CHAPTER 59
BELLA'S POV
I could do nothing but lie there, helpless, as the flames licked hungrily at the air, creeping closer and closer to the edge of the circle. Each breath came weaker than the last, shallow and strained. And the chains… it was as if they were draining every ounce of strength I had, determined to leave me nothing but a hollow shell. If the fire didn’t take me first, the chains would. One way or another, I was running out of time.
Somewhere beyond the smoke and crackling flames, I could hear muffled screaming. Distant, but definitely real.
I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing myself to think of anything else. Maybe, just maybe, it would make the pain easier to bear.
Then, cutting through the chaos, I heard a battle horn. Faint, but unmistakable. One blast, then another.
