Page 135 of Echoes of the Raven
“All right, let me try.” I stand in front of the tear, holding the amulet.
This time I think of the spot growing taller and wider, enough to let us through, but I receive the same result as before, which is to say none.
I try several more times, but it’s useless.
A faint buzzing begins in my ears, like thousands of insect wings beating. My vision tunnels to the anomaly, and I see a rainbow of colors flicker in the air. It’s very pretty. I reach out to touch it.
“What are you doing?!” Jago grabs my hand and pulls me toward him.
I crashed into him, feeling dazed. Everything is turning around me, and I have to hold onto my cousin to keep my footing.
“Are you all right?” he asks.
“I am. I just… I thought I heard something.” Slowly, I pull away from him, and once my head is clear, I take a step back.
“I think I have to… reach inside.” I don’t know where the idea comes from, but it sounds right.
Jago shakes his head. “Val, I don’t know. What if it hurts you?”
I glance at Korben questioningly.
He shrugs, his expression saying,it’s all up to you. He trusts me.
“Galen’s still alive,” I tell Jago with a smile.
“Barely,” the sorcerer calls from his spot on the ground, where he still sits licking his wounds.
“I’ll be fine,” I say.
Jago twists his mouth in disapproval. “How do you know?”
“I have a feeling.”
He runs stiff fingers through his dirty blond hair and whirls around, frustrated. “This damn quest is going to get you killed or worse.”
I guess there are fates worse than death, but he’s exaggerating.
Bracing myself, I approach the spot once more—one hand on the amulet while the free one goes through the tear.
51
VALERIA
“Bring me my sister. No one will be safe until she’s captured.”
Reina Amira Plumanegra (Casa Plumanegra) - Queen of Castella - 21 AV
Open.
The buzzing sound grows deafening, and the light expands to envelop me, swallowing me whole. For a long moment, there’s nothing else but the overwhelming distortion of my senses, and I fear I’ve gotten stuck between the fabric of the realms, like a bug in a spiderweb.
A restless energy builds in my veins as I cling to The Eldrystone, a steady chant in my mind.
Open. Open. Open.
Blindly, I stumble around, my free hand guarding my eyes from the piercing glow. I want to scream. I want to leave this place.
I don’t want to be here!
