Chapter 42.2

He paused, seeming to wait for me to say something else. When I continued my stony silence, he walked in the direction of the wards. “This shouldn’t be too onerous, but speak if you become faint.”

“All right,” I whispered.

The magical barrier tingled over my skin, and as Ophois stepped into its depths, everything went black. Instead of emerging out through the other side into the forest, he turned left and continued a steady path through the dark.

“Are you feeling any effects yet?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I murmured.

“Then your soul is more resilient than most,” he said.

“But this is a milder version of the void.”

“Correct.”

We walked the rest of the way in silence, but several moments later, a sensation of pins and needles attacked my skin. Or maybe it was fleas.

“I’m feeling something, now,” I said.

“Can you continue for thirty more seconds?” he asked.

“Yes, why?”

“Because that will be a full revolution of the wards.”

With a sharp nod, I uncurled my fists and placed them flat on his sh