Her gaze seeks out Karyl’s, and then my mother raises her chin like the queen she is. “It must be so.”
Karyl leans her head against her fist. “And this is why it must be you and not me, brother. I could not do it, and you are right. There is no other way.”
Mother stands. “I’ll go to the aviary and have them send a raven.”
But when she opens the door, screams reach our ears from the normally quiet village. I rush out into the street, drawing my sword and running for Eloise, even before I gather what’s going on. I draw up short when I see three mages in the middle of the village, casting a red dome over Dimhollow.
Catarina and Eloise race toward me. I sheathe Dawnbreaker and catch Eloise in my arms. “What is happening?”
“The elves have found us and have breached the guardians at the border,” Catarina says. “Stygarde’s troops are attacking. Our battle mages will hold them off while the rest of us migrate north, above the tree line, where we can lay new wards. I’m sorry, Damien. This is where we must part ways.”
“Part ways?” Eloise asks. “You want us to leave Dimhollow?”
“I’m sorry. I have to protect my people. The witches of Dimhollow are on your side and will come to your aid if you request it, but we can’t protect you from your destiny. Your future is out there. Your future is in Stygarde.”
Eloise blinks at me as witches use spells to deconstruct their cottages and load them onto carts pulled by rabble beasts. A young boy leads Borus and Romulus to us from the stables.
“I haven’t attempted my magic yet, Damien. I’m not ready to use it against an army,” Eloise says breathlessly.
“Take her out the way my mother showed you, and go directly to Mount Damocles. The mountain dwellers are sympathetic to our cause, and New Stygarde’s young troops will be reluctant to follow you there.” Catarina hugs Eloise and then me. “Until we meet again.” She runs toward her cottage.
It’s wise advice. Mount Damocles is the one place that the elves won’t go. It’s too hot for their delicate skin, and the sulfur in the air burns their lungs. Shades are impervious to the heat and the air quality, but even they find it uncomfortable. Only the mountain dwellers, the shade artisans who craft their weapons in the fiery belly of the mountain, call that place home. But they are the master craftsmen who create Stygian steel weapons. The mountain dwellers have a bottomless arsenal, and they can be violent and unpredictable, a reality we, too, will have to face.
“What’s wrong? Do you not want to go to Mount Damocles?” Eloise asks.
“No. She’s right. That’s exactly where we need to go. Pack your things.” An arrow strikes the shield above our heads. “Quickly.”
I follow her to our cottage and throw our few remaining possessions into the saddlebags we arrived with. I have them loaded on the beasts in minutes. It can’t be fast enough for my tastes. The mages are already grunting with the effort of holding the shield. We mount our beasts and kick them into a run.
“This way,” I say to her, navigating around the migrating witches and straight up the wind-sheared mountain.
She pulls up the hood on her riding cloak and turns her face to me. “Everyone else is going around the side.” She has to yell as the wind picks up and the snow starts to fall. “Why are we heading for the peak?”
“Although it seems counterintuitive, the passageway we’re taking leads away from the mountain. The witches are going to a settlement at a higher elevation east of Dimhollow.”
Eloise cringes as another gust of wind blows straight through both of us. “Fuck everything and the stars above it all, that is frigid. Damien, please tell me this passageway is close!”
In answer, I guide my horse around the snowy outcropping that conceals the narrow cave entrance Aurora once showed me, and Eloise follows me inside. She shivers, as does her rabble beast, but soon, we begin to warm up in the small space.
“Thank the goddess. I couldn’t have lasted long in that cold.”
“That’s by design,” I say. “No one who comes this way would find this place on their own. It’s too cold and too well hidden.”
“So, this is what Catarina was referring to. This is the passageway out of the mountain?”
“We’ll have to descend in the dark.” I tug Borus’s reins and turn in the saddle to look back at her. We can still see each other clearly by the light of the moon streaming through the entrance, but she needs to know what we are in for. “This passageway is enchanted. Aurora and her people made it, just as they made the wraiths that guard the border, to protect themselves from invasion. Their defenses are deadly.”
“Considering they are protecting themselves from shades who could drink them dry and elves with their dark magic, I think their response has merit.”
“Good, then you’ll understand when I explain to you that the only way through this passageway is in total silence.”
“What now?” Silence?
“I had the same reaction when Aurora told me what to expect. The passageway is designed to spark fear in you. It is intentionally narrow so that your beast can’t turn around without injuring itself, and if one dismounts and tries to return to this point, even in shadow form, the magic will shred them.”
“Wonderful.” She curses.
“We can only go one way, and we cannot scream. Not a peep, understand? No matter what you see or feel or hear, you must remember that it is only the magic. The beasts will be unaffected. As long as you don’t tug on the reins or redirect them, they will lead us safely out.”
