Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
I can go higher, Jurik tells me.
His wings strain, just a little, but he keeps going.
Higher. And higher. So high that now I’m having to gulp at the air to try and fill my lungs. It’s cold and slightly damp up here, and I shiver as my dragon pushes himself harder and harder.
I can do this, he tells me. I can.
I know you can, I send to him fiercely. If anyone can, it’s you. You’re amazing.
I feel his pride, and the renewed surge of energy. Jurik pushes closer—
—And then something pulses.
It’s like reality breaks for a moment. The Rift itself seems to grow larger, because now it covers the sky in front of us, where it didn’t moments ago. Before I can ask Jurik what’s going on, I feel him falter.
His mind goes black.
And then I feel…something. Something dark and awful and wrong. The Rift feels oppressive and strong and I gag in the back of my throat. I struggle to focus, to pay attention, to try to see what it is that’s causing this feeling. Is it the Rift itself? Is it something else?
Jurik, I ask. Do you see anything?
No answer. The drakoni flaps his wings slowly, bobbing in front of the now-insanely close Rift, but there’s no response to my mental touch.
Something brushes against my hair. A bird?
I jerk in surprise, because birds don’t normally fly this close to Jurik. It’s only when I feel the spindly, hard legs in my hair and hear a strange buzzing that I panic.
I scream. Grab whatever it is and fling it away from me.
I’m horrified at the sight of the insect that flies away. It’s a weird, shiny green, about the size of my forearm, and looks like nothing I’ve ever seen before. With a gasp, I look up at the Rift, just in time to see another enormous bug crawl along the edge before fluttering into the sky here.
Why are bugs coming through? Why—
The air grows heavy. There’s a foul, awful smell that suddenly permeates the air, and the Rift pulses again, growing larger. It looks like it’s going to swallow us up, and I let out a little cry, jerking on the reins attached to my stump. “Jurik! Jurik, we have to get away!”
Jurik doesn’t answer. His mind is completely blank.
“Jurik!” I scream, tugging as hard as I can. “Jurik!”
The smell gets stronger, and I gag again, fighting to keep my lunch down. The Rift shimmers, and I stare uneasily at it, watching in horror as another bug comes through…and then something shifts inside the blackness. Something gleams, ever so slightly, like light reflecting off of an eyeball…
But if that’s an eye, it’s the size of a football stadium.
“Jurik!” I cry, jerking on the reins again. “Please!”
The dragon gives a great, bodily shudder, as if he’s finally hearing me, and flails. His wings flap wildly, his body tilting in midair, and I go flying. My ass leaves the saddle for a long, ugly moment, and then thumps back into it as air rushes past us, ripping at my hair, my cheeks, and my clothing. The world spirals around us, out of control. Jurik’s no longer flapping his wings.
He’s free-falling.
37
JURIK
I cannot see what lurks behind the Rift. I cannot see it…but I can sense it. And it is enough to numb my mind with such horror that I am not certain if I can ever recover.
Evil. Pure evil.
Filth.
Decay.
All these things flood into my mind, corroding the telepathic links I have worked so hard to reforge. Gone is Vaan’s voice, the male checking in as we flew higher and higher. Gone is my mate’s sweet light, leaving only the sickly residue of whatever it is that emanates from the Rift.
Then, the Rift pulses and enlarges, almost as if it is…reaching out for me. Dimly, I hear my mate scream my name, but I am frozen in place, locked into the horror that peers from the other side of the Rift.
It wants to come through.
It is hungry.
And it will leave nothing in its wake.
The Rift throbs and pulses again, an open wound begging to be healed. Instead, it has become even more infected than before…and that infection threatens to spread from beyond the Rift and into this world.
NO.
The voice is soft. Young. Strong. Full of light.
Luminoura.
NO, comes another, equally strong. Sallavatri. She adds her light to Luminoura’s, and both of them reach out to touch my mind, to bring it back from the darkness. I feel them join together, their mental bond sweeping me up into the light as they push back against the Rift.
Whatever is there does not like their brilliance, and recedes once more. I know it is not gone for good—this world is too tempting. But for now, all is well. I float in a haze of distraction, not wanting to return to myself. Not yet. My mind hurts. It is not ready to dwell on what I have learned.