She had to give me answers.
To stop this.
To fix this!
Sol had already lost too much. He would not lose Aflora. Not today.
Where are you? I demanded, standing, searching, peering into the spirit network for my mother’s soul. I know you’re here. I want answers. You will answer me.
The Academy fell away as I floated to the place Exos had taken me, near the electric source. But I didn’t care about the core this time. No, I wanted my mother.
Come to me. Now. I threaded the words with power, urging her to comply. Now! I shouted.
There would be none of this hiding bullshit.
She had information I needed, and we didn’t have time to spare.
Claire? My name was a whisper on the wind, one I followed with my air element, searching for the owner of that voice.
Too far away.
Too cloudy.
Come here now! I screamed, tired of this game, these tricks, the damn hide-and-seek. This ended today.
Energy swirled around me, the elements answering my call and thrusting me into the heavens on a surge of power so great it knocked the breath from my lungs and blinded me with its light. I shielded my eyes, pushing through the thick ropes of spirit threatening to drown me, and shoved to the other side.
To darkness.
I coughed, sputtering from the acrid stench littering the air, and blinked a dozen times to clear the flash from my retinas.
Only to find myself in a cell lined with iron bars that burned.
Literally.
With fire.
What the fuck? I spun around, my feet splashing in unspeakable fluid. I gagged, the air reeking of foulness and death. Where—
I jumped as a hand landed on my arm, the touch as cold as ice. “Claire?”
My mother’s voice.
I whipped my attention to her, startled.
And gaped at the terrifying sight before me.
She resembled a walking corpse, her bones protruding from all angles, her hair a ghastly white, and her eyes… They were as colorless as the night. “M-Mom?”
“Well, isn’t that sweet,” a third voice said, sounding decidedly cruel and all too familiar. “A family reunion at last.”
I slowly looked to my right, through the fiery bars, and met the eyes of my mentor. “Hello, Elana.”
Sol
“Claire!” Exos’s shout pierced my ears, drawing me from my sorrows and introducing me to a new horror.
An unconscious Claire.