The orb lifts off my hand, light as a bubble floating into the air. It hovers over my palms and unravels like a ball of yarn, threads of fire swirling with green grass, twisting with streams of white feathers and veins of blood. It floats away from me, unraveling and growing in size, doubling and tripling until I no longer feel the rain, my drenched clothes or freezing hands, or even my fear.
I feel only love and connection-a connection that's immense and infinite. So like how I felt when I had the Sight, connected to the necessity of everything. Even me. In some remote part of my mind it registers how long it's been since I've felt this way. Necessary.
The orb unravels to twice my height and the swirling pattern solidifies into a tunnel like it did all those months ago. A portal with no end, no visible other side, but with walls that are stars and sun-seared deserts and the faces of every person in every time that ever was.
It moves toward me, or I move toward it, and one thread grows wider, liquid and glimmering like a sunstruck stream. Beside me, Shadow fades between her physical and ethereal form, smoky one moment and solid the next. I can't see beyond the thread, but Shadow pulls on the lead and I sense in my gut that it's the way to Bas.
I step forward.
It's instant agony-a cleaving inside me. Mind shredding away from body, heart pulling away from soul. Relentless pain, like a rift tearing through every part of me, and I know this is the poison that shouldn't be here, the poison Samrael brought to something that should be pure. I'm just beginning to wonder if it'll ever end when, with no warning, I lurch forward and go somersaulting over and over, no idea which way is up or down, no concept of where my body ends, until I finally stop.
Shaken, I climb unsteadily to my feet.
Dizziness hits me and almost sends me back down. A salty taste slides over my tongue and I feel a deep throbbing ache begin at the base of my skull, like my heart has relocated there. I take a few deep breaths, waiting for it to go away, but it only lessens. Knowing I'll have to experience that again to leave here, dread starts to creep in. I can't focus on that now, though.
Shadow stands a short distance away. She's trembling and wide-eyed but looks unharmed.
The orb hovers a few feet away from me, spinning slowly and bright as a star. I pluck it out of the air and it immediately begins to dim in my hand. My breath catches as I notice that the crack on its surface looks longer, angrier.
Did I damage it by coming here? Have I broken it?
Panic bolts through me, but it's another thing I can't dwell on.
"It's okay, Shadow. We're okay." I run my hand over her neck, trying to give her reassurance I need myself.
I've arrived in a forest-not the arctic landscape I'd expected-and I've left the rain behind. The trees that surround me are ancient and gnarled, as much snaking roots as arching branches. I turn in a circle, still wobbling on my feet. I don't recognize what species of tree. Nothing I've ever seen before. They're everywhere-all I see.
That's when I notice the stillness.
Every single branch is motionless.
Even every leaf.
There's no wind here, no breeze, and it's dead silent. Soft moonlight filters down through the treetops like powdered chalk, and a subtle earthy smell surrounds me.
Shadow lets out a whinny and I jump, startled.
"What is it, girl?" Her ears flip forward and back. "Okay, Shadow. Easy. We're just going to see what happens for a minute."
It scares me that she's nervous. What's she sensing that I'm not?
I listen for what feels like an eternity. All I hear is Shadow's breathing and my own. Disappointment settles in, but what did I think would happen? That Bas would be right here, waiting for me to show up? Maybe this isn't even the right place.
Shadow nudges me in the back.
"Good idea." I remove my heavy coat and tie it to the saddle. Then I mount up and put her into a walk, alert to any sign of Bastian. Extra alert to signs of Samrael. He came through the portal too; I can't lose sight of that.
Under the canopy, the thud of Shadow's hooves on the loamy forest floor sounds close, like it's right beside my ears. The throbbing at the base of my skull has evened out to a noticeable but painless weight, like a hand resting on the back of my head.
Which isn't creepy, Daryn. Just a concussion, probably.
I pass tree after tree, and nothing changes. It's almost as though I'm on a treadmill. Moving with no visible progress. After a while-how long?-I stop Shadow and dismount. Time feels strange. When I check my phone to see how long I've been here, I discover that it's dead.
Of course. Of course it is.
I slide it back into my pocket and resist reaching for the knife stashed in my backpack.