Page 50 of Burn of the Everflame

“One possible future. That’s why we came. There is so much at stake.”

A loud groaning sound roared through the air. The shimmering veil surged past the island’s borders, nearing the Temple as the Kindred’s silhouettes began to waver.

“We’re running out of time,” Sophos yelled. “Put your hand on the heartstone. Whatever you do, don’t let go.”

I froze, unable to think beyond the terrible future I’d just seen. Lumnos grabbed my arm and raised it, but stopped short of the heartstone. “I cannot make you do this. It must be a willing choice, and you must make it now.”

I took a deep breath and pressed my palm to the stone.

First came the magic.

It had always been there, blanketing the soil, the sea, the air, but I’d only ever felt it through the Forging magic of my realms. With my hand on the heartstone, I could see it, right down to its individual glittering threads.

The beauty of it stole the air from my lungs. The wondrous connection of it all, the way a million tiny strings, each one vibrating a resolute pulse, wove over and under and through into an intricate tapestry. It was a dangerous, delicate thing—instinctively, I knew that a single thread tugged too hard or left too loose might make the whole thing unravel. Yet there was a pattern to its weave, a way to sew new strings of magic into the world. And just when I felt on the precipice of understanding . . .

Then came the pain.

Unbearable, excruciating, soul-searing pain.

A scream tore out of me, though it felt more like my brain trying to smash its way out of my skull. The heartstone blazed as hot as fire, and everywhere I touched it, my flesh blistered and peeled.

“Don’t let go,” a voice called out over my screams. “When the veil takes us back, it could take you with us. You need the heartstone to anchor you here.”

“I can’t,” I cried. “It’s too much!”

Another voice, close to my ear: “He needs you. Think of him, and be strong.”

The pressure on my head forced me to my knees, leaving me certain my skull would cave in from the weight. My fingernails screeched across the heartstone’s glossy surface as I fought to keep hold.

The veil shrank closer, feet from the Temple’s edge. Warm liquid trickled down my arms, and when I forced myself to look, I saw my dark ruby blood smeared across the heartstone’s surface.

“The barriers on the island,” someone yelled. “Tear them down. We’ll help you, but you must hurry.”

I looked around in a frantic search. The currents that flowed from the heartstone seemed infinite. Finding the one the Crowns had used to imprison me here could take a lifetime.

“Don’t look with your eyes,” another voice urged. “Use the heartstone to guide you.”

I let my eyelids close and focused on the stone beneath my palm. In the darkness of my mind, nine points of glowing light appeared. They floated in a line, beckoning me forward until a wall rose before me. I gazed up at its towering height and infinite stretch, and I pressed my palm to its bricks—the same hand clutching the heartstone.

Free me, I spoke into the ether. Tear down this wall, and let it never rise again. Let this island be open to all who wish to come.

Heat intensified beneath my touch. My blood felt as if it was boiling under my skin. I ground my jaws against the pain, fighting the instinct to pull away. A web of cracks splintered from my hand, and hunks of stone began to fall.

“Don’t let go,” a voice reminded me. “Whatever happens, Diem, do not let go.”

Crumbling bricks rained down on me, and though I knew it was all in my mind, the pain was very, very real. The sizzling burn of the heartstone, the crush of being buried alive under debris. The world gave another groan, and I felt the pull into the beyond, tugging so hard it might rip me in half. Everything was chaos, and everything hurt.

I held fast to the heartstone, and I screamed. My throat was raw and bleeding when the feeling of warmth began to swirl away, like a door left ajar on a cold winter’s day. I forced my eyes open to see the Kindred stepping backward toward their arches.

“Wait,” I pleaded. “You haven’t told me what to do.”

“We’ve told you what we can,” Sophos said.

“The only thing you’ve given me are stories and riddles. I need answers.”

“If we reveal too much, the fates will shift—and when they do, it is never for the better.” His voice faded with his silhouette. “You have the clues you need. You must be brave enough to look, and braver still to see the answer.”

Darkness closed in at the corners of my vision. My body collapsed against the pedestal, my fingers barely touching the heartstone’s rough edge. My words slurred with labored breaths. “What . . . what if I can’t . . . change him? How do I kill . . .”