Page 197 of Infernal Bonds

Over and over, I compartmentalized the things that overwhelmed or frightened me in the back of my mind, always moving forward and doing the right thing—or at least what I believed was the right thing.

Bondrot wasn’t allowing me to do that anymore, forcing me to face not only the past but also the place that frightened me and the things I wished to run from.

“If the heirs die, Cornaith continues to lead the council indefinitely. He can’t die, or we die. You know that if he’s allowed to remain on the throne, there will come a day when he dismisses the needs and desires of his people for his own ambitions. You’ve noticed the cracks already.”

It wasn’t anything I hadn’t thought of already. The nightmare was merely voicing what I’d never spoken aloud.

“Should someone challenge him and kill him, then we die.”

After so many years feeding off Kalthea’s soul energy for every minor ailment that took longer than a few minutes to heal on its own, absorbing enough energy from the slipstream to survive a mortal injury would cause Elyrdin to collapse.

I’d questioned Amra after she revealed that truth to me.

I’d been curious about how Elyrdin would fall apart and everyone would die without the soul power to keep things going. Could they not learn to live without it? Humans survived without electricity for ages.

It was then that she revealed how Shyrlivi passively absorbed soul magic while using its energy in everyday activities. Though not to the level Cornaith reached by directly feeding on Kalthea. It was more like an electric current they never felt and that didn’t damage them.

If Cornaith were to absorb enough of Kalthea to avoid death, it would drain the energy Shyrlivi had accumulated in their bodies over centuries to correct the imbalance. While that wouldn’t kill everyone, the resulting loss could be catastrophic.

Cornaith believed his people needed him so much that he’d willingly sacrifice an undetermined number of them to sustain himself.

“Elyrdin needs you to make the princes stronger,” Quinfina said, adding to the heavy thoughts swirling in my mind. “The prophecy says you shall make them stronger through the bond.”

I never understood what that meant, so I didn’t expect nightmare Quinfina to explain it. She couldn’t tell me more than I already knew.

“Time’s up.”

“What?”

Quinfina stepped aside, revealing the path ahead. Two figures stood together in the distance, but the fog and dimness made it impossible to tell who they were.

I turned to her. “If this is all in my head anyway, what is the point of all this?”

“Dreams are dreams. They reveal what lies deep in your subconscious—what you dwell on even if you refuse to acknowledge it aloud.”

Of course I dwelled on the guilt I felt. Who wouldn’t?

I hadn’t realized how deeply the regret I felt about leaving the house to go into Alonia affected me. Though I imagined Bondrot had something to do with it. If it destroyed the mind, then exploiting my insecurities seemed fitting.

It still didn’t mean I wasn’t to blame.

“You should go.”

“I’d rather wake up.”

“You know you won’t until you see this through.”

I huffed and gave her a flat look. “Can you not?”

“That’s up to you.”

“What?”

“You control the dream. You’ve chosen to waste time arguing with me to avoid what your subconscious wants to show you.”

Clearly, my brain wasn’t my friend right now.

“I’ll have to remember not to tell the real you off when I see you again,” I muttered as I passed her, heading for the two figures in the distance.