Rocks and twigs sailed through the air, striking my exposed skin and tangling in the knots of my hair. Pain bloomed on my cheeks and temples as I was struck repeatedly, small gashes opening nearly everywhere.
My lungs constricted painfully as the agony in my legs returned once more. I cried out as my steps faltered, flinging me to the ground with a hardthumpthat was certain to leave bruises along my torso.
The wind roared overhead, growing louder as the vortex was finally unleashed, carving a path of pure elemental destruction through the Valley. I ducked, covering my head with my hands, and prayed for a miracle.
Just as my vision was clouded by whirling debris, I saw it—a small building made nearly entirely of stone that was remarkably still intact.
With a shout, I pushed my palms into the ground and propelled myself forward, dashing through the sailing debris and the gale that was intent on knocking me completely off course. My steps slowed as I fought the wind, walkingnearly diagonally as it pulled at my clothes and hair, nearly ripping my rippling tunic from my body.
Fay’s crystal bounced against my chest, and I covered it with my fist, refusing to sacrifice it to the storm.
Each step felt like it weighed a thousand pounds as I pushed onward, stumbling more than once over upturned rocks and, horrifically, a skull.
I closed my eyes against the onslaught and let out a relieved breath when my outstretched palm finally, blessedly, made contact with the solid stone.
Eyes watering both from the wind and in relief, I fell through the splintered wood that was once a door, kicking it shut behind me as the storm roared outside.
While the exposed squares that served as windows still allowed some of the wind into the structure, it was a significant improvement from the gale outside, and I stumbled once the force of the wind was no longer pushing against me.
With deep, heaving breaths, I fell back against the inside wall, slowly sinking to the earthen floor.
“Fuck,” I whispered rather eloquently, though there was really no other adequate descriptor.
I kept my fist firmly around the crystal on my neck and debated my next move.
With closed eyes and shaky exhales, I willed my magic to respond to my pleas, intent on destroying Solace’s tether and escaping this hellscape.
I growled in frustration when my magic refused to respond and hit the back of my head against the wall.
“Fuck,” I muttered again, this time rubbing a sore spot on my skull.
The wind still raged outside, tossing debris against the stone house periodically with thunderousthumpsthat made me jump. With my magic inaccessible and Solace at large, there was little else for me to do than sit and wait out the storm and pray for a miracle.
The Valley was eerily stillafter Solace’s vortex, the wind dying completely to leave my ears ringing without the constant roar. Confident the storm had run its course, I left the small hut, wincing at the squeak of wood in the quiet.
On I ran, even as Solace’s scream of frustration and desperation reached my ears, bouncing off the ruins.
I ducked and dodged, periodically climbing over nearly impassable walls of refuse in an attempt to escape Solace’s wrath.
Eventually, my breathing was so ragged, my heartbeat so erratic that I had to pause. Gasping, I flung myself against the last standing outer wall of what was once a small home. My back hit the scorched wood with a painfulthump, causing me to bite my tongue until the telltale taste of copper flooded my mouth.
I brought the fist clutching Solace’s tether to my mouth, pressing it against my lips in a desperate attempt to muffle my panted, whiny gasps. My other hand shakily pressed against my side, where debris from Solace’s windstorm found purchase in my flesh.
“Shit,” I whispered through gritted teeth as the shrapnel wiggled deeper into my side in response to my labored breathing. Blood sluiced between my fingers, hot and sticky as I put pressure on the wound.
“Where are you, godling?!” The booming sound of buildings splintering apart as their pieces rained against the ground nearly drowned out Solace’s earsplitting shriek. I winced as slivers of wood and pieces of stone bit at the exposed skin of my neck and hands.
“You cannot hide forever! Come out now, give me that tether, and I’ll make your death quick. Painless, even,” she hissed, her voice trembling with rage.
My heart beat wildly against my chest, the adrenaline rushing through my veins pushing me tomove.
But I couldn’t. Something anchored me in place, even as I cowered against the wall, flattening myself to avoid the near-constant barrage of dust and debris as Solace inched ever closer to my hiding place.
In mere moments, she would be upon me.
The ground seemed to vibrate with her every step, jostling my bruised and battered body, making sweat burst across my brow and down my back anew.
She was so close I could hear her feet crunching against bones and occasionally kicking stones out of her path.
