Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 153795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 769(@200wpm)___ 615(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 769(@200wpm)___ 615(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
My homeland—Ember Coast—was attacked by Ruvainers. We were victims of their madness, abuse, and anger. We only escaped because there was someone out there willing to help us.
I was lucky to find a new home in Meriva, despite being a refugee child. Not everyone gets that chance—especially innocent Ruvainers like Dulan. It will only take a few seconds to grab him and get back on the middle path. Only a few.
As my thoughts race, I feel a clench in my stomach. Something changes. I can feel it. It tugs at every sense and nerve, luring me toward the path to the right, sucking me in like a vortex. There is no resisting it.
Save him. You have to at least try. The whispers enter my mind and tickle my brain.
Before I know it, I’m running toward Dulan.
Thane shouts my name as he chases after me. I run faster.
“Zaira, stop!” he shouts.
The warm light burns brighter, and the silhouette grows in size. Dulan’s pleading voice becomes closer. I hear water sloshing and gurgling in the distance. The scent of wet wood along with a rancid smell is strong enough to make me gag, but still, I don’t stop.
Actually, no. I can’t stop. Not until I realize Dulan’s silhouette isn’t forming into a person. It remains as just that. A dark figment of him. A shadow.
Something isn’t right.
And then I wonder…
If Dulan escaped, why would he be here? Why would he not stop somewhere closer and ask for help? Why…
As the questions plague me, I come to an abrupt halt several feet away from the shadow as Thane rushes around to face me. “It isn’t real, Zaira!” He points sternly toward the silhouette behind him. “It’s a trick of the mind! Delchester Forest is notorious for it! It preys on the vulnerable so the creatures living here stay fed. It steals your thoughts, your worries, your fears, and turns them into something it can use to consume you!”
“But I—I swear I thought it was him.” I can still feel that heaviness in my stomach, the words echoing in my brain to come closer, to save him. Something is continuously urging me forward, demanding that I keep moving. “I don’t know what’s happening, Thane. I’m sorry. It’s like…like I can’t control my body.”
Help your friend. It’s the right thing to do. Just take a few more steps. A few more steps, it repeats.
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying my hardest to ignore the voice, but my feet move anyway. One step followed by another.
Thane presses a firm hand to my chest to keep me still. “What do you mean you can’t control your body?” His voice is laced with confusion.
I hear footsteps behind me and open my eyes again as Rynthea and Algar approach. They left Zephra and Pearl where it was safe. “We need to get back on the middle path right now.” Rynthea glares at both of us, clearly irritated.
“Zaira, let’s go.” Thane wraps a large hand around mine. It’s the first time he’s touched my hand and held it in a protective way. I look up with a quickening heartbeat, wanting to see if he’s aware of it, too, but I gasp instead because the shadow is closer to us now. My heart booms as the silhouette grows larger, larger, until it towers right behind Thane.
“Thane, look out!” Algar crows.
But it’s too late.
The shadow forms into something else entirely, and the glow of the light fades, wrapping us in thick, foggy darkness.
Releasing my hand and turning, Thane swings his sword, but the shadow rapidly descends to the ground and fastens around his ankle. That’s when I realize it isn’t a shadow at all but a tentacle—slimy, gray, and barnacled.
“Fuck,” Thane mutters as he looks down, as if he half expected this to happen.
With a yank from the tentacle, Thane falls to his stomach. And in the blink of an eye, he’s dragged away, disappearing into the darkness.
Chapter 19
“Thane!” I scream.
“No!” Algar roars.
“Zaira! Get back!” Rynthea grabs my arm and tugs me aside just as another tentacle comes flying out of the darkness. She cuts it in half with her scythesword before locking eyes on Algar. “Take her and hide!” She stomps past us and runs into the fog after Thane.
Algar catches my wrist and runs, guiding us between a thick cluster of trees and boulders. He aims for the middle path where Pearl and Zephra are, but something slams into the tree in front of us. I scream, and Algar ducks as another tentacle blocks our way.
“This way!” Algar releases me, running in the opposite direction. The ground starts to turn to mush beneath my feet the farther we run. When we reach a large boulder, Algar tugs me aside so we can hide behind it.
“What the shadows is that thing?” My breaths come out swift and heavy as my heart hammers against my rib cage.