Page 121 of Memory of Ashes

The screams of the fallen men had stopped, and all was quiet.

A black mist rose from the abyss. It spread out, covering the ground like morning fog.

And then a tendril slithered out of the darkness.

Amelia looked to Tharos to see if he was seeing the same thing. He met her gaze and glanced away, but in that moment, she’d seen pure terror in his eyes.

Her gaze followed the end of the tentacle back into the chasm as the smoky creature heaved itself out of the darkness and released a spine-tingling shriek.

It had not ended. She’d closed the rift, yet terrors still entered her world.

The men below scattered in every direction, fleeing from the horrifying form that lurched towards them.

She watched, transfixed, as one of its tendrils wrapped around a man and the black smoke consumed him. When it passed over his body, only a husk of his form remained.

The surviving soldiers on the nearest side of the chasm ran towards the gates. They pounded on the doors, screaming to be admitted into the safety of the city.

Amelia wasn’t even sure if they’d be safe there.

“Let them in!” she yelled.

Tharos stood unmoving, staring down at terrified soldiers.

He hesitated as he looked down upon the rabble desperate to get in. He could leave them out there for the smoke monster to consume, or he could let them in, save them, and risk regretting it.

Every moment felt like an eternity as she awaited his decision.

“Open the gates,” he yelled down to the men at the gate.

Chapter 29

Casyl

His eyes adjusted. It was no longer pitch-black, but it was still dark. His fae vision could make out vague shapes in the distance, but there was no light.

The shrieking was getting louder. Whatever it was, it was getting closer to him, and he didn’t want to hang around to find out.

For a moment, he couldn’t move.

A shiver ran up his back. He’d been fearless in life, but this was death.

He quickly tried to remember what the priests had said in the holy lore. He’d never listened to them and was now regretting that.

His chest quivered as he breathed. He urged his body to move. It would take time to adjust to this new form. It looked the same, but it was different somehow. Empty.

Was this all that remained of him, a soul constrained in the shape of a body? Amelia had died believing she was saving them. And now here he was, dead anyway.

Amelia. His grief sank into the hollow where his heart should have been. She wouldn’t be here.

She couldn’t be dead, but everything pointed to the crushing truth that she was. He’d watched as she’d plunged the dagger into herself. If she had survived, then the rift would have remained open, and he would have been able to return to her. He’d tried before the creatures had descended on him.

The thought brought him to his knees. Was she really, truly gone? He hadn’t known what love felt like. After spending centuries alone in that desolate fortress, she’d been the only person he’d ever truly loved, and he’d realised it too late.

Something swirled around him; its presence smothered him. In the darkness, faint patches of blue glowed beneath his skin. The wailing increased, severing him from his thoughts, and instinctively he ran.

There was no light to guide him, but terror drove him forward. He ran as fast as he could into the unending darkness. There were no stars in the sky above him, no clouds, no moon. He could feel no wind on his skin. What was this place?

His feet pounded across the colourless sand.