Page 178 of The Orc's Captive Bride
His hand stretched out, his fingers grasping. So close. Almost there. One more surge. One final desperate lunge.
His fingers touched warmth. Golden. Brilliant. Alive. And the world exploded. He felt himself dissolve. Scatter. Become something other than flesh and bone.
Is this death? Transformation? Redemption?
He didn’t know. Couldn’t tell. All he knew was that he’d reached the light. Completed the test. Paid the price.
Thea. Please let her be safe. Please let this have been enough.
The thought was his last before consciousness shattered into a thousand brilliant fragments, and Khorrek knew nothing more.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
One moment. Just give me one more moment.
Thea knelt in the center of the Stone Circle, her eyes closed, her breathing shallow. The voice—Freya’s voice—had faded to nothing. The golden light surrounding her had dimmed.
It’s done. The sacrifice is made. The balance begins to shift.
She felt different, changed somehow. Not diminished but the opposite. Fuller. More.
As if something sleeping inside me finally woke up.
Ancient power hummed through her veins. Profound and terrifying.
I’m a conduit now. A vessel for divine will. What does that even mean?
She didn’t know. Couldn’t process the thought. Her mind felt stretched, expanded beyond normal human capacity.
I can feel them. The orcs. All of them. Connected through the curse. Through the blessing. Through whatever this has become.
Thousands of individual threads. Each one a life. A soul. Some strong. Some weak. All tangled together in a vast, intricate web.
This is what Lasseran wants to control. This is what he’s trying to steal.
The thought filled her with fierce, protective rage.
Never. I won’t let him. Can’t let him.
But something was wrong. The mist around her thinned, shifting and hanging.
What’s happening? Is it over? Did I fail?
Panic flared bright and hot and then the mist vanished, dissolved like it had never existed. Brilliant sunlight flooded the circle, blinding after the endless white fog, and she raised a hand to shield her eyes.
I’m back. I’m really back.
Relief and confusion warred within her.
But I thought—the sacrifice—I was supposed to?—
A body lay at her feet. Massive. Unmoving. Too still.
No.
The thought was detached. Distant. As if her mind refused to process what her eyes saw.
No. No. No.
