“A healer’s duty isn’t to escape the darkness. It’s to bring light to those still trapped within it. If I must remain, then I hope I will shine until my last breath.” ~ Jewel
Five minutes before Shade opened theNushtonia…
Jewel didn’t know how long it had been since they’d made their introductions with the ruler of the Realm of the Dead. The silence was maddening. Fane walked ahead of the group, his powerful frame tense, his shoulders squared as though bracing for an attack. His sharp blue eyes scanned the endless wasteland, ever-watchful, ever-protective. Behind him, Heather followed, her hands outstretched slightly as if testing the air, her sightless eyes staring ahead. Her usual sarcastic quips were absent for the moment, replaced by a quiet tension that only deepened the unease. Andora moved with her usual grace. Her delicate features were composed, her silver eyes watchful. Even in this forsaken place, the sprite queen carried herself like the monarch she was, though the faint lines of worry around her mouth betrayed her thoughts.
Jewel trailed behind them, her thoughts a chaotic storm. Raja’s words echoed over and over in her mind, like a curse she couldn’t escape.“You’ll know soon enough what this sacrifice will be.”
The waiting was the worst part. Waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting for the blow that would shatter everything. It felt like standing on the edge of a cliff, knowing the fall was inevitable but not knowing how far she’d plummet—or if she’d survive the impact. This wasn’t just dread. It was the kind of fear that seeped into her bones, that whispered lies about how this would end.
The ground beneath her feet began to tremble.
It started as a faint vibration, so subtle that Jewel thought she might have imagined it. But then it grew stronger, rolling through the land like a violent earthquake. The ash-like dirt cracked and split, jagged fissures racing outward in all directions. Jewel stumbled, throwing out her arms to steady herself, but the ground pitched and shuttered beneath her boots, making it impossible to keep her footing.
“What the hell is happening?” Heather’s sharp voice cut through the chaos. “Not to be dramatic, but someone needs to tell the blind girl what’s going on right now, because it feels like the world’s ending!”
Fane turned, his expression fierce as he reached back to pull Heather closer. “Stay behind me!” he barked, his voice rough with command.
The air grew colder, sharper, like the edge of a blade slicing through it. And then, without warning, Raja’s smoky form materialized in front of them.
Jewel froze.
The massive figure billowed out of nothingness, dark smoke coiling and snapping around him like living tendrils. His glowing red eyes burned with a terrible light, and his twisted, monstrous face was set in a scowl. His presence was suffocating, a weight that pressed down on Jewel’s chest and made her knees weak.
But he wasn’t looking at them.
He was looking up.
Jewel followed his gaze, her heart pounding as she saw it—a fissure in the dark, oppressive sky. Light, golden and blinding, poured through the crack, cutting through the gloom like a blade of fire. The opening was growing, jagged and raw, and the air around it hummed with a power that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
“What is that?” Andora whispered, her voice uncharacteristically soft.
“Blind girl would like to know the answer to that question,” Heather practically hissed.
Raja didn’t answer. He shifted, his body stretching and twisting as the fissure widened above them. And then, without warning, he shot upward, his dark, trailing smoke curling behind him like the tail of a comet.
“Raja!” Fane roared. His confusion and fury were evident in the way his fists clenched, and his body shifted slightly as though he were ready to leap after the dark figure.
The light from the fissure flared brightly, and the pull began.
Jewel staggered as she felt a force unlike anything she had ever experienced. It was as though something invisible had wrapped itself around her, pulling her upward while simultaneously pushing her downward. Her very essence felt stretched, like she was on the verge of being torn in half.
“Fane!” Her voice cracked, but she couldn’t reach him.
Fane’s body jerked suddenly, his face twisting in horror as he was yanked upward toward the fissure. His blue eyes locked on hers for a single, heart-wrenching moment before he disappeared into the blinding light.
“Fane,” Jewel screamed, her voice breaking.
Heather was next. Her hands flailed wildly as the pull took her, lifting her off the ground.
“Wait, Heather, don’t go,” Jewel cried as she watched the other healer being sucked up at a speed that was terrifying.
“What the hell?!” Heather yelled in a panic. “I don’t even know what’s going on! I’m blind—remember?!” She vanished. Her words cut off abruptly as the light swallowed her.
Andora turned, her silver eyes locking on Jewel. There was no fear in her expression, only a quiet resignation. Her lips parted as if to say something, but before she could, the light claimed her as well.
Jewel was alone.
The pull was still there, fierce and relentless, but she wasn’t taken. She could feel it, the force tugging at her, but something held her in place. Her feet were rooted to the ground, as though the very land itself refused to let her go.
