AllFreeNovel
Share Us
What Waits.
The Spindleblade still gleamed, its own light stronger than the red sky of the Ashlands. Corayne glanced at it, then at the Ashlanders still staring. And at the shadow, growing darker on the ground. It spread toward her like oil through water.
She forced a smile in His direction, running her hand along the edge of the Spindleblade. Her palm stung, fresh blood welling between her fingers.
Her toes wriggled in her boots, testing the ground. Corayne wanted to run, but her limbs felt heavy, as if the air of the Ashlands itself pressed down upon her.
“You can’t pass through,” she hissed, brandishing the Spindleblade. The steel gleamed between Corayne and the shadow.
It halted on the ground, and What Waits laughed again.
“Not yet,” He said.
Corayne willed herself to move, but her foot only slid back an inch. Even that felt exhausting, like lifting an impossible weight. She gritted her teeth, trying to look strong. Trying to seem like any of her warrior friends behind her, back through the Spindle in a realm unbroken.
“Your world is lost, Corayne.” The shadow rippled with His voice. “You do not know it yet. How can you? That wretched hope won’t let you accept defeat. Oh, how I despise that flame inside you, that restless heart of yours.”
She took another step, this one a bit easier. The sword grew heavy in her hand. “Allward still stands. And she won’t go without a fight.”
“You cannot fathom the realms I’ve seen, the endless ages, the limitless bounds of greed and fear. You cannot know how wrong you are. I almost pity you.” The voice rippled over her, making her skin crawl. “And while I hate your heart, I admire it too.”
The Spindle burned at her back, singeing the air with its power.
“Put down the Spindleblade. Step forward, not back,” He said. “And I will make you queen of any kingdom you wish.”
“Is that what you promised Taristan?” Corayne scoffed, spitting on the ground. “He was so easily bought.”
What Waits’s laugh turned high and shrieking, like wind through a crack in glass. It nearly split Corayne’s head open and she flinched.
“What a specimen your uncle is,” he hissed. On the ground, the shadow inched closer. “No, Corayne, my darling, my dear. He does not need my voice to be commanded, but you—you must be persuaded. Yours is a sharper mind, a harder heart.”
Her eyes widened. Shock ran through her. “And why is that?”
“It is easy for me to claim what is already broken, and Taristan was broken long ago. But not you. Somehow, even now, I see no cracks in you.”
Raising her head, Corayne narrowed her eyes at the shadow.
“And you never will,” she said, turning with all the speed she could muster.
Back to the Spindle, back to Allward. Back to everyone she held dear.
The Ashlanders moved with her, snarling and hissing, falling over themselves as they lunged. She felt bony fingers in her hair, grasping at her cloak, closing on her ankles.
But they were weak things, brittle and wasted like their realm.
I am stronger.
She leapt, the Spindleblade lightning in her hand, swinging with all the force in her body. Something screamed behind her, an inhuman groan that shook the Ashlands in an earthquake.
It echoed even through the portal, following Corayne as she landed hard on the marble of her own realm.
And then the scream was gone, disappearing with the red light, the ash wind, and the Spindle itself. The golden thread blinked out of existence as if it had never been there at all, leaving no sign but the Ashlanders still lurching around the chamber.
Corayne fought to her feet, stumbling on weak legs as one came toward her, dropping ribs with every step. It raised a notched knife, stained with the blood of too many men. She countered its blow, using the Spindleblade to cut through its spine, severing its body in two.
Then she slid to the temple floor again, losing her footing on the slick, bloody stone.
“Andry,” she murmured, her vision sliding back and forth.
