Page 103 of Memory of Ashes

“And if it’s caught?”

“It will be caught,” he said quietly, his pale eyes boring into her. “The soul is torn apart, and a new creature is created from the remains.”

Amelia shuddered. She wasn’t sure if he believed this himself, but the way he was retelling this lore scared her.

“I’ve never been a religious man, but I do believe in the energy of the world. We are all made of energy, the same energy that is in that mineral and protects the world. It doesn’t just disappear. You have to read between the lines of the holy lore.”

The ground shook.

The army halted.

“What was that?” Danae asked.

A wave of force threw them from their mounts. Horses and fae screamed alike as they hit the ground.

“What was that?” King Elthar yelled. “Was it the rift?”

They had drawn closer to the mountain.

They looked back in the direction of the mine, and a huge plume of dust began to rise in the sky, illuminated by a fiery glow.

Her stomach dropped. “The mine! That was the shockwave from the bombs.” The force of the blast had reached them even here.

“We have to go back!” she cried.

“I’m sure they’re fine, Amelia,” Elthar said, but his expression said something else.

“Please, we need to go back,” she begged.

“We can’t. My primary responsibility is to my men. I must get them back through the rift to our land. I promised Casyl that I’d also keep you safe. That explosion will have been seen for miles. If we fight more humans, they’ll die, not us. Do you want that?”

She was lost for words. She didn’t want to admit that she had begun to care more for Casyl and her friends than her own kind.

“Casyl and his men should be on their way to us. They would have got away before the blast,” he said.

“Send a scout back,” Danae suggested.

The king agreed, and someone was sent back towards the looming cloud of smoke in the distance. They continued towards the mountain, but Amelia kept looking behind for any sign of them.

After a while, a lone figure rode towards them. The scout had returned.

She reminded herself that a single rider could travel more swiftly than an army.

“The mine entrance has been destroyed,” the scout reported.

It felt like an eternity until the scout spoke further.

“Some of the men are missing.”

A cry escaped Amelia’s mouth.

“Who?” she whispered.

The scout hesitated.

Her heart stopped.

Casyl.