swirls around me and I stand still, growing dizzy. “Oh, I remember a time, so many years ago, when you came to me for a task. Do you remember, Caelynn?”
He laughs, the sound reverberating to my right. “Of course you do. Well, isn’t it ironic,” he continues his voice curling around me then settling to my left, “that you’d simply need to achieve the same goal a second time.”
I wince, scrunching my face up as a chill moves its way up my body, as if an invisible finger runs up my back. I resist the urge to beg for it to stop.
I learned, many years ago begging doesn’t help. It just makes you look weak.
