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She did not leave the Ledge and escape the slopes.

Salem did not lose his home and Esra his flesh.

Tasheem and Rivdan did not abandon their kind.

Ryon did not put his faith in her, again and again.

Baltisse did not die.

She did not fall in love with a Glacian, just for it all to end here.

And then she hears it once more, the silky voice tempting her into this pit of fire.

Dealt are ends

Of pain or peace

Of withered cries

Of sweet release.

Strangled pleas

Or tender falls.

Inside our breast

Amid our walls.

The voices are louder here. They do not seem to exist within her this time, but all around. It fills the bottomless cavern, and when Dawsyn turns her head, it is to find the others silent and alert. Their eyes dart warily. They all hear it too.

Make your soul unto itself;

break the bone and cure,

For when you lie within the mouth,

The cost will be no fewer.

The roar of the voice grows until it is unbearable. Dawsyn claps her palms over her ears and closes her eyes.

Seal your eyes and sleep,

Still your lips, cease your breath;

Lie where sorrow dares not be,

Free from hands of death.

Dawsyn groans, sinking to the ground at the edge of the path. And before her erupts a sight to cower a titan. It ignites a fear so deep she cannot breathe. She cannot blink.

A hawk rises from the molten lake. Its colossal wings aflame.

Ash chokes Dawsyn, chokes them all. The hawk flaps its mighty wings, rising before them. It fills the enormous cavern, sending waves of heat to burn their skin with each downward swoop.

Yerdos,Dawsyn thinks.

Her limbs do not cooperate. She tries and fails to get her feet beneath her. She hastens away from the edge, pushing her heels frantically against the earth. An arm locks over her chest and hauls her backward.