The Luna Queen's Rebirth (Ellie and Dominic) novel Chapter 496

Chapter 496

And the truth was, I was running out of options. If help didn’t come soon-and it might not-I needed my body working well enough to keep looking for a way out of here.

So, against my better judgment, I picked the smallest mushroom and ate it before I could talk myself out of it.

It tasted like dirt, with an aftertaste of more dirt and maybe a hint of shit. I grimaced, gagging, but forced myself to swallow despite everything I knew about strange, foul-tasting mushrooms.

For a little while, nothing happened. I sat with my back against the wall and my knees pulled up, waiting to vomit or die or both.

It took half an hour. But finally, I started to feel warm, and it had nothing to do with the chamber.

The warmth started in my stomach and spread outward, sinking into all the spots that ached. The pain in my ribs began to dull just a little, allowing me to breathe without feeling like someone had stuck a knife between them. The throbbing in my hand started to ease up enough to flex my fingers. Even the pounding behind the gash on my forehead felt a little more distant, and my head started to clear.

I let out a breath that turned into a laugh.

“Thank you,” I whispered. I wasn’t sure who I was saying it to. The Seeker. The mountain. Myself. It didn’t matter.

I picked a handful of the mushrooms and tucked them into my pocket, just in case I might need them at some point. Exhausted now, I curled up on the warm stone with my arm folded under my head and the fruit glowing softly against my chest. I let my eyes close.

Just an hour or two. Then I’d keep moving.

I don’t think I slept. I wasn’t sure. It could have been a minute or an hour-all I knew was that, slowly, like warm water rushing over me, I felt… strange. And when I opened my eyes, the walls were breathing.

I knew this feeling. The trap chamber, the yellow haze, the room pulsing around me. Except the air was clean this time. There were no vents down here.

It was in me.

“Oh,” I said softly. “There’s the catch.”

I tried to sit up, but it was a great effort. My body felt twice its normal weight and my arms felt twice as thin, and when I pressed my palms into the floor, it felt spongy, which made no sense because I knew it was rock.

“Ellie…”

Voices were calling my name. I sat up abruptly, bumping my head on the wall, but hardly felt it.

“Dominic?” I called out, rubbing my temple. “Bastian?”

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