Wanted dead or alive by three warring Goddesses, Oriana must journey into the heart of the Thornwood to seek the aid of a legendary phoenix and right the wrongs of her bloody past.
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"Bastion," I whispered, planting my hands against the glass.
It was a cell with no windows or doors; only smooth crystal with a whitish hue that blurred his edges. He'd reverted to his wolf form and was pacing back and forth, looking especially wraith-like as he dissolved through whorls in the natural grain of the rock.
"How is he breathing?" I asked abruptly. "There aren't any holes. He's going to suffocate —"
"Hush," Sol said sternly, his hand coming down hard on my shoulder. "You will wake the guards."
I snorted, doubting they'd wake anytime soon. Sol had walked ahead and shown them a scroll with 'new orders' — followed by a swift strike under the chin while they squinted at a blank page. Now they lay crumpled like sock puppets pulled off the hand.
"I have to get him out," I hissed, focussing my panic and desperation on my hands. I banged on the glass. I motioned for Sebastian to move, to retreat into the back of the cell, but he was oblivious to my presence and kept pacing.
"Red," Sol warned, forgetting my name again. "What are you d—"
Crystal gave way with a high-pitched squeal; my hands melted through the wall. A sharp, sulphurous smell flooded the hall and I fought the urge to gag as I pushed through the solid rock like it was thick mud, carving a hole and slopping the excess onto the floor.
Sol swore, backing away as molten glass splashed towards him. I didn't care that it was dangerous; I didn't care that I singed my arms as I pushed my hand through the hole, widening it. Using my powers was like lighting a torch on a dark plane, visible from miles away, but I ignored the brilliant pinks and oranges spiking up the walls.
Sebastian was in there. I needed him to be okay. I needed him to —
There was nothing inside.
A flash of silver up the hall had me running again. This time the Wraith was pacing in a new chamber, with even thicker walls than the last; still he paid no heed to me on the other side. I melted through the rock anyway, ignoring Sol's muttered curses and the smell of my own burning flesh. It would heal, but Sebastian could only breathe for so long, and...
The wall gave way, a massive segment flopping forward, like Gretchen's toffee before it set. It wasn't even a chamber that I stumbled into; it was another hall, running parallel to this one.
"I don't understand," I whispered, pulling back with dismay. "I saw..."
Sol grunted. "Such is the way with this place. There is magic in the rock; you will often find things in the walls that defy understanding. Scenes from the past. People from other parts of the temples. Some High Priestesses even claim to scry the future."
