hm of Kael's steady strides and

eparate from me by the strange, shimmering warmth that eman

ldn't

le of broken sensations c

lost m

t changed

ay to trees I didn't recognize-their bark darker, twi

th the scent of loam, moss, and

d ever wal

d felt..

wat

we stopped. Before us was not a cave or a hut, but the immen

o the earth. Kael turned sideways and carri

defied all

g a clean scent of cedar and dried herbs. Faint, soft light emanated from clusters of

holding clay pots and woven baskets. A low bed of

as a

ho

the bed of furs. The softness against my ravaged skin was almost a new kind of pain-a reminder of what gen

with an efficiency that spoke of grim

stone bowl of clear water, strips of clean, soft cloth, and a paste in a wooden

t," he said, m

se com

tru

g, I thought, anything to stop the sl

be

the Moonblade's gash. Agony, raw and brilliant, roared back to life, shredding

d came to rest firmly on my forehead, not restraining, but anchoring.

you." I tried. I focused on the pressure of his hand, on th

furs, but I didn't fight him. The cleaning w

the deep ache, but it was a clean burn, one that seemed to

he cloth strips, his silence was heavy

sed a Mo

Not for a... hollowing." He said the w

severed. It is a soul-share." Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes, tracking into my hair. He

oaked. "Why

finishing the bandage and sitting back on his heels. His silver ga

ful simply because one cannot pos

.' You are here. You are hollowed. And you are ali

thing." The confession, voiced aloud in this sacred, silent space, felt

his voice low. "Barren. Silent. But the s

ew things. Different things. Things the old forest never dreamed

es

lace. Sleep is the first medicine." Exhaustion, a tidal wave b

w fear whispered. Not of Vivian, or of death. It was the fear of

silhouette of pure, untamed strength, standing at the entrance o

soul. And in that, there was a terrible, fragile sliver of somet

possibility