Her attention moved on, flitting to Neil's face and the conviction that lay there. He had won, and he knew it.
Eva inhaled, shutting her eyes and blocking out everything around her. She threw her senses wide.
A lake unlike the one they stood in appeared in front of her, its surface glassy and calm. A patch of darkness loomed over the lake's surface, threatening to engulf her in its depths.
Eva ignored it, concentrating on the light right in front of her. Phillip's presence unfurled; his soul untainted. Not even the smallest of specks of darkness present.
Her eyes opened. She knew what she had to do. A part of her had always known. She'd simply been too afraid of what she might become to accept it.
Feeling as if she was standing outside of herself, Eva threw the spherical ring into the air before her face.
She blinked, the movement seeming to happen at a crawl. Once. Then twice.
A door opened deep in her soul. Out of it boiled mist.
The sphere caught the mist, almost as if it was channeling it from that imaginary place into the real world.
Eva reached for Phillip's hand as her gaze lifted one last time to Neil's.
There was an avid look on his face that made Eva's blood run cold. His lips curved up right as a bank of the mist swept in front of her.
Time stuttered, then stopped as the mist enveloped them.
Phillip's breathing was the only sound in the silence. Slightly fast as he faced a phenomenon the Trateri had learned to respect.
In the distance, there was a disturbance in the mist as it sent ripples spreading outward.
Eva steeled herself as the mist receded, leaving them standing in the bowl Sebastian had brought her to a few days earlier.
Phillip let go of Eva, turning in a circle. "Where are we? What just happened?"
Eva's gaze was calm as she watched him. "This is the Kyren's home."
One of them at least.
Phillip's eyes were wide when he finally looked back at her. "Are you telling me you brought me to the Kyren's herd lands?"
Eva inclined her chin.
A sound had the two of them looking up as Orion walked toward her, his eyes containing a knowledge Eva was only now touching upon.
Caller.
Eva bowed her head. "Herd Lord."
You found your way.
"Yes." But now Eva almost wished she hadn't.
She could feel the Whisperer nearing. His presence growing large in her mind as he followed their path through the mist.
She'd led the creature to the very mythologicals she'd hoped to protect.
Orion's gaze followed hers to the seething mass of mist behind her.Your task isn't done.
"I know."
She needed to destroy the creature. End it so this couldn't happen again. The only problem was that Eva was at a loss on how to make that happen.
