Page 105 of A Whisper of Cinders

I turn around, my heartbeat racing, the golden flame in my palm flickers with the irregular beats of my heart. Only then do I notice roots sticking out of the snow surrounding me like a…trap.

The second the thought leaves my mind, the roots wrap around my ankles and pull tight, my flame extinguishing instantly. I try to get up, but they climb up my legs like snakes, restricting me from moving until only my face and neck are free.

Loud cracking of wood fills my ears, so loud it is nearly painful. The wind whips around my face, cutting my cheeks and bringing tears to my eyes. The scent of rotting leaves and mould fills my nose and I gag.

Something makes the earth shake beneath my feet, and a dark shadow slowly prowls towards me.

“Help me, please!” I plead. “Help…me.”

My voice dies out, because the shadowy figure I can finally differentiate looks like something straight out of a nightmare. I saw an image of it only this morning, but it looks even worse in reality. It’s tall with bark-like skin, pulsing veins the colour of poison green running between the cracks and pulsing wickedly.

Hands are replaced by sharp looking talons and its eyes are voids of endless darkness. Snow blackens underneath its feet with every step it takes and dried out branches break from the trees surrounding us.

My eyes go wide and I scream, but the creature releases a diabolical sound that can only be its own version of laughter. I try to summon a flame, a spark, anything to burn the roots around me and take a run for it. But no matter how hard I try, I am utterly human right now and I am terrified. No heat flows in my veins, only blood, and the cold spreads like ice shards through my body.

The creature looms over me and I inhale the scent of rotten fruit and leaves. I try to hold my breath, but with the roots giving me less room with every passing second, I eventually have to inhale, the scent making me nauseous instantly.

Although its facial features are barely distinguishable, I think it is smirking, which is definitely not a good sign.

Its eyes glow like hellfire and the roots cut in my skin. I scream, but the air is being sucked out of me as I’m yanked into the air and flung backwards until I’m pushed towards the ground, where ice cold water awaits me.

I don’t even have time — nor the ability — to take a final breath as the water clashes around me and I’m dragged deep under the clear surface. I trash, pushing against the painful roots, but the more I move, the more they constrict.

Cold seeps into my bones, my fingers and toes go numb instantly, yet no hint of my flames to be felt or seen. I scream, realising I am wasting precious air and silence that too. I’m crying, or at least I think I am. The pressure in my ears is unbearable, yet I’m still being dragged deeper into the lake. Until only darkness exists around me. That’s when the glowing eyes appear.

My chest hurts, the pressure unbearable and I don’t think I can hold my breath for much longer. There wasn’t much air left in my lungs anyway. My heart pounds in my ears, frantic and panicked, until its beat starts to slow and my vision blurs.

I breathe in, choking on the water that now fills my lungs.

This is my end.

Alone again, in the depths of a lake where no one will find me. It was too good to be true, happiness isn’t something that is granted to me.

I say my silent goodbyes, to my friends, old and new, to the ones that stole my heart, accepting now that it’s two souls at the same time, each in a whole different way. I never expected to feel this way in a million years.

I am lucky in a way, to arrive at a place that finally feels like home, where people care about me. A place where I belong. I am grateful for all the small lights that came into my life when I needed it the most. Although it saddens me I won’t be able to tell them how much I appreciate them.

I close my eyes, unable to fight anymore, at peace with what’s about to come next.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Death is warm, ticklish and…fast?

My eyes burst open, and the first thing I notice is a glowing, transparent bubble around me, lifting me up, with endless darkness on the other side. Except for a flash of deep lavender that disappears the more I focus on it.

I’m still in the water, but able to breathe and quickly being pulled towards the surface.

Gone are the roots, and although there are several cuts and bruises all over my body, air flows through my lungs again. But who’s pulling me out of the water? It feels different than the powers of the dark creature.

At that point, I break through the surface and softly sway towards the frozen ground with tenderness. A wave of water splashes everywhere and I look around me, searching for my rescuer, expecting to see Ami or Aramis, but I am utterly alone. Except for…the scent hits me instantly.

No.

It is still here. The dark creature. And it apparently brought some friends. It’s as if they were waiting for me, standing around me in half a circle. I might have outrun one of them, but four? Even with all my optimism, I know a lost cause when I see one.

That doesn’t mean I will go down without a fight. Roots shoot out of them, quickly traveling towards me. I jump up ready to run on trembling legs and not enough air to breathe, but an invisible barrier around me halts me. The bubble is still here, and with nowhere to run to, I can only determine I wasn’t actually rescued, but brought to another torturous ending.

I don’t even try to summon my flames, I nearly died a few minutes ago, steamy thoughts are the last thing on my mind. I prepare for impact, but the roots bump into the dome around me, the colour changing to blue and purple on contact.