Page 83 of Soul of Thorns
Rev
The echo of poundingfeet, desperate breaths, and spinning confusion washes over me. Have they come back for me?
“Reahgan?” I whisper. It couldn’t be him.He doesn’t have feet, my hazy mind reminds me.
Ow,I think, even though I don’t feel much pain. I’m just... heavy. Tired. There is the dull and distant pain of acid on my skin. Of poison in my lungs.
I pant suddenly like I’m running for my life.
My mind is hazy, hardly able to think through where I am and what’s happened.
Keep going. Keep going.
My eyebrows pull down in confusion. Who is that? I force my heavy eyes open. Everything is black. I’m still lying on the ground near the tree that once held me prisoner.Could I run now?I wonder.
The harsh smell of sulfur bombards my nose. But I am still in the dark place that should only smell of mildew and blood.
I was in the Night Terror’s clutches. Still am, actually. Her sinister darkness surrounds me like a wall, cutting me off from the outside world. Cutting me off from my mate, who’s out there somewhere.
Alive.
Where are you, Caelynn?
Gentle dark tendrils curl around me as I lie on the cold ground, body newly healed with no energy left. It’s hard to even breathe.
I shiver as the shadow sprites cover me in their protective power. My eyelids flutter.
No, not the shadow sprites. It’s her. Her shadows, her essence, are with me, covering me as I lie on the ground, body heavy with resounding pain.
“What is your mate telling you, child?” I wince as the Night Terror’s low voice rumbles through the darkness. Coils of the tree’s roots slither closer. “Is she almost here?” she asks sweetly.
My mate? She thinks Caelynn is telling me something?
“I’ve been waiting for her.”
I shiver.
The image of a steep, sloping path flickers to my mind, small boots pounding over the gravel. A wraith drifting along.
I swallow. A chill washes over the area, and the branches slithering toward me pause.
Was that Caelynn? She was running up...
The ground rumbles beneath me. “Clever girl. Finally learning something, is she?”
My stomach sinks. “She went for the spell book.” Reahgan had told me she left me behind. She continued on.
Quick as lightning, one of the roots shoots up and grips me by the throat, lifting me into the air. I claw at the tree choking me, stealing my breath.
