Page 49 of Soul of Thorns
“Shh, Caelynn.” His voice murmurs in my ear, and my eyelids flutter.
Rev.
Mine.
I pant, barely registering what’s happening, but I don’t fight him.
“Stop, Caelynn.” It’s the fear in his voice more than anything else that brings my consciousness back to the forefront. The rising groans of the dead bombard me in an instant. Their forms swarm and twist into a wave of toxic magic. The decaying souls of the wraiths in the valley have shifted their sights on Rev and me. They murmur eagerly.
“Kill.”
“Devour.”
“Little children have come to die.”
“Rev.” My voice shakes. “I’m sorry,” I breathe. I lost control, lost my mind. My magic that was supposed to protect us has doomed us.
The wraiths are coming. And unlike the manticore, they do not intend to let us go.
Rev
Ihold onto Caelynntightly, praying we can somehow make it out of this alive. A swarm of wraiths buzz below. They call to us.
“Kill,”they cry.
“Take them.”
“Rip them apart.”
Their moans are desperate and eager, leaving the hair on my forearms standing up straight. Caelynn falls nearly limp in my arms. Is she okay? Is her mind under her control?
I knew I had to stop her, for both of our sakes, but something snapped inside of me too. Enough to understand her reaction. I remained calm, but my magic flared white-hot, desperate to reach her, desperate to save her from herself.
The wraith became both of our enemies at that moment.
He’s disappeared into the shadows now. Perhaps realizing there is no hope of escape for us. He can’t stop an army of wraiths this large any more than we can.
