Chapter 144: The Race Against Time
XENOIS
I stood at the edge of the path, staring down at a scene that seemed to defile everything that I thought I knew about reality.
My son - Riley, who I'd been told was dead or dying somewhere in these woods - was lying on the rocks below, alive and breathing. Beside him knelt Thorne and a woman I didn't recognize, her hands still glowing with residual magical energy that made the hair on my arms stand on end.
My legs gave out completely, and I found myself sliding down the rocky slope without any regard for the cuts and bruises I was accumulating along the way. All that mattered was reaching Riley, holding him, confirming that this wasn't some cruel hallucination brought on by grief and desperation.
When I finally reached the bottom, I immediate
