SAGE

I heard them before I reached the barren lands. Sounds clawing at me.

The ancient blood in me did that, allowing my ears to tremble with it; something that had no mercy in how clearly it perceived suffering, it stripped away the option of ignorance.

Darius had been right then.

Cries that were no longer voices, screams that had forgotten language, wails stretched thin by torment.

Souls, Darius had said. Souls the Queen had chained between worlds, refusing them passage because she was still feeding on what little essence remained of them. Draining them. Hoarding them. Using their agony like fuel.

I slowed, then stopped altogether at the edge...