Page 192 of A Fate in Flames

Invisible hands gripped my very essence, ripping me away from the scene.

I screamed, clawing at the empty air.

My mothers form blurred, colours running together like a painting left in the rain.The walls of my childhood home stretched and warped, reality itself bending around me.

“UMMI!”

Darkness swallowed me whole, then the forest slammed back into focus.

My lungs burned as I gasped for air, each breath a jagged knife in my heart.Tears streamed down my face, dripping from my chin.

Strong hands gripped my arms, steadying me when my knees buckled.

“Elira!”

Theo’s voice penetrated the fog of my grief, his face distorted by my tears.

“Elira, look at me!”

Tavrik’s deep voice joined Theo’s, his large hands cupping my face, forcing me to focus.He wiped at my tears with calloused thumbs, a futile gesture against their endless flow.

Their voices were muffled by the storm roaring inside me.

All I could hear was my mother’s broken voice, calling for me across the divide between worlds.Begging me to return to her.The pain in her words, the physical deterioration of her body—all off it was my fault.

“Iforgother, Theo.”My voice broke.“I forgot all about her.”

I ran.

Faster than I ever had before, my muscles burning with miserable intensity.The tall grass whipped against my thighs, leaving stinging welts as I propelled across the forest.

Theo and Tavrik’s boots hammered against the earth behind me, their shouts cracking as they gave chase.

They would not catch me—could not catch me.

Selfish.Selfish.Selfish.

The word battered against my skull.

Zaheera had found the single thread that when pulled, would unravel me entirely.

The vision clung to me like second skin, burning through flesh and bone.My mother, alone.Sick.Calling for me in the darkness.

I reached the heart of the ceremonial grounds just as a pulse of power slammed into me like a wall.

It was deafening now—no longer a whisper but a roar.An echo of something ancient clawing its way to the surface.

The stone was here.

It had always been here, lurking beneath.I had ignored it—turned away in fear, but I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

The moment my feet struck the exact spot, the power exploded into white-hot fire.I crashed to my knees, agony lancing through my veins.

Theo and Tavrik skidded to a halt inches from where I knelt.Their shadows fell across me, but I didn’t look up.

I dug.

The stone slabs were rough-hewn and heavy, their edges biting into my palms as I wrenched them free from their centuries-old resting place.My nails splintered against the unyielding rock.