Nightshade Now

Isolde waited until the sound of horse hooves faded entirely into the night. She knelt beside Julian and forced a paste of charcoal and vinegar down his throat, praying his spirit could still hear her voice in the void. "Come back, boy," she muttered. "The monsters are gone."

She explained the three stages of the poison to him as she prepared the vial: nightshade

For hours, Julian did not move. But as the dawn broke through the Blackwood canopy, his hand twitched. He let out a long, agonizing gasp, his lungs burning as they took in air for the first time in a day. He looked at Isolde, his eyes slowly returning to their normal, clear hazel. Isolde waited until the sound of horse hooves

Within minutes, the world began to warp. The wooden beams of Isolde’s cottage stretched toward the sky like giant, skeletal fingers. He looked at Isolde, and her face melted into the face of the commander he had betrayed. The screams of the battlefield, which he had tried so hard to suppress, filled the silent cabin like thunder. "The monsters are gone

"They say you can make a person forget," Julian whispered, his hands trembling against the iron latch. "They say you can give a man a new face."