Chapter 29
twenty-nine
. . .
raea
The grip on my body feels inhuman, an unyielding force that seizes me with sharp, piercing pain as though claws have sunk deep into my sides.
I can sense something tugging at my legs, pulling me deeper toward an abyss.
At the same time, a weight crushes my chest, like a heavy band constricting my breath and pinning me in place as I attempt to fight back.
Power surges through me again, a chaotic energy burning like a wildfire, consuming everything in its path.
I can’t be certain, but I think I’m screaming, though the sound is lost in a cacophony of whispers.
It’s as if there’s an iron dome encasing my mind, but the whispers grow louder, hammering against the walls of my mind, demanding entrance.
The whispers grow louder, the indistinct voices fill my ears, pulling me further into this nightmarish struggle for control as I battle the darkness threatening to keep me.
“Soraea.”
“Light-bringer.”
“The new dawn.”
“Give it to us.”
“I’ll destroy them all.”
Over and over, the voices repeat, overlapping and driving me madder than I already feel with the hammering in my head, the loud buzz of the planet, and well…everything else. I’m tapped out on sensations, overwhelmed, while my heart continues to pound violently against my ribcage.
Darkness continues to envelop my vision like an endless void.
I’m haunted by vivid flashes of war, scenes of death and destruction unfolding before me as I watch helplessly.
I see homes and villages engulfed in flames while horrific creatures born of nightmares gnash their teeth in a frenzied display of hunger.
A strangled sob escapes my lips as I lie here, powerless and lost in images I can’t comprehend.
“Give it to us,” the voices echo around me, some demanding furiously, others with a voice laced with deceit and false sweetness. Their incessant demands twist my insides, fueling my fear.
Desperation wells up as I cry out, “I don’t know what you want!”
In my search for something to hold onto, my hands grasp at what feels like a root, its rough bark biting into my palm.
I can feel the damp ground beneath my fingers, the solidness grounding me even as my body writhes in agony as I teeter on the edge of unconsciousness.
My fingers intertwine in an attempt to anchor myself.
“Give us the light!”
The command reverberates through my mind like a thunderclap, leaving me gasping. A chill settles into me, bone-deep and unending, as the darkness around me deepens, consuming me whole.
“Have strength, Soraea, daughter of the forest,” a sweet, calm voice murmurs softly from somewhere nearby. It brings a sense of quiet comfort despite the unending pain and terror.
“Who are you?” I manage to bite out, the grip on my chest escalating to unbearable levels. “Please, make it stop,” I plead, desperation clawing at me.
Suddenly, a gentle hand rests on my head. The soothing touch momentarily eases my torment. The relentless pounding in my skull subsides, and the disorienting buzz of distant planets fades into silence.
“We cannot,” she replies softly, her voice soothing like a lullaby. “This is your path. Have strength; he’ll be here soon.”
“Who?” I sob.
My voice trembles as I feel jagged claws dragging down my legs.
The presence of whoever is hovering over me begins to pull away, leaving me as the whispers surrounding me turn taunting and vicious.
They chant their malevolent refrain, repeating words about light and a new dawn, twisting them into a cruel promise that she’ll make me suffer if I don’t comply.
The band around my chest feels like it’s constricting further, the pressure building as the tugging on my legs pulls me deeper into despair.
I scream, the sound leaving my throat raw as it echoes through the void.
I grip the root beneath my fingers with all my strength.
I can’t let go—not now. I just have to hold on, that’s what she said.
Then, without warning, the darkness envelops me once more. Utter and complete nothingness.
I wake to more haunting visions of wastelands stretching endlessly through my mind, but these desolate landscapes belong to no planet I’ve ever known.
The people who inhabit this miserable realm are different—taller, faster, and more beautiful.
I feel like I’m glimpsing at a photo of a long-lost family.
There's something familiar about them, but I know my parents were both the only children born to my grandparents, just like me.
A profound sadness settles against my heart as I silently plead for this torment to cease.
This is just another ploy to get me to break.
I can’t discern how long I’ve been unconscious, or even how long I’ve been trapped in this hellscape.
I can feel my strength dwindling, and the reserve of energy I felt earlier seems to drain faster than the well can replenish.
A soul-rendering sob escapes my lips, my vision still shrouded in darkness, and all I can feel are the deep, sharp talons raking mercilessly into my skin, leaving behind a burning trail of agony.
Poison.
It has to be some kind of poison that makes those claw marks burn with indescribable heat.
Maybe this is death. Or perhaps I’m merely caught in a dream. I don’t know, but I cling desperately to that root, a fragment of something real and tangible in this sea of cold darkness.
Seconds stretch into minutes, minutes spiral into hours, and hours blur into a formless expanse that renders time meaningless. Those eerie whispers penetrate my thoughts like an insistent wind. My mental shield holds strong, muffling their cries of outrage.
My vision flickers back to life for a moment, but the only thing illuminated is the glowing tree at my side, casting an ethereal light in an otherwise suffocating darkness. Just when I try to focus on it, a fresh wave of pain surges through me, and once again, I’m cast into the void.
My thoughts drift to my parents and friends—will they be okay when I am no longer here? Will Trysten, with his unwavering loyalty, and Ciara, with her fierce compassion, find a way to escape the hellish nightmare we’ve crashed into? And what of Tate? Will he remember to laugh when I’m gone?
Will my parents survive my death, or will they die with me? My safety has been my mother’s sole focus, and my happiness my father’s. Every moment, I have felt their undeniable love for me as if I were their sole reason for continuing on. They have to live.
A deeper ache settles in my heart when I think of Anders.
Will he understand that in the end, it was his presence, his quiet strength, his comforting hold that I yearned for the most?
That in my last minutes, it was he that I craved more than anything—his warmth, our Bond, our relentless teasing.
Will Kellan forgive me? Does Kellan know how deep my love for him is and that even in death, he will always hold a piece of my heart?
The weight of so many unanswered questions presses down on me as I feel my fingers begin to slip.
“Oh, how she’ll enjoy torturing you, devouring you, little light,” a sinister voice whispers, dripping with malicious glee. “It won’t be long now.”
The words coil around me like chains, tightening their grip. Before I can fully comprehend their implications, I’m pulled into unconsciousness once more.
I awaken to the distant echoes of voices calling my name, pulling me from the depths of nothingness.
I can only focus on the overwhelming shouts and mocking sneers that claw at my mind.
The sharp pain of talons digs into my sides with a frantic desperation, as if trying to keep me in this nightmare.
“Rae!” I hear Kellan’s voice pierce through the chaos.
But can it truly be him?
It feels like I’m hallucinating, trapped in a twisted reality. That surge of power I felt before pulses within me, the fire building with each passing second, hotter and hotter, igniting a nuclear heat deep within my core. I gasp just before a roar escapes my lips as the waves of agony mount.
My back arches involuntarily away from the damp, soft ground, and I feel my fingers slip from the ancient root that has been my lifeline.
Panic floods my thoughts, but that unyielding heat seems to burn away those poisonous talons, incinerating each deep gouge.
I claw at the ground, desperate to hold onto something, anything.
“Soraea.” Anders’ voice echoes in my mind, penetrating the iron dome that has shielded my mind like it’s nothing more than a sheer veil.
I feel him kneel beside me, his presence unmistakable even in this endless expanse of hell.
Almost as if I summoned him. Cool, soothing hands embrace me like ice has wrapped around my burnt flesh.
I can feel the sharp claws lodged in my sides withdrawing, allowing the jumbled chorus of voices in my head to retreat, their terrifying screeches fading into the distance.
The raging fire, that insatiable flame consuming me from within, flickers and then extinguishes, as if a splash of water is all it took, as if he were all it took.
A sensation similar to cool water floods through me like a stream, healing me with every heartbeat as it surrounds my nerve endings, my muscles, and even my soul. Slowly, so slowly, I peel my eyes open, and all I see is him.
Anders.
My breath hitches as my gaze catches on him. He’s devastatingly handsome, his presence consuming. His dark hair is windswept, and purple bruises underscore striking sapphire eyes, but he’s nothing short of perfection.
His gaze roams anxiously over mine, searching, probing. For a fleeting moment, I wonder if I am merely hallucinating his presence or if he has truly come for me.
“You’re here,” I rasp, tears welling in my eyes. It’s not a question. My words seem to wreck him, his features falling as he nods.