Page 65 of Soul of Thorns
Rev isn’t here. He’s gone. And I don’t know for sure if he’s okay. And I’m stuck in this place forever. My life is over.
And I’m so damn tired.
“Child?” my wraith whispers, his voice absent of his usual snarky tone.
I suck in a few desperate breaths and blink back tears. I’m okay. It’s okay. I have a purpose, and when that’s done, when the spell book is collected and Rev out of this cursed place, I can fall apart.
I will fall apart.
I won’t survive him leaving. I realize that now. Because the darkness of this place, the curse, the death everywhere, it’s slowly suffocating me.
“Caelynn,” the wraith says more firmly. “Are you all right?”
“No, of course not.” I rub my face rigorously and then stand up straight. “I’m fine. It’s fine. Let’s go.”
I continue jumping over the murky water, feet balancing gently on each smooth footstone. Other than the smell, there isn’t much significance about this place. There are faces beneath the surface here. Bodies of fallen fae, I’m guessing, stuck in a state of recent death. Perhaps there is more to it. Perhaps they’re all me. I don’t know. I don’t allow myself to look closely enough.
I’m too busy trying not to throw up or pass out as the air grows thicker with fog. As ash rains from the sky.
“Slow down,” the wraith barks.
I run faster, leaping over the stones.
“It is not a race, Caelynn,” he yells like a father reprimanding a foolish child.
Yes, it is.It’s a race to see if I’ll fall apart before I make it to the edge of this swamp.
“If you fall in, you’ll never come out. One touch of the water...”
“You’re not helping!” I yell. My limbs are numb, my breath shaking.
“Stop if you must,” he says more gently. “Collect yourself.”
“I can’t,” I breathe. I pull at the shadows near me to fuel me. To comfort me like they have so many times. Instead, they suck me dry.
I scream as I realize, they are not my friend. Here in this place, even the shadows are against me. I force my magic to the front of my mind, and I dive through shadows full of teeth and resistance, and I leap. Why does the bank seem to be growing farther and farther?
I shadow leap again, screaming in agony as I do. Even my own magic is working against me now.
“Caelynn!” the wraith hollers. “If you miss even one step—”
I leap again, his voice cutting off.
“I cannot catch you!”
I leap again, farther now. I stop breathing. My vision is rimmed with red. My head throbbing. I don’t know if I’m going to make it.
Again. And again. One more, I tell myself.
One more, I say again.
ONE MORE—I throw everything I have into it because if I don’t make it to the bank I will fall here and now, and I will never rise from those waters. I don’t know what’s in them. I don’t care. Even if they were pure spring water, I’d be done for.
I fall to my knees the moment I hit soggy ground, fingers digging into the dirt. It’s... warm. Tears fall freely now, splashing over my fingers, which I realize are coated in red.
My hand is slick with bright red blood. My stomach heaves and this time, it’s not a false alarm.
I haven’t eaten in over a day, but the small contents of my stomach unfurl themselves onto the blood-soaked ground. A dismembered finger lies just feet ahead. Mangled flesh lines the whole bank, and I almost pass out.
