Anya is remarkable. I’m glad she’s not a wizard.
A BREAKTHROUGH.
I wish I could tell Randall.
1 EYE of fire gecko
1 ½ cups ground wormwood
2 Kontashi mushrooms
1 tear of a spectacularly agitated troll worm
THERE ARE stories. Coming from the mountains of the North. Of a haunted castle made of ice. Travelers say the mere sight of it brings about a feeling of dread. That screams can be heard from inside, wailing as if in lamentation. Bright lights bursting from within.
Ghosts, they say.
Stay far away, they say.
I can’t.
I have to know.
RANDALL’S DARK. He attacked me. I’d be dead now, except he pulled back at the last moment. He looks… wild. Unhinged. His magic curled around him like fog. He didn’t recognize me at first. I couldn’t have stopped him. Not if he’d truly wanted to end my life.
It wasn’t until I said his name that the fog lifted, if only for a moment.
He saw me, I think.
He really saw me.
“Morgan,” he said. “Morgan, leave—”
“Fight it,” I pleaded. “You have to fight it, because I can’t lose you too.”
He was gone, after that.
But then the screaming resumed from deep within Castle Freesias.
If that’s what losing a cornerstone does to you, what will happen when I lose mine?
WHAT WOULD happen if you combined certain words? Shri and mao and bre are seemingly unconnected, but are they really? What if they were said together? What could that bring?
I DID it.
I helped him on his way back to the light.
I will carry scars of the battle for life, but it’s worth it.
RANDALL’S RETURNED.
He’s different than he was a decade ago.
But then so am I.
I reintroduced him to Anya. She’s older now.
He smiled.