Die, die, die.
There was another bolt of lightning, this time jackknifing right for her heart—too quick for her to move away.
Light burst from the watch at her neck, cutting the impending darkness of the forest, keeping the lightning and auditory assault at bay. Vi stumbled backward, fell, scrambled back to her feet. She panted, breathless. But the only sounds in her ears now were that of her frantically beating heart, and every labored breath as she turned and broke into an all-out run.
Chapter Five
“Taavin… Taavin!”Vi pushed herself through the entrance of the cave, not caring for every rough bit of rock that dug into her curves. It barely registered as pain—barely registered at all. “Taavin,” she repeated again as she gasped for air. As though his name was the only thing she could manage.
“Vi, what is it?” Through the pain, he forced himself more upright. Distress, but not for his own state, written across his features. “Are you all right? What’s happened?”
Vi shook her head. The one voice, that terrible, earth-shattering voice demanding her death still lived in her ears. If she opened her mouth, it may come from her lips. That was how deep it now ran in her.
“It’s clearly something.” Taavin’s voice had gone stern. “Don’t shut me out.”
She shook her head again, trying to focus on breathing. Trying to dig her nails into the rough wall behind her to keep her focus grounded in the here and now. She needed something stable. But the whole world felt like it could crumble at once.
“Vi—” A small yelp of pain broke through, yanking her back to the present. Taavin was rolled on his side on the ground, his elbow supporting him. Yet even now, he struggled to get back up.
“Don’t.” She stopped him with a word. “Don’t get up again, you’ll just hurt yourself.” Vi sank down the wall slowly, crouching on the balls of her feet, knees to her chest and arms around her legs.
“Tell me.” He reached out with the hand that wasn’t supporting him, fumbling until he caught her fingers. “Did you run into a morphi?”
She shook her head no.
“The Swords of Light?”
“No.”
“What, then?”
Vi stared at him. Her eyes felt dry, as though they’d been held open too wide for too long. She made an effort to blink them. Somehow, even that hurt. The same sensation she’d had when she’d woken returned: her body was not her own.
“I don’t know what it was,” she confessed. “There was red lightning around a fallen tree and—”
“Red lightning around atree?” Taavin finally seated himself once more, no longer leaned over on his elbow.
“More like… inside the tree. Maybe it was struck during the storm last night? There was a tree that had fallen, and it looked odd. When I got closer, I could see red lightning jumping between its shattered trunk and itreeked. Taavin, it smelled of death.”
His expression darkened. “What else happened?”
“How do you know something else happened?” Vi whispered.
“Because you aren’t a woman reduced to shaking by a tree that smells of death and has red lightning… however darkly unnatural it may be.”
Vi balled her hands into fists, willing her arms to stop trembling. He was right. She wasn’t someone who quaked in fear. She swallowed hard, continuing when her voice was more level.
“The air above seemed… alive. Like it was writhing and ripping. Through it, I saw a city of darkness. Then, a bolt of lightning hit me and…noise. Terrible noise.” Vi’s hands slowly worked their way back up to her ears, as if she still needed to block out the wretched sounds. “Screaming, crying, talking, a thousand people—a whole world of people—all at once.”
She couldn’t put into words the sensation. She’d known the sound of every voice, as though she’d heard them with her own ears earlier in her life. Yet the words were muffled and unfamiliar.
“Is that all?” He pushed himself forward, sliding along the floor, reaching for her. This time, Vi extended a hand, allowing their fingers to knot together tightly.
This was real, she reminded herself. Taavin was real, and good, and safe, and that… what she had seen in the forest had been… had been…
“It was Raspian,” Vi uttered so softly she couldn’t be certain she’d spoken at all. “Above it all, I heard him, calling for my death.” Taavin’s fingers tightened around hers. “He’s getting stronger, isn’t he?” Taavin gave a small nod. “I saw the land of the elfin’ra, I heard their voices. He’s rallying them.”
“I’m not sure about that.”
