The Barter Novel Sierra and Xavier

---- How will I die otherwise? I will only perish My boots crunched over brittle soil, an empty wasteland where the trees stood like skeletal hands clawing at an invisible sky.

No leaves rustled, no wind whispered through the branches.

It was a forest stripped of life, abandoned by the world, and yet the darkness seemed to watch me, waiting.

Wondering how I am going to find my mother.

She cannot be returned.

Iremember the demons of darkness whispering to me earlier and I couldn't help wonder if all this was useless.

If momma was even breathing? Is she even alive? Or did all of this meant nothing? T was in a place from where I may never return.

In order to bring momma back ...

what if I left dad alone for life? What if I die here? He doesn't even know I am here.

He won't even find my dead body.

No ---- eee Icant let these negative thoughts cloud my mind Iam not alone here.

Tjust have to find Damien and others.

They must be somewhere here in the darkness.

I cant give up hope That's the only thing I have right now.noveldrama

My steps grew heavier with each passing moment.

The silence here wasnt peaceful anymore: if anything it felt suffocating, a void that swallowed even my own thoughts.

I tried to keep moving, to focus on the rhythm of my heartbeat and the faint sound of my breathing, but the darkness played tricks on me.

Sometimes I thought I saw shapes shifting just beyond my vision, shadows flickering where no light existed.

My legs burned with exhaustion, my throat parched, and my resolve wavering when I first saw ita faint, golden glow cutting through the abyss.

Is this my hallucination? ---- Or is it really a lantern? Swinging gently in the blank.

---- eee = Chapter 364 I blink my eyes a couple of times and the light stayed.Relief surged through me, my tired mind clinging to the hope that maybe I wasn't alone.

Thave found them! I will live.

A new found determination surged inside me and I pushed mysed forward to run towards the light when suddenly my steps stagger to a stop.

Something didn't feel right.

As I squinted into the gloom, my heart clenched.

The light moved unnaturally, its bearer emerging from the darkness.

Tt wasnt human No way.

The creature holding the lantern stood tall, its form grotesque and misshapen.

And my heart leaps in my