Page 35
LIVING NIGHTMARES
SERYN
M y hand tightened around my dagger as terror and nightmare-like mist leaked from the building. It crept toward us, shrieking with every undulation and slow-motion caress against the broken clay. Or rather—it projected a symphony of horrified wailing.
My ember slammed against my scar in erratic bursts.
I lifted my chin.
“Likely from whatever’s inside,” Rhaegar mused.
Gavrel nodded and moved forward. “That’s what I’m thinking. Stay together.”
As we neared the slinking darkness, my power buzzed under my skin. The atmosphere chilled the closer we came, the screams filling my head, and apprehension sinking its fangs into my guts. Overwhelming despair carved into my ribs; the urge to curl into a frozen ball was unrelenting.
Marek sneered, and Gavrel rubbed his chest hard. I paused, swaying, yearning for the black fog to cradle me within its heady embrace. Breena glanced back at me, her eyes squinting, before whipping back to the mist that was almost upon us.
“Gather ’round me,” Breena barked, her words caught in a cloud of icy breath as she came to me. She sheathed her daggers and concentrated on her cupped hands. Cherry-red aura spilled from her, and her energy enveloped us in a hazy film of sparking crimson.
A collective sigh filled our sanctuary as a balmy warmth soothed my body. I shook my head, helping my mind to clear the wicked miasma that had been tampering with my senses.
“Well done,” Rhaegar said, allowing his rune to ignite. Setting his jaw, Gavrel did the same, and their weapons pulled the radiance along their blades. His injury was bothering him, but he wouldn’t admit it.
Begrudgingly, Marek grunted in something akin to agreement.
Breena smirked as we moved again, and as the mist clawed at her protective shield, its whirling eddies skimmed over the edges and agitatedly folded back into themselves before slinking away.
Rhaegar and Gavrel prodded at the bolder tendrils of vapor creeping up our bubble. They, too, shrank away with each stab, rearing back and screeching before slithering off to join their brethren.
Approaching the structure, our group, protected by Breena’s shield, reflected in the shiny panel. Marek tapped the surface with his staff as Gavrel poked it with his sword. They looked at one another with matching droll expressions.
Amusement stirred in my throat, but I swallowed it as a thrumming pulse of ember forced their weapons away from the building. I hovered my fingers over the panel, and prickles of icy energy needled at my flesh.
Gavrel grabbed my other wrist before I could fully touch the wall. I shook my head, and he sighed, knowing I was going to do it anyway. Power zapped my skin when I pressed my finger to the surface. I snatched my hand back and shook it out to rid myself of the lingering sting.
Brows furrowed, Marek reached out, his dark flames skating over him. Breena squeaked and smacked his arm. He hesitated, raising an eyebrow at her.
She crossed her arms and sniffed, pushing her worried expression into a mask of indifference. “Just felt like smacking ya. Go ahead and touch this death trap.”
Marek pinched his lips and narrowed his eyes before slapping his palm on the wall. He groaned, his eyes crushing closed as his power zipped over his arm and slammed into the surface.
All at once, a sharp, grating sound throbbed through the air, and I cringed. The hairs on the back of my neck and arms raised, and my ember prickled down my spine.
“Marek!” I shouted as muscles tensed across his arm and back, the raven tattoo on his shoulder blades twitching with each painful twist of his expression.
The stone rippled beneath my cousin’s touch like ink, creeping over his hand with sticky fingers that sucked him in.
Marek fought back, battering the panel with his flames and quarterstaff, but it was no use.
“It’s … it’s not enough. I can’t pull free,” he snarled.
Rhaegar and Gavrel grabbed my cousin’s torso and shoulders, yanking him out, but the blackness coated his forearm now, dragging him into the wall like quicksand.
My heartbeat filled my ears in time with the pulsing screak of the structure. Panic gripped my bones and vibrated through my limbs. I unleashed my gift, fractured rainbows splintering over me, and breathed in deeply.
Breena pushed her shoulders back, and her shield burned brighter. “Blimey, woman. Take my ember and help ’im!”
My brow crumpled, my mouth hanging open, and hands numb. I am you, and you are me . I focused on Breena’s ember, and my power purred as it lapped at hers.
Her jaw set as she concentrated, the orb around us sputtering. I looked at Gavrel and Rhaegar, and they nodded. My halo grabbed onto their radiance, too, their light twisting and melting with Breena’s as it bled into mine.
I focused, pushing the combined energy through my body and down my arms. The branch patterns zinged and rippled along my forearms, the colors melding as my ember consumed and blended the others’ gifts into something new.
Now .
Pulsing in time with my measured breaths, a blaze of iridescence covered my hands. I moved toward Marek and gripped his biceps just as the structure’s molten tendrils coated his elbow.
All at once, I forced my power into my cousin’s aura. My halo exploded around me, and his was a blazing ebony inferno. He sagged, and a look of astonishment quickly turned into determination as he slammed his enhanced gift into the liquid shadows.
They reared back with a squelching screech, releasing him. The last of my borrowed ember poured into Marek. He forced his power over the wall, which splattered and gurgled in an outward ripple until a tall, undulating opening presented itself to us.
Breena’s shield dropped, her power sinking. Without hesitation, we all barged through the doorway. As the screaming mist sucked back into the base, the passage sealed itself with a loud squish behind us.
Mine and Marek’s auras fizzled out, and my shoulders slumped, exhaustion pulling at my frame. Marek jammed his staff into the floor, his fist tight as if he would topple over without its support.
The Murk’s heavy weight of despair lessened, but a skittering sense of unease took its place across my shoulders.
“This place is fecking exhausting,” Breena complained, rubbing her hands over her arms.
Rhaegar turned slowly as he nodded. “The Murk is draining everything more quickly. Our strength. Time. Ember. Best be moving along.”
Gavrel and Rhaegar’s glowing tattoos and weapons guided us as my sight adjusted to the dimness.
Taking a step back, Rhaegar bumped into something solid. A light flickered within. He spun, his axe swinging into the object, but the glowing blade simply bounced off the glass surface with a clack. “I’ll be damned.” He retreated, sucking in air as the light within the glass snuffed out.
With wide eyes, we all turned in place, taking in the scene around us. There were countless hovering glass spheres filled with slithering vapor. Sporadically, honey-colored light flashed in each like watching lightning crashing around a storm cloud.
They scattered throughout the massive open space, from floor to ceiling. The midnight-black walls, ceiling, and floor blended seamlessly, making the glass vestibules appear to be giant bubbles frozen in a fathomless, glinting void.
“There’s something … there’s something inside.” I reached out to the nearest container, and it flickered to life. Its haze twirled agitatedly, weaving with the amber light and pulsing within like a heartbeat.
Mesmerized, I moved closer to get a better look. Suddenly, a hand slammed into the glass from within. I yelped, stumbling. The others flanked my sides, weapons ready.
The older man pushed against his prison; a silent scream carved into his face. He writhed in terror, his eyes glassy and unseeing.
In horrified fascination, the group wandered, observing the prisoners. None of them were aware of anything outside their entombment.
Scenes of intense fear or sorrow surrounded us; people rocking or curled in a ball. Women tearing at their hair and skin. Men writhing or grasping at their chests. Running, falling, slamming into the glass.
“We need to help them.” My whisper echoed through the darkness, bouncing off the globes.
In response, my scar tingled faintly. Shadows moved along the edges of my vision, but maybe I was seeing things.
The weight of fatigue pulled at my joints, but so did the guilt of not being able to save everyone.
A brief glimmer of empathy flickered across Marek’s face—the most I had ever seen from him.
Breaking the moment, the look dissolved so quickly that I wasn’t sure if I’d imagined it, reminding me of the walls he had built around himself.
Marek tapped the orb floating above us, and it lit up with a younger woman within.
He frowned. “You’re not wrong, but we need to conserve energy if we’re to help your friend and figure out a way out of this. Get back to Yaya.”
My spine wilted; he was right.
Rhaegar nodded. “We’ll devise a plan, but he’s spot-on. In our current state …”
His words tumbled away as he was distracted by the female above us.
“Ancients take me,” Breena muttered, staring.
Light hair and clothes fluttered around the young woman as if she were in water. Her limbs sluggishly paddled through the mist until her body jerked, and she pawed at her throat, choking on invisible liquid.
My lungs seized with hers as she drowned, anxiety and memories tumbling through me as she convulsed. Then her limp form hung within the glass for a moment, mist caressing and sticking to her.
I sucked in the breath she couldn’t before her form arched painfully back and animated once more. The horrific scene replayed all over again.
“They’re trapped in their nightmares,” I blurted, panic tearing at me as my fingers grazed my neck. Images of my near-drowning and Kaden writhing in agony poured over me like icy shards.
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