Page 30 of The Dark Will Fall


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The stone began to soften under my touch, as my hand sank into the wall.

Startled, I opened my eyes, finding my handprint on the wall. I pushed my hand into the divot, but the stone was no longer malleable.

I closed my eyes again and placed my hand in the same spot.

I’m hungry.

Nothing happened.

Eyed closed, I exhaled a huff.

I want to go home.

I want to get out of this box.

The box's magic reacted to my desire to leave, and my hand moved again. The wall became warm and soft like dough. Eyes closed and focused, I repeated the same phrase over and over in my mind.

I want to leave.

Soon enough, the divot in the wall formed, the stone pliable enough to dig my hand in. I worked my fingers into the wall to create a hole.

It was long and arduous. Every time my focus slipped, the wall returned to its stone form. My fingernails bled, and every time I opened my eyes to see the progress, the wall hardened again.

I knelt down and scooped up the water from the puddle on the floor. It was foul-tasting, but enough to sate my thirst. My fingernails peeled away from the nail bed as I clawed at the wall, stopping only to sip from the foul-tasting water while I tunneled to freedom.

I kept my eyes closed, pulling at the stone, and formed a hole big enough for my body to fit through. The stone was warm from my body heat and warped in several places. Lines carved into the stone from my fingertips.

It was dark on the other side of the wall.

It had taken hours to make the smallest hole. It would be a frightening squeeze, but that was the test, wasn’t it?

Manannán mac Lir had called themtrials.My desire to complete them waned by the minute.

There was something important. Something I was forgetting. Somewhere I had to be. I didn’t have time for Manannán mac Lir’s games.

Without Cormac close, I even struggled to rememberhisface. My former self slipped away every moment, memories dissolving like sand in an hourglass.

Manannán mac Lir had said I wasn’t dead, but something wasn’tright.

I paced the stone room, glaring at the worn hole every few seconds, shaking my bloody fingers. I couldn’t raise my arms past my waist, and every muscle arched, but there was a way out, even if every muscle in my body recoiled from the idea of crawling through the stone.

I bent down, scooping up more of the disgusting water, but no matter how many sips I took, I still felt thirsty, and my mouth tasted like metal.

I sank down to my ass, pulling my legs to my chest and resting my forehead on my knees.

What if there was no water beyond the box?

I knew what it felt like to travel without water. The dried river path from the Twilight Lake to the Dark Sea was torture to a water-fae. Realization dawned as I scrutinized the puddle at my feet. The water tasted the same as the puddles of rainwater collected on the dry forest floor. The same water had tasted like ambrosia on the dried river path. I had been running for my life at the time.

Always pushed, hither and tither. Never truly settling. Without a place to callhome.

My bones creaked as I stood, eying the ugly hole in the stone wall, with the stance of a soldier preparing for battle. The box might have been ‘safe’ because I didn’t know better, but I couldn’t remain inside the prison forever.

I have to get back to—

My thoughts screeched to a halt.

Back towhere?