Page 67 of Curse of Thorns
Caelynn
Idrift in and outof restless sleep, nestled in the nook of a tree near the edge of the vine wall, and finally wake as the sun is rising over the hazy horizon. I shift, adjusting my bag full of so many random trinkets I stopped trying to keep track.
With an easy swing of my leg and a shove with my hands, I fall to the ground.
I spent some time last night looking for signs of Rev, and I quickly found some disturbance in the mud straight ahead that looked suspiciously like footprints. I followed them into a cluster of trees.
I found Rev snoozing beneath the tree in the middle of a small forest cluster. So, I made camp nearby.
The environment doesn’t look much different in the morning than it had at night. Had it been just me, I’d have begun my trek immediately. But Rev doesn’t see as well in the dark, and he was likely more intoxicated. Kari mentioned him taking several shots before he left.
Is Rev still sleeping, I wonder? I’m not sure what to expect from him when he learns of my presence. Will he be angry that I followed him because he hates me now? Or will he be angry I sacrificed myself? Perhaps both.
Yes, I think both.
I slip into the shadows and sneak around to the tree he’d slept under only to find it empty. My stomach sinks. I can’t lose track of him. This place is bigger than I’d expected, and I don’t have the same level of instruction he does.
I know this place is square and the cure is in the center. I also know it gets more and more dangerous the closer to the center we travel. But that’s about it for my knowledge. I don’t even know where in the northern wall the Wicked Gate is. Do I travel straight south or do I have to curve east or west? Rev if my ticket to that information.
If I lose him, I entered this place for nothing. He’ll live or die on his own.
“Come.” A wispy voice drifts over the wind, curling around my head like a caress. “Look. See.”
I shiver, my stomach sinking a second time. Why does that feel familiar? “Who’s there?”
The voice chuckles, rumbling in the shadows between trees. I narrow my eyes. Whatever it is, their power is fairly strong.
“You don’t remember me?” the voice purrs.
I put my hand on my hips and consider. There was one time in the past I had a conversation with a wraith, and it certainly felt a bit like this.
“Are you a wraith?”
Another rumble of laughter. “So, you do remember,” he purrs again and smoke shifts, forming the silhouette of a man.
It’s strange to think it would be the same wraith as the one who invited me to the trials months ago. He was working for the queen of the Whisperwood at the time.
“You’re no longer working for the queen?”
“Oh, no,” he says as smoke drifts closer, the air around me chilling. “I still work for the queen. My job now is you.”
I blink. “Me?”
“You don’t think she’d just leave you to your own devices, do you?” One of the holes where is eyes should be shuts in a quick wink.
“So, what? You’ve been following me around?”
