Page 127 of Grave Revelations

Sophia squeezed, holding her friend as she cried.

When Rebecca’s shoulders stilled, tears drying and back straightening, they got to their feet.

Sophia surveyed the landscape, marveling at its transformation. Looking down at her hands, she turned them over to inspect them; instead of the dull gray they had been every other time she came, they were tanned, like on Earth. The deep gouges in her arm from Sanura's nails were gone, in their wake only smooth unmarredskin remained.

Rebecca gazed out over the brightening realm, vision fixed on some distant point.

“Do you feel different? Now that Adalaide and you are… one?” Sophia asked.

Rebecca shuddered, her red-rimmed eyes glistening. “I feel his loss more keenly. We loved him. With all our soul.”

Sophia twisted a strand of hair around a finger. Rebecca needed a task to take her mind off him, a purpose. “Do you think the others could be here?”

Her gaze shifted to Sophia. “The others?”

“The other souls.”

Rebecca glanced at the small patch of grass sprouting up around them. “We could search for them.” She leaned down, picking up the bone white lance—the only thing that remained where Sanura once was—and slid it into a pocket in her new white robes.

“How did you do that?” Sophia asked. “Transform the terrain. Turn her to dust. Change your clothes. All of it?”

“I’m not sure. When we merged—Adalaide and I—it felt as though something inside me was unlocked. I can feel everything: the air, the grass straining toward me, the heat from an invisible light. Even the moisture in the air. I can’t explain it.”

Rebecca’s eyes glazed, and she disappeared inside herself again, lost in grief.

Sophia touched her friend’s arm. “Sanura ruled this place. Do you think you’re its ruler now?”

Some of the fog cleared from her eyes. “Ruler?”

Sophia had expected her to laugh and roll her eyes, but Rebecca only frowned.

“Come on. Let's look for our coven.” Rebecca held out a hand, and Sophia took it.

A new kind of energy zinged through her, calming her. As they strode toward the river, grass shot up through dry, cracked ground, and small flowers bloomed in shades of white and blue. Trees straightened, growing heavy with foliage and fruit.

They reached the riverbank, and Rebecca stepped in. As with every other place she had set foot, it transformed. Murky water washed away, the trickle becoming a stream, clearing a path as far as she could see.

Rebecca was oblivious as she splashed through the brook, stepping onto the muddy shore on the other side. She stopped beside a massive gnarled tree, and without seeming to realize what she was doing, she rested her hand against it.

Branches untangled themselves, stretching wide, revealing a deep hole at the tree’s center. As its branches reached for the sky, creatures tumbled out, staggering on unsteady paws.

Sophia recognized them as the soldiers she’d seen when she arrived in Sheol, constantly patrolling the shoreline.

They formed into lines, righting themselves and straightening their armor.

Rebecca opened her mouth, seeming to come back to herself. “Hello.”

The one in front said something Sophia didn’t understand, bowing low. The others followed suit, bowing on large tufted paws.

“What did you call me?” Rebecca asked the one who had bowed first.

He said the same strange words as before.

“Stand, all of you. I am no one's queen.”

The group of half-men, half-lion creatures, stood, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. “Balladak nin?

Rebecca cast a beseeching look at Sophia.

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