Page 54 of Soul of Thorns
Rev
Caelynn clings to meas we fall together into the flames.
Scorching agony explodes over every sense. The intensity overwhelms me as it burns from the inside out. But... it’s not exactly pain. Not in a physical way.
My soul explodes with flashes of feelings and memories. My lovely court of reflecting light. My brother taunting me as a child but then extending his hand to help me. My father hitting my mother as she clings to me. Shielding me.
Then, it shifts toher.
Caelynn’s golden eyes, soft and beautiful. Her blond hair loose with wild curls. Her smile is full of mischief. She’s young and bold but innocent. So impossibly beautiful.
My mate,my soul whispers.
Then, an onyx black talon the size of my forearm emerges from her chest, carving through her body and spouting black blood. Her expression crumples in terrible pain. When she screams, so do I.
The images shift to my brother’s funeral. Despair washes over me. My heart breaks all over again.
Then I’m back at the Flicker Court ballroom, at the beginning of the trials. When she boldly entered the hall. This time, when I see her march down the aisle—as stares filled with hatred like daggers, sneers, and whispers cascade over the room—I see what I missed before.
I hated her more than all the rest. And yet, now, as I’m shown the scene again, I see her pain. She was so lonely. So sad. So guilt-ridden.
And when I shoved her down. When I threatened her...
She stood still and stoic. She held it all in. But I can’t. Regret strangles me. Black blood, like that which splattered from her when that monster carved into her, fills my lungs until I’m choking for breath. I claw at my chest, trying to break free from the guilt. Free from the pressure suffocating me.
Caelynn.
Forgive me.
***
IFALL TO MY KNEESon slick mud, gasping for air. I press my forehead to the ground, hot liquid dampening my hair. The wall of flames flickers beside me, but the air is cooler. Still warm but not an oven-like before.
My breaths are labored, my mind spinning, my body aching, but I take a moment to wrap my mind around the fact that I made it through.
A hundred feet beyond the flames is a bank covered in shiny black stones and a steaming swamp beyond it. In the distance, one mountain stands alone. The center of it all.
Next to the mountain is a massive tree with leafless branches reaching to the sky like worshiping hands.
The wall of flames showed me only what I already knew. That my whole life was centered around Caelynn. All of it was for her and because of her. I didn’t even get through all of it, only pieces of our journey together. But it was enough to drown me in guilt.
Yet, somehow, I made it through the judgment.
Caelynn, my soul still calls for her.
“Caelynn,” I force out through my raw throat. I made it to the other side of the flames, my soul beaten and battered but whole.
But my lips are cold. My hands, that held her tightly just moments before are empty.
