Page 117 of Crown of Darkness
And I catch a glimpse of the fetch’s shocked face as it sees what’s happening.
“Burn,” I whisper, and light explodes out from the Hallow.
Even through closed eyes, it sears my eyeballs, until afterimage blinds me. Heat gushes through me. My hair whips back. I could move continents with this power. I could stop the tides and haul the moon from the sky.
I could ruin my mother.
The power skitters, jarring through me as though it wants to be unleashed.
But then the edge of power twists within me, and I realize it’s burning me out, burning me hollow. I’m too close to the edge. Too new at this.
I panic, and the light dies, the heat fading until my knees threaten to dump me on my ass.
Vines have burned away, leaving the center of the Hallow free of debris. Little copper runes glow in the sentinel stones, slowly fading as the power leaves me.
The fetch is gone.
“Foolish child.” I sense a gentle hand stroking through my hair. “You sip the merest taste of true power and you want to gobble it all down like a glutton. Everything has a price.”
My knees give out, and I hit the stone. What’s happening to me?
“Sleep,” she whispers. “Recover. I will watch over you until the dawn rises.”
There is no choice. My eyes close even as the last glowing rune dies out like an extinguished firefly.
And then there’s nothing but silence.
* * *
Something warm restson my chest, and a vibration trembles through me. I dream of sunshine and clover—the scent of my sister’s hair—and for a second we’re lying in her bed, tucked away from the world and the dangerous whispers of the court.
“Nothing can tear us apart,” Andraste tells me solemnly, pulling a little dagger from its sheath. She holds out her palm and slices the knife down it.
“Forever sisters,” I reply, taking the knife from her and mimicking her actions.
We clasp palms, and a shiver of bells tinkle in the background as though Maia herself hears our pledge.
But Andraste betrayed me.This isn’t real, I want to scream at myself. And the weight on my chest is heavier.
I blink, and a pair of lambent yellow eyes stare directly into mine.
Mother of—
A yell escapes me and as I scramble to sit up, a set of razor-sharp claws dig into my chest. I slam a hand into it, and a hiss escapes the mound of dark gray fur as it lands in the leaf mulch beside me.
Blessed Maia. I shove to my feet, trying to work out where I am and what happened and where the cursed cat came from.
“Shit.” Everything comes rushing back in upon me.
The fetch. The Mother of Night. The way I used the Hallow.
Dawn light silvers the sky far to the east, but nothing’s changed. I’m alone, and I have no idea where I am or how to get home. I swear I could sleep for a week too, but there’s no peace to be found here. I have to keep moving.
“I don’t suppose you know where we are?” I ask the cat.
“Meow,” it says, sitting and licking its paw.
“That’s precisely what I thought.” I give a sigh, and then start down the slope toward the Hallow.
