James’s head was a seething cauldron of thoughts, his body a tuning fork of emotion. One moment he’d been fighting the giants, protecting Grace, the next he was shouting in pain, unable to control the turmoil in his mind. Faces, so many faces. Voices, so many voices.
Clutching at his ears, he fell to his knees. The jarring helped. The faces faded and the voices quieted, allowing rational thought to form. Had to…protect… Grace…again… But when he pried his eyelids apart, he saw that the giants were gone.
So was Grace.
James was no longer near the river, no longer in the forest. A barren wasteland surrounded him. What trees he saw were gnarled, their leaves withered. Ash floated in an acidic wind, black snow scented with death and destruction. And he smelled something…rotting.
He recogniz
