Or maybe it was the lack of sound that was most frightening. Like all life had been suddenly snuffed out.
I’d felt this in the farmlands. Panicked, I spun around to see a tiny bead discoloring the marsh, hovering in the air between the willows. Black as night, yet utterly colorless, it slowly grew in size, warping the world around it.
Without warning, it ripped open, tearing the air like a great maw, peering down into an utterly still sea beneath a dead sky.
I had seen a man enter the Empty. At first, it seemed like he would simply tumble into its depths. But he had turned to dust before his feet had departed the ground.
The maw spread, rising into the sky, reaching east and west, and carving deep into the ground. A faint blood-tinged aura bloomed around its edges.
“Again?” Eleos’ voice was surprisingly even. “So close to the city?”
“Shit!” Percy cursed, scrambling toward his horse.
Grabbing my wrist, Eleos tossed me onto our horse, and I desperately grabbed the saddle and hoisted myself up. Climbing up behind me, Eleos slammed his heels into the horse’s flank.
It didn’t require much coaxing. Snorting, the mare bolted, tearing through the marshlands, kicking up water like waves as the world behind us was pulled into the void and disappeared.
5
Chapter 5
Pockets of the Empty appeared all over the world, creating impassable seas and encroaching on what livable land remained. But the most terrifying thing about them was the lack of warning.
No tremors shook the earth. You did not feel the ground heave beneath your feet before it collapsed.
One minute, the normal world was there, and the next, it was simplygone.
Eleos leaned forward, pressing his legs against mine to hold me steady in the saddle as our horse flew through knee-high water. Ducking my head, I glanced behind us, watching the Empty swallow the marshlands. Blue water evaporated as the void reached it, and trees disintegrated into debris on the wind. A black line cleaved through the marsh, opening a terrible canyon that gazed upon a silent sea.
A still sea, disturbed not by the slightest ripple.
Our horse screamed, throwing itself into a desperate sprint. It bucked, almost throwing me from the saddle. Grabbing its mane, I clung on for dear life.
“The Bloodstone!” I shouted into the horse’s neck.
“Mistress Seraphim has it,” Eleos said.
Howdid he sound socalm?
Staring past the wildly flying mane, I searched for the other woman. I caught a glimpse of a black horse darting between two willows, kicking up water as it leapt over a fallen log. A red braid whipped in the breeze and vanished into the trees.
Glancing back, I noticed the consuming void had slowed its pace. The distance between us and the drop off into the dead waters had grown.
Maybe we wouldn’t need to test the Bloodstone after all. Relieved, I tried to sit back up.
That proved a horrific mistake.
An inhuman hiss reverberated across the marsh, somewhere to our left. Frightened, the horse reared violently, scrambling right to escape the threat. One of my boots left the stirrups in the chaos, and I felt myself slipping.
Shit!
Water enveloped me as I fell into the marsh, soaking my clothes and hair. Gasping, I fought against the brackish drink, trying to claw my way to my feet.
The dappled mare bolted into the distance and vanished behind the trees. There went my ride.
The hiss sounded again, this time right beside me. I turned to see hollow, empty eyes boring into me before a claw dug into my shoulder, tearing through my dress and drawing blood.
Shrieking, I threw myself in the opposite direction, managing to break free. Grabbing my bleeding arm, I stared in horror at my attacker.
