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No.
I can’t let myself be disarmed. I must keep my wits,or else Natharius’s wish will finally come true.
The wisp dances between the trees, leading me along a winding path through the forest. There’s no rhyme nor reason to the route it takes, seeming to choose its direction at random.
What if there’s no wisp lair like we suspect? What if this creature leads me to a cliff or a river and pushes me over the edge?
I let out a deep breath, doing my best to expel my fears with it.
I’m a mage. I can manipulate the air and water around me. Falling and drowning are of no concern.
The trees spin as the wisp’s spell secures its grasp on my mind. I can’t let it consume me, but I also can’t give so much resistance that I scare it away. Maintaining that delicate balance is becoming more challenging by the minute.
Another wisp appears in the trees, its blue glow flickering in the shadows. It joins the first, once more taking on the image of my mother.
“Come over here, Reyna,” the second wisp calls. “Let me get a good look at you.”
“Rey-rey!” the other chimes. “The wine won’t drink itself!”
I tighten my fists as the two wisps bombard me with their haunting voices. As I follow the specters through the trees, I fight to stop my mind from being stolen.
Time becomes a vague concept as I battle for control of my mind.
After we pass many more trees, a third wisp joins us. Their assault on my mind grows in strength. This one takes the image of Father, complete with his crystalline staff beneath its eerie blue light.
My sense of touch dulls. The wind’s chill fades on my cheeks, as do the gnarled branches tearing into my indigo robes and scraping the skin beneath. Even if these trees leave me battered and bruised, I won’t notice beneath the wisps’ bewitchment.
“Reyna,” Father says, his voice as stern and commanding as always. “You let me down. You let all of Nolderan down.”
“No,” I gasp. “It wasn’t my fault . . . I . . .” Yet there’s no reason why I’m not to blame. I was the one who trusted Nolan, who forced Father to deactivate the Aether Tower, who enabled Arluin’s undead to flood through their death gates.
I was the one who killed Father.And Nolderan with him.
I stop and cradle my face in my palms.
The sins I’ve committed are unmeasurable. How dare I believe I can atone for my actions by bringing Arluin to justice. Obliterating him and his necromancers from this world won’t wash away my sins, nor will it resurrect the dead.
“Rey-rey,” Eliya’s voice chirps, her words echoing through the shadows. “Aren’t you coming? Aren’t we friends anymore?”
My jaw tightens. The wisps are wearing down my resolve, attacking my most vulnerable weaknesses.
While defeating Arluin will neither reverse what happened nor clear me of guilt, Father’s soul—his corpse—is chained to Arluin. I must free him.
And that means facing Arluin in Gerazad.
I push myself onward through the trees, stumbling after the wisps. They all call to me, taunting me with their haunting voices.
They aren’t real. I can’t forget that, no matter how familiar they seem. The real Eliya is dead, as is my real mother. And Father’s soul is bound to Arluin.
None of them can be here. I can’t allow the wisps’ enchantment to capture me. To make me forget my entire self.
Soon my vision blurs so much I can no longer discern the trees, even when they’re close enough to touch. They’re nothing but a mass of shadowy leaves. Only the wisps’ blue light is visible in the darkness.
More wisps join, feeding on my memories. Their forms warp into those who fell in Nolderan. I see Eliya’s father, her uncle, her siblings. I see the three Archmagi. I even see Kaely.
I sprint after them. There are dozens now. That must mean I’m close to their lair.
After many more strides and frantic breaths, the wisps become so many they’re like a sea of twinkling sapphires. In their flickering blue lights, I see all the images I witnessed on the night of Nolderan’s fall. The images which haunt my most terrifying nightmares.
