Chapter 21: The Fever Dream
The world was not black. It was red.
It swirled with the color of blood and fire. I was floating in it, suspended in a thick viscous fluid that smelled of antiseptic and ozone. My limbs were heavy. My roar was silenced by the tube shoved down my throat.
But my mind… my mind was still in the woods.
I was back in the cabin. The walls were whole again. The fire was gone. The storm was locked outside.
Elara was there.
She was standing by the bed. She was naked, her skin glowing like moonlight against the dark timber walls. She was holding a bundle in her arms. My son.
"Kaelen," she whispered. Her voice was a siren song. "Why did you let them take us?"
"I didn't," I rasped, though in this dream, I had no voice. "I fought for you."
"You failed," she said. She
