I was mesmerized.
Floaty.
Both pulses intensified with every heavy step.
An extreme sense of loneliness washed over me, not my own but someone else’s. The longing flooding me in response was all mine—so entirely, I lurched forward, my feet moving of their own volition, and suddenly, the lamp was in my hands.
The smooth metal was surprisingly warm against my skin. The ringing in my ears hit a fever pitch, and the throbbing in my veins reached a crescendo.
Then everything went black.
Chapter 10
Two young boys ran before me, laughing in a sunlit field. I blinked and they were gone, replaced by a young horse prancing around me in elegant circles. Another blink and I stared at hands wrapped in strange tendrils of shimmering smoke.Blink.I stood on the edge of a familiar field, horses snorting softly as they pawed at the dirt.Blink.Howling winds whipped around me, and I stared at the ground miles below.
Blink.
The earth cracked open before me.
Blink.
Black emptiness.
All alone.
I woke with a start, everything I had seen blurring until it faded completely, the details of what I’d experienced disappearing.
Loneliness consumed me. I understood the hollow ache in my gut but had never felt it so strongly before now. The emotion wasn’t mine at all, yet it screamed through my entire being.
I lay on cool stone, a light sheen of sweat covered my entire body, making me shiver. The ringing in my ears and throbbing in my blood had ceased, replaced by a vibration in my hands.
The lamp. It came from the lamp.
Like a heartbeat, only faster.
I had to get out.
The impulse washed over me with sudden intensity. I struggled to get up, my feet tangling in my stupid skirts. Why had I not worn pants? When I finally freed them, I stood on wobbly legs.
In my haste to grab the lamp, I had dropped the torch, so it burned down to an ember a few feet away. I reluctantly released one hand from the warm metal to collect it, lightly blowing on the end to restart the flame.
Then I climbed back down the pillar steps.
When I first reached the top of the pillar, I was close to exhaustion, now I was strangely reenergized and moved faster than I thought possible, given the fatigue of my limbs. An impulse pounding through my body urged me to leave this place. I leaped down several steps at a time, rushing to the cavern below.
I needed to get out.
In no time at all, I was jumping off the fifth step from the bottom. I landed unsteadily but still managed to keep my feet as I burst onward to the steps leading out. The urge to leave this place consumed me. My mind, my body, everything focused on that one inexplicable need.
Get out.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins, fueling me to go faster.
Get out.
The torch slipped from the hands. I didn’t dare stop to retrieve it.
Get. Out.
