Paige saw the way Cecilion swayed — like the ground had dropped out from under him — and instinctively lurched forward, grabbing his arm before he could fall.
"Cel! What did she say?" she cried, her voice slicing through the roaring wind, but Cecilion didn't say anything.
He remained staring at Isabella, frozen.
"Cel! What's wrong?!" She repeated and still Cecilion did not respond.
Paige finally decided to step forward, grab Cecilion's stiffed arm, and shook him. "Cel! Snap out of it — now!"
But it was like he couldn't hear her.The image in Isabella's eyes — that reflection — held him frozen in place, drowning him.
The mist thickened at their feet, climbing higher, swirling with unnatural speed.
From deep within it, darker shapes began to slither — shapes that weren't bamboo, weren't trees, weren't anything they could name.
Paige's gut twisted. She gritted her teeth and did the only thing she could think of.
She slapped him.
Hard.
