Page 63 of Curse of Thorns
Yes, you have.The voice tsks, the voice soft and distinctly female.A rather unpleasant turn of events.
My eyebrows pull down. “Who are you?” I ask the vines or wall or whatever it is that’s talking to me.
Keeper of the gate, she rumbles proudly.
“That sounds like a rough gig. How’d you get stuck with that?”
Saving the world often requires true sacrifice. You, Caelynn of the Shadow Court, understand that well, I suspect.
I purse my lips. I do indeed. Somehow, this being was trapped inside this wall in order to save the world? The books I read said nothing about a keeper of the gate. But it did explain the original purpose of the Schorchedlands—to keep terrible and powerful spirits inside. Is she one of those spirits trapped? Or is she doing the trapping?
I find it no surprise the one who outwitted the Night Bringer would be so intelligent.
I swallow. “Do you always flatter your visitors?”
Didn’t Reveln tell you of our interactions?
I wrinkle my nose. “You could have been nicer to him.”
He shouldn’t have come, she hisses.
I sigh. “You also could have told us that!” I shake my head. “Would have been nice to know that forces of evil wanted him inside.”
They also want you inside. Will that change your mind from entering?
I purse my lips. Touché.
I did what I could to keep him out. It is not generally in my nature to be quite so picky about who decides to condemn themselves, but I found any and every technicality I could in this case.
“To save him?” I ask.
To save everyone. I was able to obey my own laws while still doing my best to safeguard my charge.
“Your charge?”
These cursed lands. I protect them. You and your mate are... a threat.
“Us? You think we’re going to hurt the Schorchedlands?” How would someone even do that?
What you wish and what you will do are two very different things. You have a very interesting destiny Caelynn of the Shadow Court. I hope I’m around to watch you fulfill it. But your presence here does not bode well for my longevity.
“Your longevity?” I ask absentmindedly, trying to work through the bits and pieces of information the being is giving me. “What do you know? What is his plan? The more information we have the more likely we can do this right.”
You have the power to do terrible things, Caelynn. With that spellbook, you will have the power to release an evil being from its rightful cage.
“What?” I spit. “That spellbook is meant to put an end to the scourge.”
It could do that, she agrees.But it is not the only way to end the curse. This way was chosen for a very specific purpose that goes much beyond the scourge. There is a reason for the trials and who was entered and much more.
I swallow. Is she saying that the Night Bringer is connected to all of it?
You once ruined his plans, she tells me.It was a victorious day for the forces of good, the day Reahgan of the Luminescent Court died.
I suck in a breath.
I hope you will come out victorious a second time. But right now, you are following the adversary’s plan quite well.
My eyebrows pull down.
