Page 117 of Shadows of Perl

“You have to overwhelm it. Get it to work to detach from you.”

“What?” She pants, growing heavier in my arms. Holding on to her is like cuddling a furnace. She claws at me. And that’s when I notice the unnatural color of her tethered hand. It’s the color of dried blood.

“Jordan, ple—”

“Push toushana into the stone, faster than it can take it.”

“I don’t under—” She blinks slowly and I feel her heart’s cadence slow.

“Use your toushana. As hard as you can, now.” I tighten my hold on her frail body. She oscillates between cold and hot. Moaning in pain, she grits her teeth. Black gushes out of her tethered hand into the stone. It swells at first, the rock growing faster.

“More.”

“I can’t—”

“You can.”

Her curled body lunges forward.

The flow of black gushes out, swallowing the red stone.

Toushana bleeds all over her fingers.

The stone shatters.

Rivers of darkness crawl across the ground, pooling together before rushing back inside her.

Quell collapses in my arms.

I dab her scorching forehead with my sleeve and pour a bit of my water in her mouth. She doesn’t move, and the heart in my chest feels like stone. Then she nestles against me, her head cradled in my arm, and my heart races. She blinks, dazed, and everything else in the cave ceases to exist for me.

“Are you alright?”

She tries to get up. I help her, steadying her with an arm around her waist. She holds on to me, her fingers wrapped around mine, until she’s back up on her feet. When she sees our hands intertwined, she snatches hers away. I clear my throat.

“What just happened?” she asks.

“I think that stone was sucking the life out of you. First, your magic; then the rest of you.”

She hugs herself, staring at the charred bed of red stones still gleaming on the ground.

“How do you feel?”

“Hot. And tired.” She inspects her hands. Their color has mostly returned, but they’re dry, cracked, and blotchy with bruises.

“What were you doing in here?”

“I thought I might take one of those red gems.”

“For?”

She shifts on her feet, jaw ticked with irritation.

“Forget it. Let’s just get out of here.” Trusting her was always a risk. Once Quell can stand without much swaying, I offer her a hand to help guide her over the uneven ground. She reluctantly slips her hand into mine. The rest of her body boils, but her fingers are still ice. I rub them between my hands to warm them. She watches me curiously.

“The mission. We need you fully recovered.”

“I told you, I’m alright,” she retorts, but doesn’t pull away. As we traverse the cave’s narrower passages back toward the entrance, I keep a close eye on her. My heart races; I’m still a bit worked up.

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