Page 136 of Lore of the Tides

She was empty as a void.

Whywas she cursed to be living?

The commander had been ordered to throw her in the dungeon, and then he was supposed to ensure everyone returned to Duskmere.

Her face screwed up in confusion. Order who? Weren’t they dead? Hadn’t she seen the king systematically murder them all? One by one he...

Lore wanted to shake her head, clear the fog, but she couldn’t move her head or neck; every minimal movement was a sharp, jabbing pain. A sob rocked through her chest anyway; tears slipped down her face. It hurt to cry. Good. She deserved to hurt.

Why wasn’t she dead too?

Because, a voice told her,death for you would have been a mercy. You do not deserve mercy.

They kept her alive so she could flounder in this gut-wrenching agony.

Their torture was working, then.

Lore heaved a breath, pressing her right cheek into the cold dungeon floor, relishing the physical agony.

The memories of their violent deaths played over and over, she saw their tormented ends, heard their screams of agony, their cries for help, expecting her to save them. Again and again, they played on a loop.

Syrelle.

Isla.

Finndryl.

Grey.

Eshe.

Salim.

One by one all the children... She was forced to see the light leave their eyes. Their bodies become empty husks.

These memories replayed in her head for minutes

or days

or years.

Chapter 49

Lore must have fallen asleep, but she protested weakly as hands slid beneath her body and lifted her.

The demon, it was the demon come back for more.

She cried out when her face pressed against fabric. It hurt.Everything hurt.

“No more... let me die, please.” She didn’t think her words were comprehensible, but she tried to speak again. She would beg and plead if only the demon would let her die, but her jaw froze shut, too swollen and damaged to form speech.

Lore smiled through the hurt. There was no freedom, save death. Maybe this was her savior, and he had come to set her free.

Please let her death be swift.

She would meet them in the afterlife, soon.

She would see them all again.