Alone in the darkness.
Crossing the stars-damned Rift . . .alone.
And with that thought, I began to free fall, my wings flapped wildly around me, and a haunting shriek left my lips. I was spiraling out of control, my body weightless as I felt the darkness closing in on me from all sides.
I swear I felt a chilled hand reach out, failing to grasp hold of me as I spun into the cavernous abyss of darkness.
A shrill shriek sounded from my left. A returning call sounding to my right—No . . . below me? Above me? The world tilted on its axis as I struggled to hold my wings steady, the air spinning around them.
I tried to right myself, struggling to control my wings as I fell downward in a spiral, when I felt a warm pulsing feeling coming from the mark on my wrist.
My starbound mark.
Callum’s words rang through my head as I spun out of control.
“And when I’m lost to the darkness?” The words came softly from my lips as I sat on my couch beside him.
A soft, dimpled smile crept over his lips. “Even then, I will always help you find the starlight.”
“Follow the light.”
I opened my eyes, finally gaining control of my wings and halting my fall. Every muscle in my back screamed in tortured agony as the muscles in my wings pulled with enough force to halt my unending fall into the depths of despair. I took a moment, holding myself in place as I attempted to block out my surroundings.
I could feel the cool air wrap around my limbs, the fog growing thicker as I struggled to breathe. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face, and the darkness became an overwhelming force as my breath became a rapid stutter. I continued flapping my wings, hovering in place as I sought to calm myself.
In.
One.
Two.
Three—
A horrifying scream pierced the air—the noise echoing through the abyss—and a full-body shudder shook through me.
Four.
Out.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
I let out the breath.
Get it together, Rae. Otherwise, you’ll be another corpse at the bottom of this abyss, and that is not going to be your fate.
I tuned out the eerie shrieks that filled The Rift, shutting out the fact that I had just free-fallen down the largest divide in Aurelia. That I was shrouded in darkness, shivering and alone.
I searched for the glowing light—the light Callum said I’d find.
I prayed to the Eternal, searching for the light . . . for any small glimmer of hope in the darkness that shrouded me.
And when I finally found that small golden glow, visible in the darkness, I began to follow after it, flapping my wings in a rhythmic beat as I flew toward the light shining bright in the darkness. I blocked out everything around me, telling myself I was okay; I just had to make it to the glowing ball of gold on the horizon. That once this was done, I would never have to do it again. I just needed to keep pushing.
