Page 215 of When Sisters Collide
She stole a glance at the others. None of them had moved from the door.
“Kat, if you can hear me,” she whispered, leaning closer, “you have to fight this. You can’t let them win. Do you hear me? You have to wake up, break out of this, or they’re going to send you into battle. They’ll make you kill innocent people. Your friends…”
Katell didn’t react. Her vacant stare seemed fixed on something distant, her mind gone.
Leywani swallowed hard, then squeezed warm water over Katell’s chest. The sponge traced across her collarbone, scraping away the lingering stain of the black pool, each stroke a trembling act of hope against the panic clawing inside her.
Her fingers moved, and she began to sing—the Freefolk song of the Harvest. A melody of renewal, of the earth giving and taking in its eternal cycle. Leywani clung to it, willing the notes to spark something within her friend.
But Katell remained silent, motionless.
The song carried Leywani’s mind back to the day when Katell had chased after her, desperate to stop her from leaving Camp Bessi with her new husband. The heartbreak in her friend’s eyes, offering to switch places, still haunted her.
Her brave, loyal friend—the one who’d once risked everything—was gone.
If Leywani faltered, if she stopped singing or paused in her care, the weight of grief threatened to crush her. So she kept going, hands steady even as her heart ached with every beat.
But then, when she reached to wash Katell’s hair—she saw them.
Tears.
Silent, glistening trails slipping down Katell’s cheeks.
Leywani’s breath hitched, hope sparking in her chest.
“Kat?” She grasped her friend’s hands, squeezing them tight as if she could jolt life back into her.
But after several agonising moments, the silence remained unbroken.
Katell didn’t stir.
The flicker of hope dimmed, and with a heavy heart, Leywani resumed her task, the painful truth sinking in. “It’s all right. I’m here, Kat. You’re not alone. I’m with you.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
KATELL
When Katell woke, the world around her wasn’t anything she’d seen before. A barren landscape stretched out in every direction—a twisted wasteland littered with jagged rocks, broken weapons, and shattered armour.
Like a battlefield.
Where was she? How had she even gotten here?
The last thing she remembered was Dorias leading her through a dark corridor. Leywani was there, too. And then—darkness…
She pushed herself upright, a wave of dizziness washing over her. She sucked in deep breaths, forcing herself to focus. The sky above was a strange crimson hue, flickering with bursts of lightning. A thick, metallic scent clung to the air, and the distant sounds of clashing swords and battle cries reverberated through the wasteland.
She turned—and froze.
Pale, translucent figures drifted across the barren field, their movements slow and aimless.
Ghosts. A dozen at least. Just like the apparitions that had attacked the Sixth the summer before.
A chill sank into her bones. Stars be cursed. Were they about to attack her, too? And what kind of place was this?
But the ghosts ignored her. She’d barely processed their presence when something else caught her eye. Across the wasteland, a massive structure jutted from the barren earth, its jagged silhouette sharp against the crimson sky.
Dread coiled tight in her gut.
