Page 40 of A Trial of Two Worlds
A flicker of midnight entered my sight, and then… nothing.
The feeling of utter emptiness.
Not even sound existed here.
I wandered around in the abyss of shadows, the absence of hope, light, or anything worth living for. The only thing driving the breath in my chest was the instinct to survive. The primal feeling inside all of us that didn’t allow us to give up, even if succumbing to death was the favorable option. I walked on feet that were not my own, wandering in a field of shadow.
Was this her life as a fallen?
This was not living. This was barely surviving.
Gods above. My heart broke for Nyssa. My very soul ached knowing she had to endure this.
Then suddenly, light began to filter in. Sound echoed and bounced off my ears amidst the deafening silence of my prison. I recognized the decay immediately. The territory of the wilt surrounded me, with black veins penetrating the roots of fallen and dead trees. The land was deprived of the life that once flourished here.
And then, I sawme.
I heard myself yell out for my brother as we attacked the harpies, as Skylar, Daxton, and I all huddled together with ice coating our skin.
A warmth or perhaps a sense of life sparked in my core. The glowing hands of Skylar reached for me, and I slowly began to feel the grip of death loosen its hold until, finally, I was free.
“What’s your name?” I felt my head spin toward that voice that I knew was my own.
I felt a rush of emotion overtake Nyssa. Foreign to her for centuries, while she was in her fallen state. A warmth spread in my center as I stared upward. “You’re safe.”
As Nyssa, tranquility and an absolute feeling of safety encircled me. I knew that as long as I stayed by the silver-haired High Fae’s side, I would be safe.
The vision faded, and I returned to my own body, with Nyssa sitting across from me.
She leaned back, bringing her hands up to sign. “I see your bravery, Castor. I see someone who conceals their pain with laughs and jokes, so others don’t worry about what they are forced to endure each and every day. I see silent strength. Someone who is courageous and, above all, loyal to those they choose to love.”
I stilled, unable to speak.
“You and I,” she began, reaching out to touch my heart and then her own. “I know the burden you carry, for I have lived it.”
“Death,” I whispered, clenching my eyes shut. “I carry death with my every breath. And here near the wilt, it—”
I felt Nyssa’s hand cup my cheek, forcing my eyes to open and meet hers.
“We’re both able to see the beauty that only death can unveil,”Nyssa signed.
My body began to tremble as I looked deep into her eyes, allowing myself to be swallowed and washed away by everything I witnessed through them.
“Nyssa,” I whispered her name.
“The silence,” she signed. “For me, it’s the most difficult part of death when my life before was filled with such beauty.”
I inclined my head, eager to hear more, learn anything more about her. “Tell me.”
“I was eighteen when my gift first appeared. Far later than others, but there was no denying its presence.”
“Your gift?” I asked.
Her half-smile was stunning, and one of the first I had truly seen from her. It made my heart soften.
“My voice.”She traced her fingers along her throat.
My eyes were intently locked on every flex of her beautifully delicate hands.
