Chapter 10: Chapter Ten: Shattered Roots.
The shadow dragged me down so fast I lost the light.
My cry ripped from my throat and vanished into the black. Fingers clawed at empty air, but the grip around my ankle was iron—cold, ancient, and merciless.
Then, with a jolt, it broke.
I landed hard, the breath knocked from my lungs. My palms scraped across damp earth, the sting grounding me in the now. I blinked against the blur until shapes sharpened. The cavern was gone.
I was back in the forest.
The trees loomed over me, their branches glowing faintly, as if still alive with whatever had stirred them before. The altar smoldered in the distance, its carvings burned into silence. The chanting was gone. The Keeper was gone.
“Elena!”
Jonah’s voice cut through the clearing like a blade. He was already running, face streaked with sweat, axe still in his hand. His arms wrapped around me before I could move.
“I thought—” His words broke against my shoulder. He didn’t finish them. He just held me tighter, like he could anchor me to the world.
Damien came up behind him, sword lowered, his chest heaving. His eyes swept the altar and the ground, then fixed on me. “What happened down there?”
I shook my head, my throat too raw to answer. The memory of the woman cloaked in firelight still burned behind my eyes.
Jonah pulled back enough to look at me. His hands trembled against my arms. “You disappeared, Elena. The ground opened and swallowed you. I thought—" He cut himself off again, jaw tightening. “You’re here. That’s all that matters.”
But Damien’s gaze didn’t soften. His voice carried weight, low and sharp. “No. Something changed.”
I met his eyes, ready to deny it, but stopped. Because he was right.
The fire still lived under my skin.
My veins glowed faintly, gold flickering with every heartbeat. Jonah saw it too. His brow furrowed, fear mixing with awe.
“Elena…”
I looked down at my hands. Light pulsed through the skin as though I wasn't entirely human anymore. I pressed my palms together, trying to hide it, but the glow only spread wider.
The ground beneath us shuddered. Branches groaned above, heavy with strain.
Damien cursed. “The forest is unraveling.”
The monoliths cracked, glowing fissures running down their faces. One split apart with a roar, collapsing into the earth. The altar trembled, blue fire spilling out like veins splitting open.
Jonah pulled me to my feet. “We have to move.”
But the moment I stood, the quake grew worse. Roots writhed across the clearing, snapping like whips. One lashed out, striking so close the ground erupted in splinters.
Damien seized my arm. “The forest woke to you. It will die with you if you don’t control it.”
“I don’t know how!” I shouted, gripping my head as the pulsing grew stronger inside me. The light in my veins seared, beating in time with the tremors.
Jonah stepped in front of me, fury in his voice. “She doesn’t have to control anything. We just get her out.”
The forest answered with another violent crack. A tree split in half, its trunk spilling molten fire where sap should have been. The smell of scorched wood choked the air.
Damien pointed toward the eastern ridge. “The boundary. If we cross it before this place collapses, we might live. Move!”
We ran.
The ground heaved under our feet, roots rising to block our path. Jonah hacked through them, sparks flying from his axe. Damien cut through another, his blade a blur. I stumbled more than once, but Jonah’s grip pulled me back each time.
The forest screamed. That was the only word for it—a long, breaking cry that tore through the clearing as tree after tree split apart, fire spilling from their wounds.
Ahead, the ridge glowed faintly—our way out.
“Almost there!” Jonah shouted.
But the altar wasn’t done.
A final crack split its surface. From its core, chains of blue fire erupted, whipping through the air like living serpents. They lashed across the clearing, striking the ground in bursts of sparks.
One shot toward me.
Jonah shoved me aside, catching the chain across his shoulder. He grunted, knees buckling as smoke curled from the burn.
“Jonah!” I dropped beside him, grabbing his arm. His skin glowed faintly where the chain had touched, the fire sinking into him.
Damien grabbed my other arm, hauling me upright. “Move, Elena! He’ll follow!”
But Jonah staggered, clutching his shoulder. His face was pale, his teeth clenched against the pain.
The altar roared, fire spilling higher, chasing us.
Damien’s grip tightened. “If you don’t move now, none of us get out.”
I looked at Jonah. His eyes met mine, steady even through the pain. “Go.” His voice was strained but firm. “I’m right behind you.”
The ground cracked again, widening into a chasm that split the clearing in two. Flames surged upward, cutting us off from the altar.
Jonah shoved me toward the ridge. “Run!”
I hesitated one second too long.
Then the forest tore itself apart.
We leapt across roots, ducked falling branches, and felt heat searing at our backs. My lungs burned, my legs screamed, but I kept running—Jonah’s footsteps pounding behind mine, Damien’s ahead.
The ridge loomed closer. The air shimmered with the boundary’s veil. If we crossed, we would be free.
With one last surge, I threw myself forward. My body crashed through the shimmer, and suddenly the fire was gone. The air was clean, sharp with night.
Jonah stumbled out behind me, collapsing to one knee. Damien followed, sword still drawn, his eyes scanning the boundary.
The forest behind us writhed once more. Then, with a sound like thunder, it collapsed inward. Trees folded into fire, the altar split in two, and the light sank into the earth.
Silence followed.
Jonah gasped, clutching his shoulder where the chain had struck. His skin burned with that same blue fire, etched into him like a brand.
I dropped beside him, panic surging. “You’re hurt—”
His hand caught mine. His grip was weak, but his eyes held me steady. “Doesn’t matter. You made it out.”
But Damien crouched on his other side, face grim. His gaze fixed on the fire glowing beneath Jonah’s skin. “It’s not just a wound. The altar marked him.”
Jonah’s jaw clenched. He didn’t argue.
I shook my head, refusing the words. “We’ll fix it. We’ll find a way.”
But Damien’s eyes flicked to mine, sharp and certain. “No. The forest chose him. Just like it chose you.”
Jonah’s body trembled. The blue fire flared brighter under his skin, spreading slowly down his arm.
I held his face in my hands, my heart racing. “Jonah, stay with me.”
He breathed hard, his forehead pressing against mine. His voice came low and ragged. “Always.”
Then the fire flared again, and his body jerked.
The mark was consuming him.
And I didn’t know how to stop it.