In this thrilling novel, Gole is far from home in a desolate desert, desperately trying to escape Azura’s dark schemes. When a sinister voice shatters the morning calm, his fragile peace unravels. Hunted by the shape-shifting Grimharbinger Malik and bound by a blood oath, Gole’s quest for freedom turns chilling. As he navigates psychological horrors and time-bending twists, he encounters a perilous journey through shadows and a forbidden romance that defies reality. With both his and his mother’s lives at stake, Gole must confront the ultimate darkness or risk losing everything he holds dear.
Gole gets up and leaves the hut, facing the fresh twilight. There is a thought lingering in the very back of his mind. Tomorrow would have been the day he would have traveled to Blissville to fulfill his side of the witch’s contract. A shiver hovers over his spine, not quite running through it, but biding its time.
Gole shakes his head at himself as he picks up the buckets and heads out to start his morning. Until now, he had no reason to fear. He refuses to let his nerves get the best of him.
As he walks, the air grows heavier around him, but he reminds himself that he is safe. It's only his fear making him doubt. The sounds of the world waking up and the slight breeze dancing over his face should be comforting. Even this early, the desert heat is already creeping through the ground.
Gole begins to whistle, trying to force his anxious thoughts away. There's no reason for him to become paranoid now. These reassurances have sufficed for weeks—until today.
Nothing will happen, he tells himself. After tomorrow morning, I will truly be free. Perhaps someday, I will even see my mother again.
Gole perches by the side of the clear water, dipping the first of his buckets in.
“Did you truly think that escape would be so easy?”
The threatening voice from behind him makes him freeze. Gole releases the bucket's rim, watching it float away, paralyzed. He refuses to turn around and acknowledge what he has just heard. Doing so would shatter the fragile peace he has built over the last few weeks.
“Impossible,” he whispers as the air grows heavier and his breaths become shallower.
“Is that so?” Malik's shadow looms over Gole, blocking the sun as he hovers into view. “My boy, Azura, is far more powerful than your tiny mind could ever comprehend. We've known where you were since the moment I began to watch you. There is no place in this world where you could escape our eyes.”
Gole finally forces his neck to turn and face the Grimharbinger. Malik's presence is dark and ominous as always, but Gole senses no fury. It's as if Malik has no emotion at all, simply an ever-present danger lurking just beyond the shadows.
“I will not go through with this,” Gole hisses through his teeth. “I refuse.”
“Ah, I'm afraid that's not possible anymore,” Malik answers in a monotone void of any empathy. “The contract you signed is a blood oath. It is binding. There will be no reprieve from its stipulations for you or your mother.”
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