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“What do you mean, get me out?” I asked.

“Just that. I can open the door. And, together, you and I can walk from here, free as wild birds.”

“Are you trapped here too?” I asked.

He laughed. “No, no, not at all. I choose to be here. With you. This is my domain, you see. I am impossible to trap.”

“Then release me,” I said. “Let me go.”

“Hardly a word for days and now so hasty to leave. You have to take me with you when you go, Wild One. That is the agreement.”

“No,” I said. “I would not be free if you still held me captive in my mind. I go alone or not at all.”

“Am I so terrible to be around?” He was closer now. Something brushed my shoulder and I flinched. “You wound me so, Wild One. Sweet lamb.”

A deep anger flickered inside of me at that word. I saw Byrgir’s face, and the anger turned to pain. Sharp, breathless, chest wracking pain.

“Ah, who is this?” the voice said. “You miss him, yes, deeply. You miss him.” More images, memories of Byrgir flashing into my mind. I could not tell if it was my heartsickness for him that brought them up, or if it was the work of the dark presence.

“Get out of my head,” I snapped.

“I could get you back to him.” He left the offer hanging in the air, could tell I was tempted. I said nothing, so he went on, “I could get you home to him. Safe and sound, in one piece. He still lives, you know.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

“I have seen him,” the voice said simply. That was all the explanation I would get.

“You lie,” I said. He had found a tender spot and I would not allow him to exploit it. I kept walking. Going nowhere.

“I have no reason to lie to you. He lives, and he searches for you. Let me take you home to him.”

“No,” I said reflexively, but I was rattled. My body ached with exhaustion, my heart ached for Byrgir.

“Pledge yourself to me, little one. Give yourself to me and I will give you back to him.”

“Leave me alone!” I whirled in the dark to face that looming, invisible presence, fighting back tears as I began to shake. There was silence, but in it I felt his anger rise. Felt the tension grow in the dark.

“Fine.” The fog seemed to warp and bend with the low fury in his voice. What was unsettling before was menacing now. “Chew off your own leg, Wild One. Bleed to death alone, or rot here in this trap. I am your only hope. You will come to me in the end.”

I awoke with tears already streaming down my face. I hugged my knees and cried.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The High Priestess visited for the first time in days. Her smooth, glossy maroon mask hinged at the jaw, moving as she spoke. It gave the mask an unsettling, skull-like feel.

“I assume, by now, that you have deduced your options?” She offered no other greeting.

“I’ve deduced that I am to receive no trial. And that you’re a lunatic,” I said.

I braced myself for the blow of her divine power, and it followed without hesitation. Force cracked into my face, once, twice. It bit with the sting of electricity, like lightning discharging into my bones. My cheek split, and I felt warm blood begin to trickle from my nose. I wanted desperately to strike her back, but she remained on the opposite side of the cell, out of my reach. I knew she’d knock me to the ground with ease before I could reach her.

“I was put in this realm to protect and unite my people against the threat of the shadows. I was made to defend them from the evils of the dark, and I will accomplish my vision. No matter what darkness and monsters you summon.”

“You protect nothing but the house of cards you have built,” I said. “Your mission is a lie designed to exterminate those that get in your way on your path to absolute power.”

This time, her magic came as a shocking grasp of my whole body. My nerves sang with pain, my muscles spasmed, and I fellto the floor. I could not inhale as the pain gripped every cell of me. It obliterated every other thought, any other sensation. My world became only one moment of pain to the next. When she finally released her grip, I curled into a ball, shuddering on the floor.

“You will receive a trial if you should request one,” she said. “But I will tell you, right now and with certainty, how that trial will end. I will cut off your head and mount it on a pike at the city gates. I will burn your body in the Bright Square. And your friend Eilith will join you. You’ll find the same fate if you attempt to escape.”