Page 97 of Fires of the Forsaken
“Ah, lass,” he gasped as he heaved himself into the nearest chair. “Give me a moment to catch my breath, and then we shall eat. I’ve thought of a good story to share with you; one of my favorites from childhood.”
He never caught his breath.
Even as I spooned broth into his bowl, he wheezed. His hands shook.
“Perhaps the day fatigued me more than I thought,” he said when I asked if he was ill. Speaking brought on a violent coughing fit that left him red-faced and teary-eyed.
I placed a hand on his shoulder. There was a chill on his skin, and it wouldn’t go away, no matter how many times I tried to create friction to warm him.
“I’m sorry, lass,” he whispered. “The story will have to wait for another night.”
I helped him to his bed. Afterward, when the cloud seeped across my vision again, and the energy left my body, I curled onto my mattress, asleep before my head hit the pillow.
I didn’t take the tonic.
And the dreams returned.
I was back in Swindon, listening to Darcie scream. The acrid smell of burnt flesh rose to my nostrils, churning my stomach. Flames danced across my fingertips, growing, and growing, and growing until Darcie was consumed in the blaze.
“Stop! Please!”She cried.
I stared at my trembling fingers. No matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried to will it away, the fire kept growing. “I-I can’t!”
“Please…”
“Go away,” I moaned at the inferno. “Please, goaway.I don’t want this!”
“Please, love.”
I gasped. It was no longer Darcie speaking.
It was Mama, now trapped in the swirling fire.
“Mama!” I screamed. “Mama, something’s wrong—a Celestial did somethingto me. But Idon’t want this! Tell me how to stop it!”
She stared at me, her flesh blackening, and bubbling tears seeping from her eyes.“It’s your fault I’m dead, love,”she rasped.
The flames grew. “I didn’t—”
“You didn’t kill me, but you might as well have. I could have left Detha and gone to Sakar. If only I hadn’t been cursed with another mouth to feed.”
A sickening pain speared my chest. “Mama—”
She coughed. Blood dribbled down her chin.“I should have Offered you to the Wraiths when you were born.”
I awoke with a blood-curdling screech, which morphed into a cry of panic.
Flames engulfed the room. They roared across the ceiling and along the walls, disintegrating everything in their path. The smoke was thick; I could hardly see past the tip of my nose.
“Terrick!” I screamed.
Dimly, I heard shouts coming from outside.
“The tannery!”
“Water! Fetch water!”
“Terrick!” I dropped to the floor in a crumbled heap and crawled. “Terrick!”
