“I’m going to need more than that,” he whispered. “Answer me, Sanora.”
I sighed, frustrated with me, with him. “Okay.”
“Good.” He released me and stepped back, hands moving down to my neck and lingering before dropping to his sides. “Now go upstairs. I’ll be back in a moment.”
“Where are you going?”
“Unfinished business,” he said vaguely. Then, as if already bored with the conversation, he nodded towards the stairs, slipping his hands into his pockets like he was trying not to lose what little patience he had left.
I gave a nod and turned away, climbing back up to my room. I shut the door and waited until I heard the front door creak open…then close again.
Quietly, I slipped back out and stood at the top of the landing, every nerve in me buzzing with unease. Something was wrong. Very wrong. My instincts were screaming at me now, rising above the storm still raging outside like it just realised we were in danger and now plunging everything in me in panic mode.
I couldn’t wait on Thrax. He wouldn’t tell me the truth. Not now. Maybe not ever.
And if I was going to die in a land older than time, I at least deserved to know what the hell was going to kill me.
I turned back into my room, the floor creaking as I moved to the window. Pale light was beginning to stir across the horizon, the sky shedding its darkness, the force of the rain receding.
The hills that cradled The Crater stood far too innocent, like its messenger hadn’t just tried to force the breath from my lungs.
Why was it after me?
A dull pull stretched beneath my ribs, that strange ache clawing its way back stronger and deeper. It was the same pull that had drawn me to The Crater in the first place. A magnetic kind of wrong.
I slammed my fist against the glass, breathing unsteadily as rage prickled beneath my skin. What the actual fuck did it want from me? Why was it calling me? To what? My death?
I stood there, chest rising hard, eyes locked on the hills as though they might unhinge and spill the truth. I was so desperate for answers, I half-expected them to split open and vomit them.
Maybe…maybe I never came here by choice. Maybe this land called me long before I packed my damn bags.
And maybe I wouldn’t find the answers I came here to dig.
Maybe I was actually digging my grave instead.
Dance.
Twirl.
White.
Beats of song...no. Strings of harmony.
Twirl. Again. Again.
Flash of teeth. In smile.
What was this? What was I seeing?
Moving on the familiar feel of my bed, I anchored myself to the dream, knowing if I became any more aware of my surroundings, I’d wake up from my sleep.
I looked up, finding myself in a forest, hiding behind the bark of a tree as I stole a glance at the girl dancing in the clearing beyond, a kind of object on her head. Was that an apple? I couldn’t be sure. But she looked like she was trying to dance while balancing the object carefully on herself.
Her back was to me as she twirled, one hand raised in a delicate arc above her head, fingers soft and expressive, the other hand bentgently to her chest, as if shielding her heart. Her movements were slow and drawn-out, pulled by invisible strings of music that seemed to pour from the sky itself. The violin in the air was soothing, guiding her every motion.
The hem of her white gown swirled like mist around her bare ankles, weightlessly obeying the rhythm of the song. Long silver hair flowed behind her to the back of her knees, catching flecks of sunlight as it moved in harmony with the sweeping arcs of her body.
She wassograceful.
