And then the ground froze beneath her.
She felt a fog moisture surround her body, the tiny droplets pressing into her skin. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest. Something of a primordial purr vibrated her bones. It wasn’t a fear that rippled her body, it was an unfamiliarity. She pulled for the noise of the creature’s voice, attempting to connect with its core.
But she felt no core.
Only an empty void.
It pulled her in. She was a moth in its flame of obscurity.
A huff of a breath hit her face. Her hair blew back off her shoulders. She tried to shake the dizzy swim in her head as it clawed its way inside her mind, filling her own core with its shadows of death and necrosis.
I… I see you…she managed to cry out into the void.I am not your enemy.
I know no enemies.
The noise of its deafeningly low growl made her feel as though she was being pulled inside out. Her stomach lurched into her throat, and she puked nothingness. She gripped the dirt beneath her fingernails and shook her head again.
I know nothing but the dark.
The overwhelming growl of its voice leeched into her consciousness. A jagged breath left her lungs. Her eyes rolled, but she pushed it out and pressed herself to her knees.
The dark is your home.
Vomit left her again. A searing pain tore through her abdomen, as though the chasm of its being were consuming her. Her jaw clenched and she shook it out of her.
Come home… Aydra Ravenspeak.
Fire.
Feet hit the dirt behind her.
The beast’s face illuminated in the orange glow.
A skeleton head of a horse with wide horns stared at her. Its head was as large as her own steed was tall. No eyes. Teeth of fangs where nothing should have been in its mouth. She knew this creature.
This was the Spy.
A creature born to live in the shadows of darkness. Not a Noctuan, but rather a beast allowed to live in Duarb’s realm to feed on the soft-minded.
The fire above her moved, and she heard the noise of a horn echo in her ears.
The beast’s mouth opened, and it emitted such a shriek that the entire of the forest shook. The wind of it nearly blew her off balance.
Once more it sank into the darkness out of the light, and the corporeal insides of her core slowly began to return. Her breath heaved in her chest as though her lungs hadn’t received air in minutes.
Something moved beside her and she jumped, eyes wide at the fire torch suddenly in her face.
—And then she froze at the sight of the look on Draven’s face as he appeared kneeling beside her.
His jaw was taut, thin lips pressed into a line. The fire illuminated in his dark eyes. Nostrils flared. Every vein in his neck and the one on his forehead puckered as though they were straining for freedom. His sharp cheekbones looked like razors on his face. His features held the shadows in them as though his face were their home. She swallowed hard at the fearsome sight of him.
This was the Venari King she’d been warned about.
“Are you okay?” he asked in a lower voice than she was used to.
She couldn’t move. Her voice remained stuck in her throat.
Draven inhaled deeply and then reached for her. She flinched at his touch and backed away. He held up his hands and sat the torch slowly on the ground.
