Page 23 of Light Locked
He turned from the image again and paced.
Or maybe this?
He barely heard his cien speak before he turned to see an image of Clea waving and smiling politely.
He whirled back around with an angry growl.
The cien laughed, now with his voice, assuring him that Clea’s image was gone.
“I think I might kill her before anything in this accursed forest does.”
Oh?it said with delight.
“I might go insane before she does!” He gripped his head, picking up his pace. “Her every action irritates me to my core! Her pious, self-righteous naivety! I want to push her off a cliff!”
How about something a bit more accessible? Fire?
“And her eyes! Thosebig, dark eyes that stare at the woods like she is in a trance—like she enjoys it here! At first, she was reserved, guarded. Now she’s—she’s being—being—”
Herself?
“Yes!”
Just set her on fire.
“And she’s so loud! Walking on every crunching leaf and dry twig, like she’s aiming for them! Adjusting her things, pickingat her clothes, checking her hair, braiding, and rebraiding, and braiding, and rebraiding! I just want to grab her hair and–” He stopped and glared before him, like she was right in front of him.
Burn it.
“What? No.”
Pull it all off her head?
“No. You aren’t getting the point.”
At least I’m making them.
“Look. I’m still not used to dealing with my emotions—that’s what she is! A mass of emotions and noise! I want to bury my own grave and lie in it just to get peace and quiet!”
If you found your soul and returned to being who you used to be, then you wouldn’t have these problems.
“If my power returns, then so does the curse that sealed my heart.”
I feel like that’s the point I just made.
“No. You aren’t seeing the point,” Ryson snapped back. “I eventually lost all will and motivation to exist.”
Maybe next time, just give me your heart instead. I’ll take very good care of it. You’d enjoy life so much, you’d never want to sleep again.
Ryson stood with his arms crossed and allowed the silence to settle. The silence reminded him that Clea was not the worstpart of this journey, because the longer he stood there, the more eyes materialized in the darkness around him.
They appeared in rows, stacked on top of each other, until looking out between the trees was like looking up at the stars.
Clea assumed they hadn’t encountered any forest beasts. The exact opposite was true. She was like a magnet for them. They’d been completely surrounded since the first night. It didn’t matter what route he chose.
They’re like dogs, waiting for the scraps from your table.
“Until something stronger comes along and gives them permission to eat us both. We’re walking an extremely fine line, and there won’t be any escaping it until we get to Loda. I’m not sure how long I can exert my influence like this. I’ve never seen the forest this hungry.”
