Page 152 of The Shattered Rite
I felt the danger too late. You were panicking. He was too close to you. His focus… it was on you. He didn’t sense it either.
She swallowed hard. “So this is my fault.”
No. He was focused on you. He didn’t see the threat behind him. But it is not your fault. You didn't cause this.
Her head dropped. The pressure behind her ribs swelled until it hurt. “Then why do I feel like this is my fault?”
Because you cared.
She hated how simple that answer was. Hated how heavy it felt.
“I don’t even know who it was,” she whispered.
Nor do I. That is what terrifies me.
The silence pressed in.
“So this was another random killing?”
Perhaps. Perhaps not.Vaeronth hesitated.It could have been for you. Or he could’ve simply been… in the way.
The thought hollowed her out.
“He died for nothing.”
Not for nothing.
She didn’t want his comfort. Not now. Not when her stomach felt scraped raw and her skin was still warm with someone else’s blood.
Eliryn.
She ignored him.
Little flame. Listen to me.
“I don’t want to move.”
You must.
“Why?”
Because whoever did this could still be near. And you can’t stop them. Not like this. I can’t protect you in here.
“I thought you were supposed to protect me everdywhere.”
I'm sorry.
That made her flinch harder than any scolding.
At last, she whispered, “Tell me where to go.”
He guided her. Quiet. Focused.
She didn’t say goodbye to Silas.
She just left him there.
And as she stumbled forward through the dark, her heart wasn’t breaking over a life lost defending her.
