My body thrashes against the stone as if I’ve fallen from my dream and my heavy lids open. The memory lingers, fading much quicker than before. I close my eyes as if I can hold on to the image that was so clear to me just moments ago.
Instead, all I can picture isher.
The little warrior that sits in the dungeon mere paces away.
Alora.
Audibly, I roll off the stone and ask, “What in the goddess’ name?”
I run my fingers through my hair and pull the loosened strands back into the tie at the base of my neck, keeping the locks from my face.
I glare at the moons, suddenly melancholic over the ruined memory.
There will be no rest tonight.
Chapter 9
Alora
“I’ll go prepare her. Let her know the time has come.” The muffled statement floats through the thick door, waking me from dreamless sleep.
I cried so hard until my weeping fell into silent sobs that racked my entire body until exhaustion caused me to slide to the floor. Which is now where I lay, peering under the smallest crack under the only exit.
The voice belongs to the man referred to as Rune. I slowly lift myself from the dank floor and place my ear closer to the timbers.
“No. It’ll be me.” This voice is smokier, heavier. The Devourer. “Let her walk through the heather one last time with something more in her heart than sadness.”
Sadness. It’s almost unfair how he can see through the fragile glass that walls off my soul. I’ve done everything I could to make it obscure, to hide away the curiosities that are hoarded behind the panes. How he could see so clearly when I’m made of nothing but stained glass, such things will remain unknown to me.
His voice, closer now continues, and if I could lean harder into the wooden barrier, I would.
“Grant her the right to walk with rage and vindictiveness. Let the ground be marked by her sacrifice.”
What would he know of sacrifice?Frustration builds in my veins and I push away from the door. I shift away but place my back against it, not willing to let the words escape me even though I should.
I knead my knuckles into my dry eyes in an attempt to wipe away any evidence of my tears.
I concentrate on the voice, clearer now as it approaches.
“Allow her dignity. At least let me give her this.” A slow exhale is audible as The Devourer finishes his request.
Silence ensues and I can’t imagine what is taking them so long to enter.
A sudden boom from the door slamming caused me to jolt, the anger from the action causing me to tense.
It’s mere moments before words, gravely and subdued, greet me. “Alora, it’s time.”
The low timbre has my skin pebbling.
“Let’s be done with it then.” I spit the words and shove past him. I don’t know where this corridor leads to, other than to the end of everything., but I still hold my spine straight.
I’ve thought of Hanin often since the last time The Devourer left. What if the promises of the veil are empty, and there’s no one or nothing for me?
Unexpectedly I ask him, “I wonder who waits for me on the other side? Who will be the first to look upon me as I enter through the veil?”
Silence. Maybe he isn’t used to his victims conversing with him, maybe he’s uncomfortable with this familiarity in which I speak to him. If so, good.
“I’m sure the goddess herself will be there to draw you into her embrace, to celebrate a beloved warrior coming home.”
