Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 42412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
I took a step back.
“Come,” the young boy said. “Your favorite flowers are here.”
Tension poured into Kolis as he stiffened. The corners of his mouth tightened as the boy looked up. He noticed Kolis. Then stumbled to a stop. The halting movement caused the girl to lift her head. Her face was heart-shaped and freckled. And the children’s eyes—their green eyes—widened.
Kolis held up his hand, not in a gesture of greeting, but as if he were surrendering. “It’s okay,” he said. “I am not here for you.” His voice was gentle, sounding like a plea for them to understand. “Either of you.”
His words hung in the air as the two children remained silent. And Kolis…gods, there was no mistaking the hope etching itself into his features, replacing the fear. A smile started to appear—
Shrill screams tore from the little girl’s throat, making me flinch. The boy turned sharply and bent, hauling the girl into his arms as the basket fell to the ground. She buried her face in the boy’s neck, her little legs and arms wrapping around him as he took off, running as fast as his small feet could carry them.
It was not a smooth escape.
The boy stumbled over the uneven ground littered with twigs and stones. My heart lurched as his bony knees buckled and scraped against the rough earth. Both Kolis and I started toward them and then stopped as the boy shot to his feet and kept running, disappearing behind several larger rocks.
Kolis had grown incredibly still—I didn’t think he even took a breath. And he remained there for several moments. Then, his shoulders slumped ever so slightly, as a weariness settled over him, making him seem older than his years.
How many times had that happened?
Based on the weight he seemed to carry now, I imagined too many to count.
With a heavy sigh, he turned from where the fleeing children had disappeared and slowly started toward the forest. My head cocked, picking up on the faint sound of a haunting melody. As my vision blurred a little, I realized he was humming under his breath.
A hush fell over the forest as he passed the first pine. Suddenly, branches rattled as birds took flight, their wings beating against the air. They flew in a frenzy as if chased by a predator, quickly becoming nothing more than specks on the horizon.
The silence returned as though nature itself held its breath, until a sudden, frantic movement caught my eye. The forest came alive with panicked wildlife. Deer, their elegant bodies tense with alarm, bounded through the underbrush, their white tails flashing as they spilled out of the trees. Rabbits darted across the forest floor in haphazard zigzags, followed by smaller critters. Even the insects rushed from the forest, the air thick with the buzz of their flight.
A cold knot lodged in my chest as I blinked back tears. My eyes were damp. Shaking my head, I wiped under them with quick, harsh movements. I couldn’t believe that I would feel not just pity, but empathy for Kolis. But I did.
I wasn’t sure what that made me, as my attention fell on the girl’s forgotten basket. It lay on its side, spilling blue and pink wildflowers. The prickling sensation returned, crawling up the nape of my neck. My gaze crept over the poppies as I slowly turned back to the cliff. My mind flashed to the small boy and girl. Their hair. The boy’s words, and her freckles. That basket. This place. The strange familiarity despite it appearing as if it had been conjured from a time long before mine—long before this version of me.
My heart started pounding as I swallowed.
I knew where I was, and I had a sinking feeling that I had been here before it became known as the Cliffs of Sorrow. And I had seen them. My chest squeezed. Sotoria. Callum.
I no longer wanted to be here. The beauty was gone, now painted with sorrow, loneliness, and the inevitability of death.
I needed to wake up.
I squeezed my eyes shut. The coldness in my chest began to spread, unfurling through my limbs.
Wake up.
Wake up—
“The one thing that Death always wanted…” A voice low and tinged with grief spoke from behind me.
Eyes snapping open, I started to turn but stopped when I realized that there was nothing where the forest had once been. Nothing but darkness. I took a shaky step back.
“Was to not be feared,” the voice said.
A tremor ran through me, and I finally moved, spinning on my heel.
Eythos stood there.
And he had changed.
He still looked ageless, but the youth was now gone from his features. His hair was longer, and his silver eyes were shadowed. Even his voice was different—deeper, heavier.
Eythos’s gaze was fixed on the unrelenting darkness. The look on his face mirrored that of his brother’s: full of anguish and longing. My heart thudded heavily as I saw that shadows had erased the village and were slowly creeping up the hill, the thick tendrils swirling over the wild lilacs and yarrow, snuffing out their life.