The 13th Prophecy Read Free Page A

it was absorbed into my body. The spell I used transferred energy from one form to another, using a conduit. I was the conduit. Eric’s soul was the energy. It was a guess. I didn’t know if it was working or if I was destroying his soul. The palm gripping Eric’s hand burned like it was in a raging fire, the other turned cold—like I was holding the hand of the dead. And I was. The coldness soon faded and I felt the soul being absorbed into my body. It moved through me quickly and snaked into Eric’s body through our woven together fingers, and up his arm.
    Eric screamed as if the two were alien to each other when I forced them to fuse. His arm jerked, trying to end the transfer. But I wouldn’t release him. We needed the stone. We had to have it. Eric stopped fighting, and his grip went slack. His face contorted with pain as he pressed his eyes closed and forced his body to relax. That was when I felt it. The magic completed itself. Eric’s soul was in his body. My hand dropped to my side, exhausted.
    Eric fell to the ground, his arms pushing him upright as he tried to stand, but the magic weakened him. His arms gave way and he crashed into the shallow water at the edge of the Pool. His eyes closed, and I wondered if I killed him. But there was no time to consider anything. When I looked up, the beast was about to crash into me. Dropping to my knees, I tried to avoid his hands, but he grabbed me. Cold flesh burned into my arms, as the beast plucked me from the shore. Its grip on my arms tightened as it turned sharply.
    Just as we turned, the pain price for merging Eric’s soul back into his body pounded into me. Suddenly, there was no air. It felt as if it had been ripped from my lungs in one merciless gush. My jaw opened to scream, but nothing came out. The pain price stole my voice, my breath, and if it didn’t stop—my life. My hands frantically tried to grasp my throat, as if that would help. But the beast’s grip on my arms didn’t falter. Pressing my eyes closed, I tried to suppress the panic that was lacing up my spine and squeezing every last bit of air from my body like a steel corset. The force that was crushing me didn’t ease, but continued to grow. A sharp snapping sound came from my chest as it filled with fire. And then it happened again. Rib after rib cracked, like my bones were made of toothpicks. Pop. Snap. Fire. Burning flames poured through my chest in an unrelenting wave.
    I pressed my eyes shut, trying to endure the pain, when the beast was hit from the side. It screeched as its body was sent off kilter, slamming into the cavern wall. The burning cold hands that clutched my arms went slack. Wind rushed against my face as I opened my eyes. I was falling toward the Pool. My hair streaked around my face in a wild tangle. I barely pressed my lips closed as I crashed into the Pool of Lost Souls and sank beneath the surface. I continued to tumble downward, out of control as the frigid gel-like water penetrated every inch of my body. The pain price continued as I drifted down, deeper and deeper, into the Pool. When my body finally collided against the bottom, my fingers frantically grasped at the silt.
    The pain price stopped as abruptly as it started. I forced my eyes open. Something to my left gleamed, though it was mostly covered with mud. Recognition flashed. It was a tooth—a silver tooth. Reaching out, I grabbed it and shoved it in my belt. Launching myself off the Pool floor, I swam back to the surface. My lungs burned as I kicked wildly. Now they were really starved for air. I couldn’t tell how far away the surface of the Pool was. It was so dark. I just kicked my feet as fast as I could, hoping that my face would break through the surface any second. But it didn’t.
    With each passing second, nothing changed. I kicked, stretching my arms, and thrusting the thick water back with my cupped hands, but the surface seemed just as far away. My lungs felt like they were on fire. The