Page 181 of Fallen Nocturne

“Svenn,” I call out, softer now. Saving my strength. “Svenn, I’m coming. I’m coming for you. Just wait for me. Please wait for me.”

The dead walk past, unseeing and unhearing. They don’t care about my quest. They have their own.

I don’t stop walking.

I won’t stop, not until I find him. This is my purpose now. I will bring him home.

I walk past a group of souls clustered together, past an orc who’s carved names into the sand, past a weeping fae.

None of them are Svenn.

A figure ahead turns at my voice. My heart leaps but it’s not him. It’s just another lost soul, confused by the sound of their own forgotten name.

I keep walking.

My feet start to hurt. How strange. I didn’t think I could feel pain here. But each step becomes harder. The sand seems to grab at my boots, trying to hold me in place.

I push forward.

“Svenn!”

My voice is getting weaker.

The sun doesn’t set in Death’s realm. It looms in that empty sky, draining everything beneath it.

“Svenn,” I whisper through my dry throat. “Where are you?”

No answer. But I don’t give up.

I know he’s here somewhere.

And I promised I would never stop fighting for him.

In life and in death.

That’s what he said.

So I walk.

And walk.

And walk.

Chapter 25 Rhianelle

“Svenn,” I croak. “Svenn, please. Please answer me.”

Nothing.

My legs tremble and my throat is raw from calling his name over and over and over.

I stumble past a soul sitting in the sand, staring at his hands. I pass another running in circles, chasing something that isn’t there.

None of them are him.

“Svenn!”

My voice breaks.