Page 117 of Trivium

Just like Kumani.

Loveleena swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, tension building behind her eyes again. Kumani had lectured her often about her impulsiveness. Even Ren could recognize it in her. But she hadn’t listened, didn’t want to. Instead, she let rage and revenge and instant gratification consume her.

And now Kumani was gone because of it.

“He’s going to kill her,” Zeina muttered, her voiced strained.

Loveleena peeled her eyes away from Park for a moment to look at Ahmina, who lay unconscious on the ground, her face grey. They needed to act now.

Lennox was holding his own against Barrow, but his wounds were making him weak, his attacks becoming less precise. She scanned the clearing for something, anything, that could help them.

She wanted to run, to pull Park off Ahmina, to shake him from whatever spell he was under, to stick her sword straight into Barrow’s gut and watch the warm crimson blood seep out of him. She wanted to free Park, to save Ahmina, and to feel Barrow suffer.

But Kumani was dead because of her.

Because of her foolish actions.

And she couldn’t bear to be the reason someone else died.

Park stood over Ahmina as her life seeped out of her. If she waited any longer, Ahmina would be dead. She might already be. And who knew what would happen to Park.

Fuck it.

“Don’t try and stop me,” she said to Zeina, and sprinted into the clearing. If they were dead anyway, doing something was better than standing around, hiding behind a tree.

“Park, it’s me,” she cried, her hands gripping his shirt collar as she ripped him off of Ahmina. “It’s me. Wake up.”

Park turned to face her, but his eyes were vacant, lifeless. A chill ran down her spine as he reached up and placed his hands on her neck, strangling her.

“Stop.” Her voice was garbled, the words barely escaping her as she struggled against him to breathe. “It’s me.” Tears welled in her eyes as stars filled her vision. There, right in front of her was the face she had longed to see for almost two years.

Except this man wasn’t Park.

This man was about to kill her.

She tried to fight, but Park was too strong, unphased by the knee she jerked into his gut. Her vision was a sliver now, fading…

Behind him, Zeina swung a rock, hitting him in the side of the head, and he fell to the ground unconscious. Loveleena gasped for air, her full vision returning. “Thanks,” she rasped.

A bush of wild gray hair flew past them, stealing their attention. Loveleena would recognize that grey hair anywhere. Lady Shadows.

But Lady Shadows was already transforming. Her dark cloak slunk to the ground, revealing a shadowy creature with haunted eyes and long slinky fingers. Goosebumps scattered across her body, but despite how haunting Lady Shadows looked, Loveleena smiled. She had never been happier to see that creepy-ass woman.

“Did she just shapeshift into a ghoul?” Zeina whispered, mostly to herself. “Cool!”

“What in the creature magic is happening,” she whispered back. Her grip on the dagger loosened from sweat and she squeezed her hand to try and keep a hold of it.

“I didn’t know they were real. Just heard stories,” Zeina said, eyes wide.

Loveleena turned her focus back to the Ghoul version of Lady Shadows who faced Barrow, her eyes white glowing globes. Loveleena glanced down to check on Park’s bleeding skull, but he was gone.

“Where did Park go?” she whispered to Zeina. She needed to help him, to snap him out of whatever spell he was under. Zeina didn’t respond, her eyes locked on Lady Shadows as whispering apparitions emerged from the trees, twisting and slinking over roots on the ground. The beings felt dark, unnatural. Her legs trembled.

Spirits of the dead.

The apparitions surrounded Barrow, and he fell backwards, screaming, his eyes possessed by a faraway vision.

“What are they doing to him?” she asked Zeina, without turning away. Once again, Zeina didn’t answer. She stood silent, transfixed.