My heart raced as silence echoed back at me.
It was like descending into the quickening all over again. One moment I was safely strapped into the saddle, and the next I was on the ground and seemingly alone. I, at least, held onto my memories of who I was in this warped reality.
It felt like hours had passed since I was separated from Theo and Kaida, yet determination filled my steps, carrying me onward. I wouldn’t give up on finding them. We’d all known that we were descending into the unknown when choosing to come here, but I was positive that none of us thought the chaos would start this quickly.
With a hand on the hilt of my sword, I trudged on, continuing to call out their names in a desperate attempt to find them. But all I heard was the howling wind that blew the thick mist around my body, pressing against me like unwelcomed incorporeal hands. My heavy breaths puffed through my nose and over my lips, dissipating the heavy mist only for it to move back in seconds later.
It was eerie, the way there were no sounds or signs of life anywhere. All that met my eyes was mist swirling so thickly around me that I could barely see my hand when I raised in front of me, bracing myself for a jolt if I were to run into something I could see coming. Even glancing down, I could barely see the ground beneath my feet, dead vegetation appearing and disappearing again with each step I took.
A familiar voice cut through the air so suddenly I let out a startled gasp and jumped back, eyes darting around as my heart beat wildly.
“Welcome, Siyana. I’ve been waiting for you.”
A chill crawled down my spine, pulling an involuntary shudder from me. No. It couldn’t be.Could it?
Dread filled my stomach like a heavy iron weight, dragging my stomach down until it felt like it touched my feet. Flipping it violently, until I felt like I might vomit. We’d talked of the quickening we’d experienced somehow occurring within a premonition from Kaida, and Theo had even linked it to the possibility of it being in the lands of Sanctum. The fear that the possibility of what happened in the quickening becoming reality had been palpable, driving me to the point of denial.
I spun around, my body coiling with tension as I braced for the worst. Instinctively, my hand tightened on my hilt, ready to wield the sword. “Who are you, and what do you want?”
My body tensed in anticipation as I strained to hear the sound of steps, waiting for the disembodied voice to tell me to choose who died, either myself or my dragon. I knew how this would go, yet this time I wasn’t going to offer myself up. I refused to accept that either myself or Kaida must die. Perhaps it was foolish of me to hold on to that belief, but I couldn’t allow myself to fall into a pattern of fatalistic thoughts. Still, I waited for the voice, dread wrapping around me like a vice.
Yet it didn’t come.
“It matters not what I want, yet I do know whatyouwant, mortal. To find your missing companions. To seek answers I don’t believe you are ready to hear.” He spoke in a voice that echoed with the faintest noise–something that whispered of the rushing rivers running throughout Andrathya, carrying fish from the ocean and through our lands.
Suddenly, the mist began to swirl a few feet in front of me, slowly spiraling into the shape of a person, not entirely corporeal, but seemingly made up of water and ice. Slowly, facial features and appendages became more clear. His eyes were like frozen sapphires, glistening with unspoken power, and his body seemed to shift and swirl like a blizzard in motion.
The undine elemental god. It had to be. There was no other explanation for what I was seeing.
My throat tightened as I tried to speak, but my words came out as a mere stammer. “Did you…did you take them?”
I could feel the weight of his gaze upon me, and I couldn't help the tremble that ran through me in fear. But still, I forced myself to stand tall before the enigmatic deity.
"I have been watching you," he admitted, disregarding my question and startling me simultaneously. "You have defied the odds set by the curse of a powerful witch–the very same curse that shrouds the lands of Andrathya. You’ve drawn closer to the dragons with each step you’ve taken. I must admit, you have impressed me, human."
Despite my overwhelming fear, I couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope at his words. But then the reality of my situation hit me once again. If he didn’t have Kaida and Theo, he needed to let me be, so I could find who did.
"Where are they?" I demanded, my voice shaking with both anxiety and determination.
The elemental god tilted his head, strands of mist curling around him like serpents as he regarded me. “You are just asstrong-willed in person as I was hoping. It will serve you and your companions well. Perhaps it will even save their lives.”
There it was. He knew where they were and that danger would befall them.
"Please, don't hurt them," I pleaded, barely above a whisper.
I wasn’t above begging a god for mercy, but I also wasn’t above trying to kill one, either.
"The path ahead is treacherous," he warned as his body began to dissipate, swirling around me in a burst of flurries. I spun on my heel, following his energy before it returned to his previous form again. "But if your heart is pure and your intentions true, you may yet find what you seek."
The gravity of his words settled heavily on my shoulders as I prepared to face whatever challenges lay ahead. I had to, for Kaida and Theo. I wouldn’t allow myself to be a useless human, waiting for one of them to find and save me.
“Follow the path if you have the courage.”
A soft light began to glow throughout the mist that obscured my boots. Curiosity overtook fear as I knelt down to inspect it. As soon as I touched the pulsating energy, a surge of power coursed through me. But just as quickly, a burning pain spread through my fingers and I jerked my hand back as a mocking laugh filled the air.
“Silly girl,” the undine god taunted, the voice suddenly feeling like it was at my back. I jumped to my feet as they continued, whispering directly into my ear, “You think you can tap into the ley line directly? You're not a witch or a dragon–you weren't meant to wield that kind of power.”
“How do you know I’m not a witch?” I questioned, genuinely curious if any still existed, seeing as Theo never mentioned catching the one who laid this curse to begin with. “Can you tell me, are they all dead?”
