Page 59 of Palingenesis

How the fuck did I end up here?

There’s a disbelieving chuckle on my breath as I repeat his name, silently cursing him and myself as I dig the heels of my palms into my eyes.

All you have to do is let me in.

The reminder has me dropping my arms onto the pebbles on either side of me, opening myself up as far as I can.

I have no idea what it means, what he’ll have access to in my head. If it’ll even work. But I’ve got to do something. I can’t just… rot here.

And losing a leg, even if I manage to get out of here, is not on my bingo card for this year if I can help it.

Which is exactly what will happen if I don’t get this shit looked at.

Dragging in a deep breath, I scream.

His name, for help, for anything and everything I can think of to bring him to the forefront of my mind.

It’s desperate and pathetic, and I’m admittedly terrified it’s all been one big trip–that I stumbled out here on my own and imagined it all. That this entire thing has been one big ass hallucination.

Hell, I don’t know how he’d be able to find me, or get to me, if any of this works.

Does he have super strength?

Fucking whatever, we’ll figure it out if he shows up.

And judging by the searing ache that shoots across from one temple to the next, I won't be the forest’s prey much longer.

Just a monster’s instead.

Chapter 31

Shannon

Sweat coats my skin, and shivers wrack my body.

I'm somehow burning up and freezing at the same time.

“Gods, just let me pass out.”

It would be better than laying here in the gravel of a riverbank with a busted leg and waning sunlight. It’s been hours of begging, pleading for my life while my head feels like it’s cracking wide open with the pain of it.

Long enough that my vision is swirling and my mind feels foggy, like I could lose consciousness at any moment.

The numbness started in the tips of my fingers and toes, and now has spread up my limbs.

It’s only a matter of time now, and I’ll be toast.

That’s what I get for believing in fairytales.

“Ilios, if you can hear me…” Not that I even can, my lone surviving hearing aid died hours ago. “Please.”

Wind howls through the gorge that’ll become my grave, rippling over the water and bringing with it a glow of sorts. Warm. Something close to how a hug feels after a long day rather than a physical heat. A coziness that has my eyes sliding closed and my body relaxing.

I’m still trembling, but less.

Embraced by the earth and what’s probably the end.

If this is it, it’s not a bad way to go.