The Outcast and the Survivor: Chapter Nine

“Be careful what you wish for, princess. I can give you my word that I will leave your mind, but if I remove what has grown, then the reapers, as you have been taught to call them, will be able to find you. And trust me, they are looking.”

I am tempted to withdraw my wish, but no, this has to be. There is no way I can continue forward knowing that the Necromancer is constantly looking over my shoulder.

“You will have to grant me my own power,” I say softly.

He nods and smiles, a look of satisfaction on his face, but Astor

immediately reviles against the suggestion.

“Kaela, you heard what my mother said. If you do that, his influence is never really going to leave—”

“She understands more than you give her credit for,” the Necromancer interrupts, then turning toward me. “But if I do as you ask, your power will be too weak to use where you must go next, and I will be unable to protect you.”

“How do you know where our journey leads?” I ask.

He pauses.

“The woman you seek is in great peril. You must get to her before it is too late.”

“You know where Eliana is?”

“Yes. She is on the other end of the stone you carry with you. There will be time later for me to explain more, but you must come with me now, for each moment is precious if you mean to save her.”

Astor and I are speechless as the Necromancer starts slowly descending a stairway to the courtyard. I want to believe him, that the person I’ve been seeking is finally within my reach, but he also knows that I’ve been looking for her, meaning he knows that merely mentioning her name would be enough to trick me into blindly following him into the dark.

“How can we trust you?” I question suspiciously.

“There is no way,” he says bluntly. “But you have no choice.”

I glance toward Astor, wanting him to be able to say something encouraging to me, but he can’t. No one can. There is nothing left to do but step forward into the unknown, so that’s what I do as I follow after the Necromancer.