The Eating Woods, #2
Eldritch
by Keri Lake
Contents
Chapter 41
Overview
Zevander slips into a shadowed cell block and finds a brutalized girl fated to burn. He warms and comforts her, then impulsively kisses her, breaking his tether to the other realm and marking her as a witch as her eyes turn silver. An acolyte runs to alert Sacton Crain, but Theron drenches Zevander awake and vows never to send him back, closing this conduit.
Summary
In a misted corridor of cells, Zevander passes abused women and children until he reaches a sobbing girl kept in near total darkness. He conjures gentle heat to warm her without touching, and she begs the unseen “angel” not to leave her alone in the dark. Her fear of light and fire stirs Zevander’s rage at her captors.
Trying to protect her, Zevander promises she will not burn and admits she is cursed—but not by their god. When the girl asks to see him before she is executed, Zevander yields to impulse, touches her, and kisses her, despite warnings not to cross that boundary.
The kiss severs Zevander’s fragile tether to the other realm. The girl’s gray eyes bloom to silver, and a glowing sigil appears on her shoulder—a witch’s mark. A red‑robed woman witnesses this transformation and runs to inform Sacton Crain, heightening the danger to the girl.
As Zevander moves to act, ice‑cold water shocks him awake in his cell. Theron, fearing Zevander had stopped breathing, has doused him and refuses to send him back to the prison realm again, cutting off Zevander’s immediate chance to rescue the marked girl.
Who Appears
- Zevander (Zev)Protagonist who enters a prison realm, comforts a condemned girl, kisses her, marks her as a witch, then is yanked back.
- Imprisoned girlAbused captive, terrified of darkness and burning; after Zev’s kiss, her eyes turn silver and a witch’s mark appears.
- TheronHandler in Zev’s waking world; douses him with water and refuses to send him back to the other realm.
- Red‑robed womanTemple acolyte who witnesses the girl’s transformation and runs to inform Sacton Crain.
- Sacton CrainReligious authority referenced; the acolyte rushes to report the newly marked witch to him.