23
PILLAR OF FIRE
The explosion tore through the wood and blew splinters and shards for a hundred yards around it. That much the tree acknowledged before it died in an inferno. Rashel’s mind didn’t register that. She ran the few feet from the grass stem she’d latched onto to the tree but could approach no closer for the heat. Nevai! That was who she really reached for, but she couldn’t find his mind there at the base of the flames that shot out like a geyser. The fire pushed her back, but she fought her way forward with magic. She conjured a shield to press against the heat and forced herself into the flames but still could not find him.
He can’t be dead, he can’t be dead, he can’t be dead.
Her mind began the chant, but she knew it for a lie. She could never get those words out of her
