Page 320 of Blade of the Nightking

Not like this.

Please, no.

I was going to tell him. I⁠—

Invisible hands tore the awful secret from me, wrenching it free before I had the chance to speak it myself, offering it to Rìan against my will.

Last, the truth your heart would shield.

What lies within shall be revealed.

The third trial.

“No...”

The first image burst into existence.

A little boy.

Blood streams down the side of his face where half his ear has been torn away. Tears pour down his cheeks as he screams and screams and screams for his mother…

It shattered. Another vision took its place.

Neeken kneels beside a campfire, calmly skinning rabbits while Aedric sits nearby. Their laughter drifts through the trees.

Gone.

Neeken's body lies slumped over a fallen log, motionless. The white curve of his spine gleams through the ruin of his back. So still.

I couldn't breathe.

Levinica.

Her fingers dig into my arm, leaving crescent moons behind. Grief twists every line of her face.

I should have run to him. I should have told him. I should have saved her.

Levinica gives herself to the sea.

The waves swallow her, and she’s gone.

The final image dissolved.

The shadows tore free as suddenly as they'd come, ripping away into black ribbons before vanishing back into the Well.

CHAPTER 66

His fingers slipped from mine. Slowly, almost absently, he drew his hand away and took a single step backward.

"Rìan, I⁠—"

"You knew."

The words were barely audible. His eyes searched mine desperately, begging for some sign the magic had lied.

"Yes, but⁠—"

"You knew." Agony and betrayal flooded swiftly through our bond, feeding one another until they ignited into an incandescent fury. "You lied!"