Page 113 of Shifter King
Red eyes blinked into existence as if her thoughts had summoned them. Only this time, instead of being in a doorway, they were beyond a broken segment of the wall.
The Okalu looked her up and down, only two sets of bright red eyes hard and fierce. They chuckled. "How close you are to the end, little one. You'll never get back all that is lost now. All the pieces are fragmented. Some are suffering and some are lost and some are simply confused. The longer it takes to find them, the worse it will be. But even if you find a way, we want you to look around this place. This darkness. This is where you will return. This is where you will be sealed. Do you understand? Here you will be trapped, and then you will be set on fire. And there will be no one to stop it. No one to reach you. Even if another Neyeb should be found, you will be entombed beyond reach. So give up now. Your consciousness is fragmented, but there is enough of you to form a whole and pick someplace else to wander."
"To wander?"
"You couldn't be corporeal. You have to be back in your body for that. But you could be searching forever to find your body again. And what is happening to it out there? Terrible things. WroOth can't actually save you. They stabbed him with the cabiza-manticore venom becauseyoubroke the prince's face. Someone had to pay the price. So he is dying. Even as we speak. And even if he wasn't, the Bealorns will betray him at the wedding. Preparations have already been made"
"You're lying." She shuddered though. It brought a painful sensation to her mind.
"Yes. But it would be better for him if he did. Better for all of them if they died now. You were the perfect creation. The perfect weapon for one exceptionally specific purpose. And you will fulfill it beautifully. Not even Elonumato could have executed a plan with such intent and poetry."
She needed to go. To get away from this creature. She took a few steps in the opposite direction, the sand sliding beneath her feet.
It appeared in front of her again. Aside from the eyes and general mass of its body, it was hard to see. Her heart jolted painfully.
"The way is broken." The Okalu tilted their head as they leaned closer. Their breath struck her face, empty of scent and yet hot. "You will never find your way back without help."
"Your help, I imagine?" She stepped around them.
"Accept the thorn in your mind and the presence of the Okalu. You will be spared the worst of it."
"Go away." She walked a little faster. More sand slid out from under her feet.
The Okalu just laughed. "Run if you will. If you're lucky, you'll never find your way back."
She kept going. It changed from a hall to a cave passage to a corridor to a staircase. There never seemed to be any rhyme or reason to what it was. Sometimes it branched off. Other times it all vanished and left her standing in a desert or a plain. Her mood didn't change it. Neither did her thoughts. That sound of the ocean sometimes turned into the roar of a wind that never quite reached her.
Her arms wrapped tight about herself, she continued on. Sometimes she prayed, other times she whispered to herself. Occasionally she thought about calling out. But who would come? And what if there were worse things than the Okalu out there?
Every so often, horrific pain ripped through her as if someone was trying to pull her farther apart. It dropped her to the ground, no matter where she was, and it continued on and on and on until, like a tide, it receded.
The ground changed beneath her feet in a breath, turning to uneven black stone. She halted, shivering. The low-hilled desert had vanished. Now it was a large rock chamber honeycombed with passages. None went exactly straight ahead.
Time to make a choice.
She shuddered. She felt so small. So broken and far away. As if she had practically faded into a ghost. What even was this and where did it lead? What did it mean to find her way back. "How am I supposed to choose?" she whispered.
A bark rang out.
She stiffened. She knew that voice. "Claudius?"
Another bark followed, louder this time.
It was coming from one of the higher passages. Almost twelve feet off the ground. She grabbed hold of the porous rock and pushed herself up. The stones grated beneath her fingertips and scraped her palms and knees.
More excited barks followed along with the clacking of claws as if he danced in place, calling for her to hurry. She pulled herself onto the ledge and crawled forward. "Claudius!"
A German shepherd shadow moved rapidly from one paw to the other, wagging its tail so hard it might fall off. "Claudius, come here. Come here, baby!"
He pranced back, then barked again.
Quickening her pace, she followed after through the winding passage. "Claudius, come here, sweetheart. Come on!"
Even when she clapped her hands and made kissing sounds, he didn't turn though. He stayed just ahead and out of sight though she never lost track of his shadow.
Then the passage opened up into a massive fog almost too thick to see. Her footsteps echoed louder as she stepped onto the stone, gravel and rubble crunching beneath her feet. Where had he gone?
Claudius barked, louder this time, sticking his head outside of the fog.
