Page 16 of Claim the Light
As the invisible ropes tighten around my legs, the ash on my body also seems to cling more tightly, compressing all of my limbs, as if it has formed a tether to the dark water I’m plummeting into.
I try to turn, fighting to move my arms so I can twist, seeking to find Micah and Beatrix in the wash.
All I see is churning water.
It rakes over me like daggers as I plunge farther down.
Falling… falling…
I’m forced to close my eyes while I try not to open my mouth and exhale the cry that’s pushing at my throat.
Then, just as abruptly, I come to a stop.
Silence falls around me.
My eyes flash open.
Only to discover I’m now floating in a vast, dark space.
It isn’t filled with water, but there doesn’t seem to be any air, either. Despite that, I’m somehow breathing. At least, IthinkI’m breathing. All I know for certain is that I’m not gasping for air or choking.
I can’t see the edges of this place, can’t sense its boundaries. There is no bottom or top or anything to stand on. I’m suspended innothingand the sheer impossibility of the area around me is tearing at my mind.
With relief, I locate Micah, who floats nearby. His eyes are still closed, but his wings unfurl, spreading out in the dark like sheets of stone that have been hammered flat and now ripple in the darkness.
A short distance from him, Beatrix is also suspended in the air, her short hair floating around her face, her lithe body like a reed swaying in the darkness.
Neither of them gives any sign of being conscious.
The ash on their bodies sparkles like deadly diamonds, glowing more brightly with every passing second, providing the only light around me.
Beatrix said the ash made her feel like she was falling into a dark pit with no way out.
Well, here we are. Apparently dragged into oblivion by this hateful substance.
My goal was to get rid of that dust, but now, my primary concern is escape.
Desperately, I reach out to Micah, trying to swim toward him, only to find that the air around me is as slippery as ice and as thick as oil.
I can’t seem to move an inch.
As I struggle to swim, light refracts around me, the ash on my own body somehow reacting to my surroundings by flickering and shining right up into my eyes. The blinding flashes force me to stop.
I fight my panic as the heavy silence pushes down on me.
Fuck! If I can’t move, how can I escape?
The emptiness around me is slowly shredding my sense of self. As if the pieces of my heart and soul are being dissected within my body and soon, I won’t be able to hold myself together.
I inhale a deep breath—if, indeed, it’s a breath I’m taking—and scream into the darkness. “Where am I?”
My voice echoes back at me, and that’s when I sense a new presence.
As if born from the sound of my cry, a shape materializes within the darkness only a few paces away, standing terrifyingly close to me.
It’s a male form, taller even than Callan and as slender as a wraith. He’s dressed in black from his neck to his feet and wearing an inky cloak that sways around his figure.
I try to see his features, but a black crown, which appears to be made from some kind of dense metal, sits around his eyes. Its dark spokes rise up around his forehead, leaving only the lower half of his face visible. His skin is pale, a washed-out gray hue.
