My raw skin stung where the chains dug into my wrists, but despite the pain, I pulled at the chains, doing my best to break the metal loops apart. My efforts were in vain, and I knew it. I would never be able to undo the magic.
But, maybe I didn’t have to.
Relying on my magic had become second nature, and perhaps now was the time to stop depending on it. I had to take him down. I had to do it now while he was distracted. What would happen if he landed in the pool?
Standing was harder and took more effort than I’d envisioned, but luckily, the bloodthorn didn’t notice. I crept behind him, then ran as fast as my body would allow, shoving him forward. Knocked off balance, the creature pitched forward and landed with his head and hands in the dark liquid.
Steam hissed and fizzed as living tissue mingled with the liquid in the pool. Screaming, the beast crawled away from the pond, greenish ooze dripping from his head and hands. Pink muscle tissue peeked through sections where the liquid had burned through the monster’s skin. Beneath the hands clamped to his face, I could see that half his skull had burned away.
He rounded on me, thrashing and shrieking so loudly it caused the birds in the trees overhead to take flight. As he thrashed, I reached for a stone that lay on the ground near the pool, but his feet nearly trampled me and I was forced to back away.
“What have you done?” he yelled, rounding on me.
I hoped, since his hands were still clamped to his face, I’d damaged his vision. Huddling under the cloak, I backed toward the trees’ shadows.
He faced me, growling, blood dripping from open wounds. As he stalked toward me, my heartbeat grew wild. I hadn’t hurt him badly enough. In fact, I’d only made him angrier.
Chapter 22
The bloodthorn grabbed my hair, pulling my head back until he was able wrap an arm around me and force me down. The back of my head smacked the ground, and sharp rocks punctured my scalp. The monster struck me across the face, his claws cutting my cheek open. Warm blood seeped from the wound, trickling onto my lips with the taste of iron. I tried to wipe it away, but the beast clamped his hands around my wrists and hauled me up until I sat facing the pool.
“Try that again,” he whispered, “and you’ll get more than a little blood on your face.”
He picked up the gemstone and placed it between the pool and me. So near the stone now, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. Magic swirled inside, familiar gray wisps—the essences of those departed—but there were more souls than just those murdered at the festival. These were all the bloodthorn’s victims.
The pain and fear they felt at the time of their murder stayed with them, and my heart clenched at the loss and hopelessness swirling inside that stone. Soon, I knew I would join them.
My hands burned in the chains. Dark blood dried on my arms and wrists where the metal loops had burned through my skin. I worked my fingers open and closed, trying to get the blood flowing once again. Dark magic played at my senses as I felt the power emanating from the bands. I was sick of being bound. If by some miracle I got out of this alive, I resolved never to be restrained again.
The bloodthorn pulled a tarnished hunting knife from a loop at his belt. He loomed closer in my vision, but I didn’t dare look into his face.
Stay calm, I thought. He needs you to be afraid for his spell to work. Don’t give that to him.
He pulled a bag off his shoulder, then reached inside and pulled out my mirror case.
I stared, confused. How had he gotten my case? I tried to remember where I’d put it last and recalled that I’d left it in the fairies’ tent. He shouldn’t have been able to find it. How’d he gotten in there in the first place?
“You will create a portal to the other realm,” he said, “and then I will begin feeding your essence into the stone. It will be a slow, excruciating process, one that will tear you apart from the inside out. Once it is finished, I will return to my land, and what remains of your soul will be imprisoned in the stone.”
He opened the mirror case, and its magic poured out, filling me with its energy. I gasped as its power wrapped me in a familiar blanket, restoring me, and I felt more like myself once again.
“Now, create the portal.”
He scooted the mirror close enough for me to see my own reflection.
I quickly glanced away, terrified by the fear I’d seen in my own eyes. If I refused, would he still kill me?
I had to think of something—there had to be a way to get free. But the thought of fighting against the dark magic in the chains made me sick to my stomach. I needed options. Surely there was another way out of this—if only I could think of something.
The bands grew tighter as magic pulsed through them, cutting off the circulation in my fingers.
“Create the portal,” he repeated.
“I can’t—I need a destination in mind.”
Why was I saying this? Creating the portal shouldn’t have been an option at all—but maybe if I could stall him…
He ran his fingers over each statuette. I cringed as he touched them one by one, his filthy, dirty skin brushing against my most treasured possessions. Finally, he stopped at the pixie figurine.
“This one will get me closest to the entrance to the undiscovered land.” He picked up the pixie and placed it standing in
