Page 228 of Keldori By Daybreak

“Rotsbane don’t kill quickly.” Iseult grimaced as Ciarán flung Ferrin like a rag doll across the ice, and then chased after him like a cat playing with a mouse before the kill. “They’ll suck Nightmares down fast enough, but real bodies they break apart piece by piece to not miss any Skal.”

“Orla, please…” Ferrin’s whimper echoed across the ice. “Please just kill me—”

He cut off in a scream of agony as Ciarán’s claws punched through his abdomen.

I looked away, blinking at the ice, trying to remove the image from my mind, but it was impossible with Ciarán still crying in my head.

The tether belonged to his horror and his hunger, and so did I. The connection pulled at me, trying to draw me into Ciarán’s head, but I refused.

I did not want to see what the world looked like to Ciarán as he ripped Ferrin apart.

“‘When I kill your uncle, it will not be quick’,” Orla rasped, quoting something Ciarán had once told her. “‘It will not be painless. I will draw it out as long as I can, and I will make him beg for death.’”

If it was justice, it was cruel, and it was cold, and Ciarán continued to scream in my head, even after Ferrin Quillguard moved no more.

46. Advanced Volcanology

Ciarán would be done with Ferrin’s body soon. Blue fire flared overhead where Mom was already trying to draw his attention away from us, but it would be futile. We may’ve had less Skal where we cradled Orla on the ice, but we were easier to reach for the rotsbane.

Orla was in no condition to move, and I knew Iseult would never leave her. I didn’t want to leave her either, but we couldn’t do nothing.

“Iseult, I need a weapon,” I said. Cold resolve settled in my stomach, and my throat tightened. “Any weapon.”

“My Skal will burn you.”

“I know.”

“Any weapon?” Silver light flared in her hand.

I smirked at the flail she passed me. Even with my sleeve pulled down around my hand, the handle seared into my palm.

Iseult reached across Orla to put a hand on my shoulder. Her gray eyes met mine, steely and steadfast.

She knew a Skal weapon was useless against a rotsbane but in one regard. To her credit, she didn’t try to dissuade me.

“Seal my grandmother,” I grunted through the burning pain of the magick. “Escape to Keldori. I’ll buy as much time as I can, but you’ll have to be fast.”

“Wren—!” Orla rasped, but I was already running.

I held the flail overhead as I sprinted. Iseult’s silver magick felt fitting, like I was Galahad’s Nightmare again and wielding his Skal.

My time in Skalterra would end how it started.

The mountain peaks ahead bled with a hazy glow as the sunrise dyed their ash plumes red. I watched them as I ran, imagining the life I’d wanted for myself.

Von Leer felt more than a world away. I missed when college had been what I wanted more than anything. Now I would’ve been happy just to have one more day with my friends.

I passed over Ciarán’s shredded clothes as I ran, and I stooped to grab his discarded metal scythe with my free hand.

Mom’s voice tore at my back, screaming my name, but I continued towards the shore, wondering how far I could get before Ciarán was on top of me in his chase after my glowing silver flail.

The ice shuddered beneath me, and tears streamed down my cheeks as I braced for Ciarán. I let the connection between us snap into place so that his view overlaid my own.

I saw myself running ahead of him. He was gaining quick, and my hand holding his scythe tightened around the handle. Ciarán’s screaming subsided, and deep gratitude sang in harmony with fathomless sorrow along the tether.

“Aim for the mouth,” Ciarán’s gentle voice sounded in my head. “Aim for the mouth, Blue.”

I let go of the flail and spun around just as he leapt, my borrowed scythe at the ready.