He trailed off, eyes fixed on the churning dark beyond the shoreline. The excitement in his voice had shifted—brighter now, almost reverent. “Just imagine what we could learn.”
Araya turned away, focusing on her own task. She unfolded the legs of her portable workbench, making sure it sat steady on theuneven, glass-littered ground. The cold bit at her hands even through her gloves, her bandaged palm throbbing with every motion—but she kept going, carefully arranging the boxes holding each amulet on it.
“Do you see how the shadows move along the surface of the water?” Jaxon asked, pulling her attention back to him. “It’s almost like they’re tethered—unable to break free entirely. And yet, here on the shore, they’re more exploratory—and look, they like you.”
Araya glanced down at the misty tendrils curling around her boots—the same way Loren’s shadows had twined around her hands. “Maybe they’re curious.”
“They don’t frighten you?” Jaxon tucked his pencil behind his ear. “You said they make fae sick.”
“Peoplesaythey make fae sick,” Araya corrected. “There are a lot of problems here—poverty, poor living conditions, magic rationing suppressing fae immune systems…I doubt the mist is the whole of the story. Addressing it is only a first step if the Arcanum really intends to help the fae?—”
“One thing at a time, Starling.” Jaxon cut her off with a chuckle. “Let’s tame the shadows first. Then you can save the world.”
He stepped over to the portable workbench, removing the first of the amulets from its warded box. The silver housing gleamed faintly, cradling the bone disc Araya had painstakingly inscribed and then imbued with Loren’s blood.
“It’s beautiful work, Starling,” he murmured, voice almost reverent. “Let’s see if it’s functional.”
Araya stood frozen, her bandaged hand curled tightly in her cloak as he moved toward the edge of the obsidian shore. He held the amulet out toward the writhing mist, his focus narrowing as he channeled the magic she had sealed inside—Loren’s magic.
The reaction was immediate. The shadows surged forward—then recoiled, hissing as the amulet flared. Mist twisted violently, the air thick with the rising hiss of a hundred voices whispering over each other, chaotic and sharp.
“It’s responding,” Jaxon said, his voice taut with excitement. “It’s actually?—”
The bone disc cracked. A clean fracture split it down the center, the pieces dropping from the blackened housing with a hiss of smoke.
“—working,” Jaxon finished bitterly, his jaw tightening. He turned the shards over once, then flung them to the ground in disgust. “Give me the next one.”
Araya fumbled the second amulet free, her gloves stiff with cold, fingers trembling as she passed it to him. Jaxon snatched it from her hands and turned back to the shore.
She held her breath as he activated it. The runes flared bright against the dark, their light sharp and clear. The mist surged again—then froze, held at bay. For a moment, it worked. The shadows writhed and twisted, slowing as if caught in a current they couldn’t escape.
Then the amulet flared white hot, the scent of burning flesh cutting through the air.
“Damn it,” Jaxon cursed, shaking his hand and flexing his fingers as a line of blistered flesh bloomed across his palm. “Give me the next?—”
“You’re burned,” Araya said, tugging off her gloves to take his hand in hers. “Slow down, Jaxon. We don’t have to race?—”
“We have to show progress,” he snapped, snatching his hand away. “And this? This isn’t progress. It’s a waste of time, bone, and blood.”
“It’s our first test,” Araya said quietly. “We always knew there’d be variables. This was theoretical?—”
“Just give me the last one, Araya.” Jaxon exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through his hair as he stared out at the waves.
Araya bit her lip, opening the last warded case. But her hands, stiff from the cold, fumbled the amulet. She lunged to catch it without thinking, hissing in pain as blood welled through the bandage across her palm.
“No—” Araya gasped, staring in horror as her blood bloomed across the delicate etchings she’d spent days perfecting. The bone drank it in eagerly—mixing her essence with the aether they’d distilled from Loren’s blood. Ruining it.
All that work, and she’d undone it with a single mistake.
“What did you do?” Jaxon demanded.
“I’m sorry—” Araya blurted, her voice shaking. “I can—I can imbue a new blank. I just need time?—”
“No, Starling,” Jaxon said, his voice shaking with excitement. “Look.”
Araya looked up, catching her breath as she followed his gaze.
The shadows had stopped moving. The tendrils that had been writhing and surging just moments ago now swayed gently, every one of them turned towardher.
