Four figures sat with him. Two to his right, two to his left.
His Darksoul Sentinels.
They had the claws shared in stories, so long and dark they curled at their tips. They made the shadow wolves’ claws look small.
And as Ezer and Kinlear drew closer … the world came down to only that dais.
Ezer could feel every beat of her heart, could hear the roar in her ears as she clung to Kinlear’s hand. She couldn’t stop this.
But every part of her wanted to now.
The line paused as the Acolyte lifted his hands, as if gathering his energy. And then shadows shot from his fingertips. Two colossal beams of darkness, cast out from his bare hands. They spiraled up into the ceiling, where the cave stretched so high she could see that it was open at its top. She could see the belly of the shadowstorm far above it.
The Acolytewas the source of its power.
Suddenly their plan felt foolish.
Would a blade even kill him? Did he evenhavea heart any longer, or blood in his veins, a life source to drain?
Closer, closer, they marched down the steps. They were over halfway there now, each step filling her with more terror than the last.
She watched as another darksoul – a woman – made the march across that runway of stone. The wolves snarled but did not move to attack as she bowed before the throne. The Acolyte’s Sentinel held out a black blade.
The darksoul ran it across her palm.
She stood, squeezed her fist … and let droplets of dark blood spill into the shimmering black waters.
Blood,Ezer realized. It was darksoul blood that filled the lake.
A sob of terror rose in the back of her throat.
‘Kinlear,’ she breathed, gripping his hand like a vice. ‘We can’t do this.’
She could have sworn he shook his head,no.
Ten steps.
‘Kinlear.’ She dug her fingernails into his skin. ‘Please.’
But it was too late.
They were on the runway now, passing the first set of helmeted guards.
She could feel the heat coming from the lake. The blood.
They were three darksouls away now. She caught sight of one of their faces as a darksoul man shouldered past her, his hand freshly cut.
His eyes.
His eyes were no longer human. They were pure darkness incarnate. Even the veins around them swam with darkness, like shadows swimming beneath his skin.
She could feel the ground rumbling beneath her and hear thesnickof the blade running across the next darksoul’s hand.
She couldn’t tear her eyes from the wolves guarding the Acolyte’s feet.
Kinlear was two away now.
Oh gods,Ezer thought.If you were ever real at all, stop this madness now.
