The Knave of Souls - Fantasy - Sequel to The Jack of Souls

Epilogue

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EPILOGUE

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Fink writhed and gasped for breath as Missy's iron-cold talons squeezed tight around his neck. The black mists of the moon enveloped them, hiding them from prying eyes.

"He is mine," said Missy, in her soft, sing-song voice. "And you are mine. Your game is done."

"No—" he gasped. "You—don't understand—"

"You have no blood-soul pact. The boy is rogue. You are rogue. I will consume you both."

Fink squeaked as she lifted him effortlessly from the ground. The vulture had told her, just as it promised. The poisonous, ungrateful corpse-eater had ruined everything. "Mother—will decide that," he gasped, prying at her talons with his claws. "You can't—decide that. I know—things!"

She held him before her like a rat on a stick. Then she drew him, very slowly, upward toward the emptiness behind her hood.

"The Kwendi!" he gasped. "I know things!"
"You know nothing," she said, his trajectory unchanged.

"Stop! I do! I saw the magic! I was there!"

"The Kwendi put weaves in the stone? You saw this?"

"A different Kwendi—a woman Kwendi—in the Kwendi land—"

Missy hissed and drew him to the brim of her hood, and Fink squealed in terror. "You lie."

"A magic door! Through a door!"

"What door?"

"Every night—let me show!"

His slow progress to the hood halted, but she did not lower him. Silence reigned for long moments in which Fink whined, the cold void inches away, but knew better than utter a word.

Cold breath from the hood made frost on Fink's nose. "You will show me," she said. "You will tell me everything."

Fink writhed and attempted to nod, but inside he seethed. If he showed her, she would consume him anyway and claim the discovery for herself. He had to reach Mother himself before Missy claimed the discovery for herself and revealed the lack of his pact with Harric.

She lowered him to the ground, but she did not release his throat. Her breath was the sigh of wind over hollow bones. "Show me."

Fink shivered in the cold grip of her talons. He nodded. As he led her into the Web to lead her, he sent a thought down a strand to Harric.

She knows, kid. She's coming. Get to the river. It's your only chance. 

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And that, dear readers, is the end of Book Two! 

And here I need your help. I am too close to the story to know if this is a good ending, so I would very much like your opinion on it.

- WAS IT A SATISFYING ENDING? That is, does the ending satisfy you while also leaving you with lingering questions? 

- If not, why not? 

Thanks for your patience while I wrote this over the last couple years. :) 

- S