Page 94 of Forged By Heart and Claws
“You’re gonna be all right.” Thalen squeezed my shoulder, his voice tense. “I promise, Chaos. We’re going to figure this out together.” Grief twisted his expression as well.
Everything in me went numb, my body trembling. My wolf was gone, and my keen sight had vanished. Despair and terror swallowed me.
My pack links were gone, just like the night my entire pack had been slaughtered. The hollowness consumed everything.
“She’s not looking so good,” Veralt said, his voice sounding far away.
“What?” Alarm spiked in Thalen’s voice. “Is she hurt?
The lamp’s golden glow swung over my face, but it was dull now. “We don’t have much time,” Veralt said, his voice heavy.
A droning sound filled my ears. My head lolled against Veralt’s arm.
“Briar?” Thalen leaned over me, his hand against my cheek and feeling for my pulse. “Briar, you have to…”
Sounds of metal hit me just as everything went dark.
CHAPTER 21
Briar
Numbness engulfed me, even in sleep. It clung to me like wet wool, heavy and choking, weaving itself into my bones, threading grief into every breath. I drowned in the darkness, fighting to wake up.
The harder I fought, the more the air changed. It became too thin and sharp, circling around me.
Coldness gripped my ankles, and I looked down to find mist curled around them. Darkness surrounded me above and below. I realized I was dreaming, but if it somehow led me to Vad, I didn’t give a damn.
As the cold seeped into my skin in slow, pulsing waves, the darkness transformed. The sky above became the color of ash, and the palace appeared in a valley, looming ahead, cracked and hunched like a beast nursing old wounds. I’d never seen the castle from the outside, but I recognized it anyway.
In the night sky above, a red-tailed comet crept across the horizon. Then the ground shook underneath my feet.
The palace shook too, dust rising so thick it blocked out the moon and comet. I glanced to the left and saw a thick mass of hawthorns and oaks, but they weren't swaying, and the mountains to my right weren't shaking. The concentration ofthe violent tremors centered under the palace. It groaned, then collapsed inward, stone and shadow folding like wet paper.
My heart lurched.
What the fuck was going on?
I’d hoped this dream would show me saving Vad, but instead it showed that we were all going to fail. I had to wake up from this nightmare. I pinched myself hard, but instead of waking up, I could only watch as silver light glowed from within the destruction.
Warmth bloomed and pulled in my chest, as if the silver light were tugging at me. It brightened like the north star and pulsed like a beacon. Out of the rubble emerged a silver stag like the one from the Ceremonial Hall.
Its antlers stretched skyward, catching light from no visible source. Power shimmered in the air around it, both wrong and beautiful. Blood streamed from the broken walls and shattered stones all around it, thick and dark, dripping down columns like rain turned red.
Inside me, a tendril of fear mixed with a clawing urge to fight and overcome.
A low growl rumbled behind me. I spun, my heart pounding against my ribs, to find a shadow wolf stepping into view. Its shadowy fur rippled in the wind, and its crimson eyes burned bright.
I glanced around for a weapon, but the trees were too far away to offer any branches, and the mountains would slow me down. It could easily catch me.
But it wasn’t looking at me. Its eyes were locked on the stag.
It threw back its head and howled. Not a sound of anger or fear, but rather one of wanting to be noticed.
The stag lifted its chin and barked, followed by three coughs. Then it repeated the same pattern over and over.
The sound wrenched something deep inside me, like strings being yanked taut. A sharp ache pressed behind my eyes.
The ground trembled again, and more guardians emerged.
