“Are you ready to meet your fate, Daughter of Death?”
The voice was the same as the one that had whispered the song in Viri’s ears, but a quick glance at Reeve indicated he could hear it this time, too.
“Get ready,” he warned, raising his blade.
Viri did the same with her daggers, knowing her fillium would be useless here. Any creature that could survive within the blackmist would have no ellixen left to drain. The wraith didn’t even appear to have a physical body now that it had discarded Jessy’s form, though Viri knew from the grimblade poison that it must be capable of bleeding, at least in theory.
Heart pounding, Viri grounded herself, part of her naivelyhoping the wraith might have no intention of attacking. She knew nothing of its nature—if she and Reeve didn’t strike first, it might very well leave them alone and go on its way.
Her hope dissolved, however, when it stopped gliding and suddenly flew at them, swiping its clawlike nails so fast that the air whistled. Viri ducked while Reeve jumped to the side and slashed forward with his sword, but his blade passed straight through the wraith’s center, its rags rustling as if touched by a breeze.
A dark laugh echoed around them.
“You’ll have to do better than that, Son of Shadows.”
Reeve slashed again, and this time Viri leapt in to help him, hurling one of her daggers at the wraith’s hooded head. The blade should have struck right between its scarlet eyes, but like Reeve’s sword, it just sailed through the creature’s intangible body.
Another dark laugh, and then the wraith stretched out its hand to point a taloned finger at Viri’s chest. Her breath was punched straight out of her lungs, leaving her gasping violently, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t suck in any air, her throat closing as she choked on nothing. She knew it wasn’t real, that it was some kind of mental wraith trick, but she had no defense against what she was feeling, and panic rose within her as she clawed at her neck.
She couldn’t breathe—
She couldn’t breathe—
A surge of ellixen from Reeve sent the wraith blasting backward across the clearing, its furious shriek echoing around them as it vanished through the distant trees. But Viri didn’t care about the spine-tingling sound, because suddenly she could inhale again. She coughed and spluttered, her lungs screaming with relief that bordered on pain.
Reeve was beside her in an instant, looking as panicked as she’d felt mere moments ago. “Are you hurt? What did it do toyou?”
“I’m all right,” she wheezed out around her panted breaths. “Did you kill it?”
He shook his head. “Wraiths can’t be killed. I just stunned it, but it’ll be back any second.” He held out his hand. “Can yourun?”
Before Viri could answer, the wraith reappeared through the trees, hurtling toward them like a raging shadow, its arms outstretched and scarlet eyes promising vengeance.
“Go!” Viri shouted, taking Reeve’s hand and sprinting into the wood. It was challenging to run while clinging to him, but she couldn’t risk moving too far away from the extra protection of his talisman, the mist returning in force as soon as they left the clearing.
On and on they ran, the wind whipping at their faces as they raced between trees and around boulders, leapt through creeks and over fallen logs, all while the wraith gave chase, screeching at a pitch that felt like daggers piercing Viri’s ears. At one point, the sound became so painful that blood trickled from her nose, prompting Reeve to throw his free hand back and send out another blast of ellixen. It gave them a momentary reprieve, but then the creature was soaring after them again, blending into the blackness of the mist and the swiftly approaching twilight. It felt as if it were everywhere and nowhere, around every corner and always at their heels.
“We—can’t—run—forever,” Viri panted as they bolted through the darkening forest, her lungs searing and muscles straining. It was a miracle neither of them had tripped onanything, almost as if the Mistwood sensed their plight and was trying to help.
“We just need to reach the wayportal,” Reeve said, breathing nearly as hard, his grip on her hand close to bruising.
Viri hoped he was right, that there reallywasa wayportal waiting just up ahead. It was almost impossible for her to read the map while sprinting at breakneck speed, let alone in the dimming light, but itlookedas if they were approaching the end of the magical line.
“We—should—be—nearly—” Viri stopped speaking when they burst through a thicket of leafy branches to find a small abandoned temple sitting in the middle of a pond covered in lily pads. The structure was ancient, made of pearlescent stone that shimmered with gold, appearing both welcoming and forbidding at the same time. There was no wayportal in sight, but Viri felt certain this was where the map had been leading them, and she bounded forward with Reeve, splashing through the pond and up the steps, only realizing when they reached the top that the wraith was no longer screeching—and no longer chasing them.
Viri tugged Reeve to a halt before he could keep running into the temple, both of them panting hard as they looked back to see the wraith hovering at the edge of the trees, its mouth open in the same horrific razor-toothed grin as earlier.
“Beware the wood. Beware the stone. Beware the beast. Who lost his throne,”the wraith sang, the unfamiliar verse echoing all around them.“Beware the lake. His sacred home. Beware the drop…Or die alone.”An ominous laugh.“Farewell, Daughter of Death and Son of Shadows. Unlike you, I dare not tread where I am not welcome.”
With that, the wraith offered one last nightmarish grin and floated back into the forest, disappearing from sight.
“Um…” Viri said, her heart racing from the run, but now also from the skin-crawling sensation caused by the wraith’s parting words.
“It’s probably just mind games,” Reeve said, though he looked as unnerved as she felt. He squeezed her hand in reassurance, his touch comforting her more than it should, prompting her to hastily untangle their fingers.
With a quick check of the map, Viri squinted through the growing dusk to confirm they were mere steps away from the end of the magical line. “It should be in here,” she said, pocketing the parchment and moving deeper into the temple. “Let’s look around for—”
A thunderous rumble interrupted her as the ground shifted around them, just like in the forest. Only, this time it wasn’t changing into something new, but crumbling away into nothing, leaving a chasm of darkness—
