Chapter 16

The imp lay slumped against the base of a charred oak roughly ten meters away, its small, twisted frame pinned to the bark by the weight of the hatchet still buried deep in its chest. The black flames that had licked across Caleb's skin and paralyzed his leg had finally sputtered out, leaving behind a smell like scorched copper and sulfur. Caleb didn't move for a long time. He stayed on the forest floor, his breath coming in ragged, shallow hitches that sent sparks of agony through his scorched...