I look around, my mind racing for a solution. There’s only one person I trust with her life, one place I can take her. I’m just not ready for her to go there. Not ready for her to know. Not ready to risk it.
But none of that matters now.
Making the decision, I pull her into my arms, cradling her against my chest as I summon my magic. What I’m about to do is something I’ve never revealed to anyone—it’s a secret, a power gifted only to Keepers after passing their trial.
But none of it matters if I can’t save her.
For her, I’ll break every rule, every oath, every vow.
The air around us shimmers and warps as the magic takes hold. The power surges through me, pulling us from the forest and sending us towards the only place I can think of.
I just pray it’s not too late.
FORTY-TWO
Eirabella
The world slipsin and out of focus. The pain, sharp and constant, pulls me toward consciousness, but I can’t stay, no matter how hard I try. I drift, lost in the dark corners of my mind, where reality and nightmare blur together.
I’m backin the village. The smell of smoke fills my lungs, choking me as I run. Flames roar all around, towering over the huts, consuming everything in their path. The heat is unbearable, searing my skin as I search frantically through the firestorm.
“Janus!” I scream, my voice hoarse, but there’s no answer. I push through the burning wreckage, my heart pounding in my chest. Then I see him—small, fragile—standing amidst the chaos. His wide, tear-filled eyes find mine, and my heart shatters.
“Why didn’t you come back?” Janus asks, his voicetrembling, his face streaked with soot and tears. “I needed you, Eira… I needed you.”
His words hit me like a blow, and I try to reach him, but the flames grow higher, hotter, swallowing the distance between us. No matter how hard I run, I can’t get to him.
“I’m sorry,” I cry, my voice breaking. “I’m so sorry…”
But it’s too late. The fire engulfs him, and his screams echo in my ears as everything turns to ash.
And when I turn, he’s there, cackling, pointing, mocking me for ever thinking I could have been more, done more.
Samfer.
I jolt awake,gasping for air, but the world around me is spinning, distorted. The forest looms in the shadows, the memory of the fight replaying over and over. I see Rylan, his sword blazing with fire, cutting down the attackers. But there are too many.
“No!” I shout, reaching for him, but my legs feel heavy, like I’m stuck in quicksand. Rylan turns to face me, his eyes wide with panic just as a blade strikes him across the chest.
He falls, crumpling to the ground, blood pooling around him. I scream, but my voice is drowned out by the sounds of battle. I try to run to him, but it’s like I’m moving through thick air, my limbs too slow, too weak.
“Rylan!” I shout, but my voice fades, and the forest closes in around us, swallowing him whole.
The scene shifts,twisting into something else.
I’m no longer in the forest, but in a small, dimly lit room. A woman stands beside Rylan, her face shadowed. She leans over him, her hand gently touching his face.
“Is she going to make it?” the woman asks, her voice low and cold. She turns her gaze toward me, her eyes gleaming with something dark and mocking.
I try to speak, to ask who she is, but my voice is gone. I’m paralyzed, frozen in place as the woman turns away from Rylan and looks at me directly.
“Do you think she’ll survive?” she asks again, but this time, her voice shifts into a cruel, mocking cackle. The sound echoes around the room, filling my ears until it’s all I can hear. I try to cover my ears, but it’s useless. Her laughter drowns out everything.
Then,suddenly, I feel something cool against my forehead. A soft touch, gentle, calming. It’s like a thread pulling me out of the nightmare.
“Rest,” a voice whispers, quiet but firm. “You need to rest.”
The coolness spreads through me, soothing the pain, quieting the panic. The nightmares fade for a moment, and I feel myself slipping back into the darkness, but this time it’s different. It’s a quieter type of horror.
