Page 142 of Soul of a Witch

But it wasn’t right. Dipping back and forth between the Veil, in and out of time, my brain felt continuously more unhinged. The vision of the cavern that I tried so hard to hold in my mind was fading. My memories of who I was and where I was trying to get to were so tangled, so weak.

But the throbbing pain in my side reminded me I was alive. I didn’t belong here; I wasn’t merely another blank face in the mist.

“We’ll find him, little one.” My voice was faint; it sounded so unfamiliar. “Your papa is fighting for us. He won’t give up. I know he won’t. He’ll wait for us. He’ll be so excited to meet you. He’ll protect you, always, like he protected me.”

My vision blurred.

“He’ll be so kind to you, little one. He won’t be like my father at all. He’ll love you endlessly; we both will.”

There was no more mist. No more light. Only the darkness, and my faint silver thread.

“You’ll get to see so much. You’ll have so much to learn. Don’t…don’t be afraid of your father. He’s kind. He’s gentle. He would never…never hurt you…”

The air stunk of mold and rotten fish.

The pain was so bad I swayed on my feet, and there was a strange, faint thrumming in my ears. I was tired. So very tired. I needed to rest, only for a little while. Just close my eyes.

Lying down, I let my cheek rest against the cold, muddy earth.

“He’ll protect us, little one,” I whispered. “Until we get back…until we find him…he’ll protect us. So that when…when we find him…we can protect him too…”

Everything hurt. I felt sick and faint and so,soheavy.

I opened my eyes.

51

Everly

Reality was fractured around me. Light and sound, shape and distance were all muddled together in swirling chaos. Lightning flashed, bursting with unnamable colors. Rocks and columns of stone floated around me, and I was lying on a chunk of Earth that was floating unanchored through the turmoil.

I was still so numb, so cold.

But I could remember what I’d seen. My child.

Ourchild.

There was an awful sound, like the screaming of a thousand voices in agony. A shadow loomed above me, tendrils writhing. Barely managing to turn my head, I beheld the God, massive and grotesque. Its clawed hand was clutching something, and I saw limp wings, pale skin webbed with black veins.

“Callum…” My arm was so heavy I couldn’t even lift it off the ground. The God’s jaw gaped open, and the screaming grew louder.

It was going to consume him, and I couldn’t even lift my head. I couldn’t call his name.

Inches away from my hand, a tree root was sticking out of the mud. In this chaotic place, it stood out to me as one of the last beacons of reality, and my fingers inched toward it until I grasped it weakly. It felt warm in my hand, and my vision flashed, fluctuating rapidly between pandemonium and the real world.

The Old Man said the trees were always listening. If that were true, even here, even now — perhaps they would hear me.

“Help me,” I whispered. My fingers tightened around the little root; its wood rough against my palm. My weapon was gone, but I’d seen Raelynn leave another blade behind, buried in the God’s flesh. If I could only reach it. If I only had the strength to get up, to get to Callum…

“Help me,”I snarled, pouring every last shred of magic I could into my demand. “Lend me the forest’s strength. Help me destroy this thing. Help me, before it’s too late. Please. Please, if you can hear me.”

It may have been only my imagination, but the root grew warmer in my hand.

Everything shattered. Stone, rock, and water crashed around me, the swirling colors vanishing as the cavern rematerialized. The God roared, Its massive body slumping over for a moment as if caught off guard by Its own weight. Callum dropped from Its grip and lay limply where he fell; eyes closed, limbs sprawled across the muddy ground.

“What is this?” The God roared, Its tentacles writhing.

Roots were sprouting from the ground around It, growing up and around Its body. It tore at them, swiping them away like strings as It looked around in confusion.

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