Page 70 of Curse of Thorns
I don’t dare consider what I will face inside the fog-filled forest staring at me. The tree trunks are a brisk white with dark patterns etched along the bark, the leaves are a dark blue. They’re not terrible to look upon, which honestly scares me more. Whatever is inside won’t catch me off guard this time.
I stand and attempt to brush some of the thick mud off of me, but it’s caked on. What I wouldn’t give for that freshwater source to clean up thoroughly. My physical energy is drained. My emotional energy is drained. But I force myself forward all the same.
I will do this because I must. Because I cannot fail.
Haunted groans drift from the rustling leaves, and I roll my eyes. “I get it, you’re terrifying.” I pull myself up and march into the trees.
Reveln. An inhuman voice tickles over my skin, and I shiver.Reveln! it calls again. Now, they know me. Great.
I follow the path into the forest, not daring to travel into the wild brush without guidance. There is always a way through every obstacle, as sadistic and impossible as they seem. The Schorchedlands are meant to test us in the cruelest possible way. Everything is made to trip me up, to capture me, strangle me, and make me think it’s hopeless, but it will never be impossible. Which means as long as I don’t let them trick me off the path, I can make it through the forest relatively unscathed.
I keep that in the back of my mind at all times. There is a path to the center of these lands, and I will find it.
When a heart gives up, that is when one surely fails. If I believe there is a way, I will keep fighting until my last breath. It doesn’t mean assured victory, because the world doesn’t work that way, but it does increase my odds.
Fight, even when it feels like one no longer can.
So, I ignore the creatures calling my name. Even as they shift lower and smoother. The blue leaves rustle as I step into the shadows they cast, as if invisible forms waft through them, watching me.
The black lines etched into the trees look more and more like terror-stricken faces as I walk through the forest.
Run, they call to me.Go home, Reveln.
I swallow. The voices shift, the words, and cadence changing.
“There you are, little brother,” a deep voice calls casually from inside the tree line, where the cover is thick and shadows shift.
My breath catches, but I pick up my speed and keep walking. This wouldn’t be the first time I’d been tricked into thinking my dead brother was talking to me. So, I won’t fall for it.
Silhouettes appear in between the trees.
Then, I hear her voice. Soft and lovely. Her golden eyes glow as she looks straight at me. “Rev,” she says. “Rev, I need you.”
I stop breathing entirely as my mind spins. “Caelynn?”
Caelynn
