Page 107 of The Shattered Rite
This was different.
Eliryn reached for the wall, needing to anchor herself.
Her palm hit damp stone. Steady. Real.
“Good,” she muttered, fingers flexing against the wall. “At least stone hasn't changed.”
Vaeronth stirred faintly.
I feel your fear.
“Not fear,” she whispered, exhaling through her nose. “Annoyance. At myself.”
A pause. Then, warm as coals:That too can be strength.
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “You and your wisdom. You know I’m standing here debating whether I’ve gone completely blind, right?”
The dragon said nothing to that, which felt ominous.
Her humor fractured then, just a little, the dryness forced. But she tightened her jaw and breathed through it.
Right now, falling apart wasn’t allowed.
Not yet.
It is not yet gone, Vaeronth said.But it will go. Piece by piece. You knew this.
“I didn’t know it would be now,” she whispered aloud.
She pressed her forehead lightly to the stone, breathing slow. Steady. One inhale. Two.
Her vision flickered again. Shadows where there shouldn’t be. Light failing in places her mind swore it should hold.
“I’m fine,” she muttered aloud, though no one was listening. “I’m absolutely not falling apart moments before a deadly trial.”
From the corner of her mind, Vaeronth’s voice was quieter now. Concerned.
You must not hide this from yourself, Eliryn.
“I’m not hiding. I’m compartmentalizing.”
The dragon’s silence, unimpressed, said more than words.
A shaky laugh left her throat. “Don’t look at me like that.”
I cannot look at you. I am housed within the vessel you wear like a necklace.
“Exactly. So stop sounding so judgy.”
She let the small, strained smile linger for just a heartbeat longer before straightening, pushing off the wall.
One step forward.
Another.
“I’m still moving,” she whispered. “I just might need you as my eyes.”
Her chest ached.
