Chapter 29 · The Ash Ledger - Chapter 29: His Family Is on the Token

Soren saw his son's face first.

The token was still spinning in the air when he recognized the shape of the boy's jaw, the way his hair stuck up on one side. The core had coughed it out like a piece of bad meat. It hit the stone and didn't bounce. Just sat there, glowing pale blue, with three faces trapped inside the crystal.

His wife. His boy. His daughter.

Soren's legs didn't work. He was supposed to be moving, supposed to be doing something, but his body had gone somewhere else and left him standing in the square with his mouth open.

"Soren." Rowan's voice, far away. "Don't touch it."

Too late. Soren was already on his knees. The token was warm. He could see them moving inside, like they were pressed against glass from the other side. His daughter was crying. His wife was holding her, but her eyes were on him. She was saying something. He couldn't hear it.

"They're alive," he said.

Rowan crouched beside him. "For now."

Soren's hand closed around the token. The warmth spread up his arm and into his chest.