‘Just do it, Kyor. I’m not losing them too.’
He turns back. Silver crackles of lightning appear between his fingers and a cloud darkens over the shore. A split second later, the light shoots from his hands, bounces off the cloud, and crashes downwards, striking the ground between Benny and Odetta. It’s a testament to Benny’s powers that he was able to leap away before it struck, but Odetta wasn’t so lucky. She sprawls backward, giving Benny and Jonas a chance to grab the boat. By the time Odetta has gathered herself enough to start hurling flames at them, the boys are already on the water.
Relief rolls through me. I get what Kyor meant about Etta seeing themas worthy, but we’ve all needed help at some point or another in the Retterheld. I know I certainly wouldn’t be here without their support.
But I’m not going to dwell. The boys are alive, and they’ve got a boat. That’s what matters. I refocus on the view in front of me. As far as I can see, there is nothing. Nothing but the sea. Still. Quiet. Maybe itisas simple as crossing the channel.
But then, as the water brushes against the hull and spills over my legs, a feeling ripples through my stomach, a twisting that grips the very core of my soul. It is pure, tortured agony. My breath hitches for a moment, but then the pain is gone and it’s like I’m not even in my body. I’m above it. Seeing the water. Seeing our boat. Seeing Jonas and Benny rowing towards us as we sit there drifting. What in the Gods’ names is going on? Is this part of the trial? Have the priestesses somehow used their magic to pull me from my body? I didn’t even know that was possible. How the fuck do I get back?
‘Rose!’ The boat surges and Kyor slams into me, and just like that, I’m back in my body. Whatever that aberration was, it’s passed. So does that mean it was part of the trial or not? Only as Kyor reaches out over the side of the boat do I realise I’ve dropped one of my oars in the water.
‘What? What happened?’ My voice cracks.
‘I was about to ask you the same, Thorn. Are you okay? You just stopped rowing and let go of the oar,’ he says, handing it back to me.
‘Did I?’ I can’t remember that. I can remember being above it all. And before that all I can remember is pain and the fierce anguish that filled me when the water struck my legs.
My chest pounds as I twist around to look at Kyor, already aware of how insane I’m about to sound. But if that wasn’t the priestesses’ doing, then there’s only one explanation. Somehow, there’s still magic running through me.
‘I felt something,’ I tell him. ‘I felt something in the water.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’m not sure.’
I put the oar back in the rowlock and lean over the side.
‘Rose, what are you doing!’
‘Just let me do this.’
He quiets as I lower my hand into the water.
A moment later, the pain tears through me and I scream out in agony.
‘Rose!’
I rip my hand out of the sea and the feeling is instantly gone. That presence. That pain. Vanished.
There is something in there. Something in pain. Something strong.
Kyor stares at me, then glances at the water.
‘Don’t touch it. Don’t,’ I plead with him. ‘It’s … it’s horrible.’
He ignores me, just the way I knew he was going to. ‘I just want to see, that’s all.’
Fixing his own oar, he dips his hand into the sea. His brows knit together as he pushes his arm in deeper.
‘I can’t feel anything,’ he says.
‘Really?’ I breathe. ‘It was in so much pain. Like it was trapped. Like it shouldn’t be here.’
He watches me carefully, but I suspect he’s thinking exactly the same as I am. It’s just a case of who has the guts to voice it first. In the end, it’s me.
‘Do you think this has something to do with the ice? With what happened before?’
‘I don’t know,’ he says. ‘But I’m starting to hope it might.’
