Page 92 of Fractured Souls

“Well, there wasn’t anybody to hold them to account, was there? Even us…”

“Even you?”

“Nothing to keep us in check but the programming in our brains.” His smile was chilling.

“You were brainwashed.” She rested her hand on his arm, her chest tightening a little. It all made sense now.

“It wore off eventually. Didn’t get my memories back, but that’s probably for the best. It was enough. We became the enforcers.”

What could she say to that? Nothing. She just squeezed his arm.

As the ship glided lower and lower, leaving the abandoned city behind as they entered a shallow ravine. The ravine grew deeper, wider. They flew low, vast walls of pink stone rising up on either side of them, dwarfing the ship.

She’d never seen anything like it.

Water started to appear, small rivulets at first, crisscrossing to form a shimmering stream that cascaded over grey and white and pink boulders. The stream grew wider, deeper, becoming a river, then a torrent, the stone walls on either side changing from barren pink to moss-covered green and gold.

And when she thought the landscape couldn’t get any more spectacular, they flew over a massive waterfall.

Alexis gasped.

She’d been to Niagara falls once. This waterfall dwarfed Niagara. It was at least three times as high and five times as wide, ending in a fearsome plume of white mist.

Abruptly, they banked, circling around, swooping lower, their speed dropping dramatically.

They flew into the mist; into the waterfall. Droplets of water sluiced against the window, fluid silver ribbons spinning away into the darkness.

The brilliant sunlight disappeared.

They had to be in a cave of some sort.

A faint green glow suffused the edges of the window. What the hell was that? The further they flew, the brighter it became. Pressure built up inside her.

Anuk stirred.

But something didn’t feel right.

They were flying into an unknown void. What if it was some sort of trap?

The ship’s black walls closed in around her. Claustrophobia set in.

But then Nythian’s fingers snaked through hers. “You’re with us,” he said. “Don’t forget it.”

And everything became so simple.

With Nythian at her side, there was no way she could be afraid.

Twenty-Four

Nythian didn’t like this sort of thing, this metaphysical, borderline-supernatural, ritualistic Tharian business.

He didn’t understand it.

It shouldn’t exist.

In truth, it made his skin crawl, and several times he’d been tempted to make the sign of the Goddess behind his back, to try and ward off that cold, unnatural feeling that wormed its way through the pit of his belly. He preferred things he could see and touch… and kill, if necessary.

Stupid.

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