Where Skies Fall (The Where Oceans Burn Duology Book 2) by Casey Bond

Author:Casey Bond [Bond, Casey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: YA Epic Fantasy
Published: 2023-01-12T18:30:00+00:00

I sat straight up, gasping for air, my wings flinching on my back as I woke. I felt behind me to be sure they were still there, relieved when I found I wasn’t cut and wasn’t bleeding from a wound that could be felt but not seen.

It was as dark as the depths outside the tent. The insects screamed, but the thunderous whoosh of blood through my ears drowned them out. My mouth was dry. My skin was cool and drenched in sweat. Even my hair was damp.

I tore the sandy blanket off and paced the wood floor. When my tent wasn’t large enough to contain me or the feelings erupting, I left it.

I went in search of water, but water wasn’t what I needed.

Crest’s tent lay dark and quiet. I couldn’t even make out the faint orange glow that usually brightened the seams.

Barefoot, I pushed toward the stream, trying to catch my breath but more than that, grounding myself. How ironic that I sought such a feeling since I was a creature of flight, but feeling the sand and grass underfoot, even the pinches of the sand briars, was a comfort.

I wasn’t clipped.

Wasn’t pushed.

Wasn’t dead.

A sound escaped my chest. One full of frustration and fear that refused to be tamped down. A fire that would not be easily stomped out.

My hands trembled. I shook them violently to remind them they were mine.

Was this how the goddess felt, knowing that her people sought to shirk her control and claim it as their own?

In the distance, lightning flashed a moment before its sound reached me. Light danced through the branches of my scar in reply.

I heard the stream before I saw it in the dark. When I reached it and fell to my knees, the water looked more like starlit silk than liquid. Cupping my hand, I lifted gulp after gulp to my lips, then splashed cool droplets across my throat.

When I could drink no more, I sat by the water and waited for my soul and flustered heart to calm.

Was the dream a warning from Neera? Was that why she tossed her power over the sky like a shroud, to claim the vision she’d sent? To let me know she would let them cast me from the firmament if I refused to be obedient?

A salty taste coated my tongue. I drank from the stream one more time. Every other time I’d drank from it, the water was clean and perfect, but tonight it tasted like I’d been drinking from the sea itself…

A gentle clacking sound came from behind me, cutting through the still darkness. Following the footsteps I’d just laid walked The Salt. I stood to greet her, wondering why she was here.

“I now know the rhythm to which our ancestors beat.” She drew nearer. “But so do you, don’t you, Elira?”

I gave a nod. I could feel it the moment I stepped into her home and stood beneath the strands of beads representing each and every one of Talay’s passed souls.

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