Page 91 of Vathia
Suddenly a screech rends through the air and I’m overcome with a terror I’ve only felt once in my life.
Shadow wraiths.
“Talyn! Shadow flame, now!” Killian yells as I replace my short blades with my dragonstone longsword.
We all hold our blades together and with the single use of the device, devastatingly purple light blares to life just as five wraiths phase through the brush, not ruffling a single leaf or branch.
It all happens far too fast; goblins fade to ash as they get caught between the wraiths and us. I run towards my friends as they barrel towards us for safety, but the wraiths move like smoke, swift and unpredictable. A scream lodges in my throat as Melissandre shoves Lennox out of the way; he tumbles, rolling towards me as I jump over him.
Mel’s hand reaches towards me, her eyes wide with a terror so strong I can feel it in my bones. I scream, wrapping my shadows around me to blink between them. Someone calls my name but all I’m focused on is Mel—my friend who’s become my family, the female who makes me laugh, who keeps Ember and I from being too serious. A soul more kind and pure than anyone else’s.
“Mel!” I cry as I swing my blade towards the wraith’s head, a trail of purple flames arching with it. But just as I make contact with it, its grip is around Mel’s neck. Her face grows slack and the light leaves her eyes as her body greys.
I scream.
I scream so loud that my voice turns to nothing but a scratchy whisper as I drive the blade home. The wraith’s body hisses, going up in smoke, and I fall to my knees, cradling Mel.
“Mel, Mel, Mel,” I cry, checking for a pulse I know is no longer there. “No, no. NO!”
“Melissandre!” I hear Lennox yell from behind me, mixed with whispered words I can’t comprehend.
Someone lifts me off the ground and I fight against them. “Rav, Ravina. Stop. Maeven!” Talyn’s voice pulls me back as he cradles me. “We have to go. We will come back for her body I promise. But if we don’t leave now we will be surrounded and we willalldie.”
Killian catches up to us, holding an unconscious Lennox. “I had to knock him out,” he states gruffly. His voice is full of emotion.
I feel numb. I failed them. I failed Mel, Lennox, Ember—
Talyn forces me to look at him. Concern and agony darken his gaze as he tries to get me to focus. “Knock it off, Ravina. You need to pull it together. Put all those feelings into a box and deal with it when we get out of here. We need to get the stone. And we need to go. If the wraiths are here then we must be close.”
I’m not sure how long we run for, but we come across a small cabin. It looks nearly abandoned except for the tracks of flattened grass leading to and from the door.
Talyn places me down and all I feel is numb. Numb and angry. Numb and sad. Whoever said you can’t feel numb and emotional at the same time lied. You definitely can, but I do mybest to push it to the back of my mind. Get the stone. Get… Mel… and leave.
“Keep your eyes peeled,” Talyn snaps, holding his blade which is still bathed in purple flames.
I look around. Where did my sword go? Did I leave it?
Jesper is suddenly in front of me and I stagger back. He holds out my blade still coated in flames. “Here you go, Little Beastie. We will get through this together, but I need you to be strong.”
Killian places Lennox, still out cold, against the cabin. “I will stand guard and make sure nothing follows you in.”
My head begins shaking. “I don’t want us separated.”
Ember’s teary eyes meet mine. “I will stay with him. Lennox is going to need us when he wakes up and remembers…” She chokes back a sob.
“I will stay out here too,” Roz adds. “Get that stone so we can pay back the fucker who took her from us,” he states with such steel, and I already see the cracks beginning to form in our friend group.
I nod, squeezing Jesper’s hand before giving them each a brief but quick hug and then following Talyn inside.
Aemon and Jesper follow behind me, and when we enter the cabin it looks like a simple home for a small family. Dishes have been left scattered across the table and dust layers everything.
“Start searching. There has to be something here,” Talyn says gruffly.
I move around the space, determined to find anything—a sign that Mel didn’t die for nothing, that this trip wasn’t a waste of time. Sobs get lodged in my throat as I search around, opening cupboards and boxes.
“Over here,” Jesper calls.
I nearly trip over myself to get to him and that’s when I see what he sees. In front of one of the walls the floor is lacking dust, as if someone has opened it, leaving behind a clue on where to go. Jesper and I search the wall, looking for any kind of latch when Nero’s wing knocks a hanging picture with his wing and a click sounds through the room.
