Even though I felt like I was slowly dying from the outside in, I was alive for the first time in a long time. I felt like myself again. My thoughts were rushing back to me as strong as the Adrian tides during a storm, and I didn’t have to push them down. I didn’t have to make myself numb. I could feel—even if all I felt was exhaustion and pain—it was still liberating to own it, to not have to hide.
I kept staring at my boots, watching as the tips blended in with the dark sand and wondered how long I had before it would burn through to my feet.
I thought I would love the absence of fog, but it made me feel exposed and vulnerable, knowing that anyone could see me coming. In Moriann, I used it to my advantage. I hid in it. Ibecameit.
But now it was all open, and my mind kept wondering how long it would take for someone to find me if I toppled over and died.
I knew my answer though. No one from Viven would find me because there was one monster who would first.
Dahes was waiting.
My skin was crawlingby the time I made it into the Valdern Forest. I kept wondering if that was it. I climbed the Senith, crossed the Sands, and was almost at the point of passing out because of it. I knew Dahes said I’d be a damsel, but this didn’t feel like a rescue, it felt like I was being hunted.
Genuine fear was working its way through me as night fell. The woods were massive, and I had no idea which direction to go. I wasn’t even sure if I should keep walking. Criminal drop offs weren’t until high noon.
It meant I had to survive the night. The dense canopy darkened as the suns set, making it impossible to see anything.
I should stop—I should find a place to sleep and wait out the darkness.
By the time I found a fallen tree pressed against a boulder, I was full on panicking. I wedged myself in between the two, unsure if this was the most stupid thing I had ever done in my life.
At least I had coverage. I wasn’t out in the open, but if Dahes sent a monster in here after me, most of them didn’t need to see to hunt for their prey.
Shit. Stop thinking about it, Magnolia. You aren’t dying tonight.
Half the time, I was surprised I hadn’t already gotten myself killed. With all the hunts he sent me on, most put me in close calls. Especially in the beginning, before he trained me.
Now I was alone. Blood was rushing to my head and my heart was beating too fast as the darkness kept consuming more and more of my vision.
I thought Moriann was supposed to be the kingdom covered inshadows. But the trees were so dense that they blocked the view of the six colored moons.
I clutched the dagger in my hand, trying not to think about the fact that the tip was dull from constantly stabbing it into the cliffs.
With Dahes out of my head, everything felt empty. No one was around. No one was going to save me. And my brain couldn’t stop imagining all the monsters and beasts I’d seen in my seven years with Dahes, wondering which one would be hunting me.
Chapter Nine
Damsel
MAGNOLIA
The instant the suns rose, I started moving. I barely slept last night. Just moments of intermittently caving to exhaustion in between noises jolting me awake.
It didn’t matter that Dahes healed me before coming here, I’d never felt so weak. Every step ached as I was forced to put pressure on my burned feet. I abandoned my boots a few hours ago—the soles had burned down to nothing, and it was only causing me to trip as they snagged on roots and bushes and anything else that covered the forest floor.
My arms still throbbed from the strain of pulling myself up the cliffs, and every part of my body felt heavy from trekking through the sand.
To make matters worse, the woods were unbearably hot. The moment the suns replaced the six moons, a sticky humidity filled the forest, the thick canopy trapping the heat below.
After studying the map, I knew I had to be near Lake Inyaer. It was the only body of water between the two kingdoms, and I could hearthe water sloshing against the bank, I just couldn’t see it.
It was throwing me off.
The Valdern stretched for miles. I knew from the map how expansiveit was, but I wasn’t prepared for it to feel like I was walking in circles.
A continuous hum was deafening my ears, and I knew it was the Inyaer waterfall. It was supposed to be north of Inyaerille—the Fourth Province—and the largest on the continent.
My heart was pounding, mixing with the sound of the rushing water as I spun in a circle, trying to get my bearings.
