Feverish tremors ran through Keriya. She was spiraling again. She saw Roxanne dying on the slopes of Mount Arax. She saw Effrax dying on this very field, cornered by shadowbeasts. She saw Thorion drop from the sky, breaking against the rocks.
“Keriya, don’t do it.” Effrax was crawling toward her, dragging himself across the ground. No one moved to stop him. No one seemed to care.
“Time is ticking, dragon-child,” Necrovar said crisply.
She pulled away from the unending nightmare of Thorion’s death, but not to concentrate on the choice Necrovar had presented. Instead she fixated on Effrax. Tears glistened on his battle-stained cheeks. The sight of him weeping drew a broken sob from Keriya’s lips.
“It’s my fault,” he said, reaching for her with a shaking hand. She pulled him close and wra
