When darkness calls, she cannot answer...
Isolated and alone, Halen Windspeare is in over her head. Sacrificing her soul to save the realms, she must now protect the water stone. But the siren hunters won't relent until she is finally annihilated. H...
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Flames burst in the coyote's fur and its jaws split with a howl. With a wave of her hand, Halen snapped the canine's neck to silence the torturous cry. She folded, clutching her stomach as she tried to calm the trembling within, but her sparks gathered for another strike.
Dax! she shouted.
He stood wavering in the flames; his eyes alit with rage.
Stop. She beggedas her magick charged. Please.
A coyote lunged, and she rolled into the fire, screaming until she woke with a start. She bolted upright, only to be pulled back by the thick cuffs pinning her to the ground. She wriggled, the straps burning her skin. What the hell? Her legs caught as well, her ankles bound by the same unforgiving material.
Where am I? Her thoughts raced. The last thing she remembered was... She let her head fall back against a pile of brush. The shifter boy—the owl gliding beside her in the smoke-filled night.
Above, a candelabra hung with crimson candles; the flames flickered, casting shadows along the dirt walls. The putrid scent of rot thickened the air. When Halen turned her head, she flinched, but her magick did not rise to greet the boy with the hungry stare.
"Who are you?" Her voice cracked.
"Danik, Danik, Danik..." His sharp yellow gaze darted to the ceiling, to the left, to the ground, and back to Halen. "My name is Danik." The boy crouched, crossing his arms over his feathery chest.
This couldn't be who bound her with these shackles—the scrawny boy could barely steady his shaking hands—but there had been another in the desert; a shifter with powerful magick.
"Where are we? Why am I bound?"
"Too much power, too much, too-too-too-too much."
Of course, she was tied—she was a murderer. Chills pinched her skin and her stomach cramped. She just wanted to curl up and rest.
"I'm cold. Can you please just loosen the bindings? I'm not feeling well." She tugged the strap attached to a gold chain and followed it to the dagger stabbed in the ground. Three more ruby encrusted daggers attached to gold chains held her in place.
"What is this place?" Her stomach rolled with her words. She swallowed, but the rising acid fought harder. She turned as the hot bile spewed from her lips.
Danik leaped up, gathering her puke in his hands. He sipped, swishing the contents of her stomach back and forth between his cheeks.
This alone churned her stomach once more, and she gagged, throwing up all over his feet.
He stepped back, still swishing her vomit in his mouth. Danik blinked, casting his gaze to the candelabra, and then spit. He swiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Your magick is dirty. We must cleanse."
