Page 27 of Solivagant

Her head tilted as she looked at me, seeing more than I wanted her to. “Guilt.”

I glared at her. Love and guilt were weaknesses, and she’d accused me of both since I’d stepped into this room. Though the way she looked at me when she did wasn’t in judgement, it was curiosity. That was the only reason I warned her instead of lunging for her throat.

“You regret the harm you’ve caused?” she questioned.

My lip curled in disgust, but I nodded.

“Well then, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll reincarnate the human, send him on his merry way back to Khorli, and you can move on with your little life well away from them.”

“And in exchange?”

Her smile faded. “In exchange, you will experience Khorli’s pain. All the damage you have caused him, you will take for yourself. His pain will be your pain. And only then will I mend what you broke.”

“Fine.”

She raised an eyebrow, my quick acceptance surprising her more than rejection.

“You think I don’t know pain? I know pain.”

She huffed. “Your skin tells me otherwise.”

I smiled. I could take this, one burst of pain and then my mistake would be corrected, and I could let go of this feeling and move on with my life. “Do we have a deal or not?”

She fluttered her eyelashes at me. “Just a moment then, dearie. I’ll be right with you.”

As she shuffled around in shelves and cupboards, throwing things into a bowl and mumbling under her breath, I turned my attention to the human.

Did she love it? Was that why she kept bringing it back? Is that why it was cleaner than its surroundings and it took comfort in her touch?

I didn’t understand how she or Khorli could ever love something so weak. We weren’t supposed to. It wasn’t in our nature.

“Here we are, then,” the witch announced as she spun to face me, a glowing golden orb floating above an extended palm. “Let’s get this over with. Your stink is really messing up my workspace.”

13

THALIN

I only had to touch it. Had to hold on to it until it stopped glowing. Or, she’d warned, she wouldn’t hold up her side of the deal.

It wouldn’t be a problem.

Despite what she, or anyone else, thought of me, I wasn’t weak.

“Whenever you’re ready.” She grinned. It was a cruel smile that took up far too much of her face, but it didn’t matter.

I didn’t hesitate, snatching the orb from her extended hand and clenching it in my fist.

It was warm at first, then it burned. Light seeped into my skin, through my veins, and with it, pain.

Longing. Grief. Despair. It tore at my heart from the inside. Shattered it. Like a fire that blazed in need of an escape. One it found with my eyes and lips in the form of tears and an anguished cry.

I didn’t let go.

There was so much pain. Far too much to fit inside me. And it continued to escape as I fell to my knees. I knew the pain of knives, of burns, of magic. I knew the pain of betrayal and of loss, and still Khorli’s pain overwhelmed me.

Confusion. Desperation. A complete loss of purpose. And rage. So much rage. He wanted destruction. Blood. Vengeance. He wanted to take these feelings and shape them into a weapon, so that he could force others to feel them too.

He was so broken. So alone. Stuck in his pain.