Page 156 of Daughter of the Dark Sea

“Calypso has more planned for you. I cannot interfere with another god’s will. You have great purpose, Kordelia.”

A terrifying, otherworldly force knocked her back. It enveloped her, pushing her through the depths and away from Umbra. She catapulted through the folds of the barrier, flying through the ashen void, past the frozen tunnel of lost souls.

“Stay strong until we meet again. You are one of the blessed.”

The sickening, inky tar latched onto her back, dragging her towards the light.

“See? She’s coming to.”

“Something wasn’t right. I could feel her at Thanos’ door—”

“Don’t speak his name. We do not worship the old gods anymore.”

The vines tentatively grasped hold of Kora’s limbs before winding around her body, and tears streamed down her face as the barrier to Umbra faded in the distance.

“Kora? Time to wake up.”

Warmth surged through her, her bones snapping back into place, her skin regaining moisture and air as Kora sucked in a hungering, dry breath.

And then she opened her eyes.

59

Green light blinded her. Kora’s skin was sallow, and she blinked, adjusting from escaping the Eternal Tryk.

“There she is.”

Barron.

Trees loomed over and all around her. Twisted, thick dark roots clawed from the ground, mud slicking her already filthy leathers. A pair of hands hovered over her body, searching, probing, and she swatted Blake away, scrambling until the rough bark of a tree scraped her back.

She was in the Emerald Forest. Just about. The path to her left led to the Citadel, and through the break of trees, she could spot the sweet, sweet ocean.

Blake paused, his green stare tracking her every movement. He wringed his hands before shaking them, as if something on them bothered him. Barron stood nearby, his oil-black hair dishevelled, donning a black longcoat and shirt. He was surrounded bythoseguards, and the reek of them made her gag. They smelled unnatural.

“Welcome back, Kora,” Barron sharply smiled. “You gave us quite the scare.”

“How did we get here?”

“Oh, you’ve been unconscious for a day. We needed to get you somewhere safe, away from those pesky rebels.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat. The metal collar was still clasped around her neck—the constant reminder she was a prisoner, a slave, to this bilge rat. She used the trunk of the tree to steady herself, slowly raising to her feet. Her legs trembled. She feltsoweak.

Blake’s face was taut, lips thin, and he hovered between her and Barron, warily glancing at the latter. Last time she’d been here, she’d revealed her power to him.

Perhaps she could do it again.

In an instant, she flung her hand out, clenching her jaw as she claimed the final small dregs of her power. She was utterly drained—a trip to the Eternal Tryk would do that. A slither of water shot from the ground, spearing to her hand. It morphed instinctively, and she clasped a shimmering sabre dagger, aiming at Barron.

He stood there, his smile broadening into a grin. His dark eyes alight with amusement. “Blake!” He clicked his fingers.

Blake sighed, and with a simple flutter of his fingers, the tree behind her twisted, branches wrapping around her body, pinning her to the trunk. Vines erupted from the ground, twisting around her ankles and wrists, another circling her forehead, pulling her head back roughly against the bark.

Blake prowled slowly, his eyesburninga deep, green ember. A shiver rippled through him, and his dark shadow emerged, echoing his footsteps, but always a second behind. The vines clenched against Kora’s skin. They were cold, andher skin turned blue from their touch.

Blake halted, and her nose wrinkled at his developing scent. He smelled like the earth, of soil and petrichor, and leaves in the autumn. Hewasthe earth. Another elemental counterpart.

“I was disappointed you never noticed,” he spoke quietly. “The blessed can usually recognise each other.”