“You killed my sister! You killed my parents!”
Emptiness ripped at my stomach and cleaved my heart in two. It laid bare the space where I had a family who loved me and a home that protected me. Mother and Father, no longer Corrupt. Elliot, safe and without tears. A future and a hope for a better life. Without realizing it, I closed my eyes. I was screaming, sobbing, begging—for what, I didn’t know. For this vision to be a lie. For the Shadow Bringer to end it all.
And the dark roared louder.
When the chaos settled, the shadows dropped, circling the ground in a low-lying fog and leaving the Shadow Bringer and me exposed. To my disgust, he was still holding my shoulders, and I was unintentionally leaning into him, face pressed into his armored chest. A quick shove sent him sprawling; he’d been drained of his shadows, which were now scattering to the wind and skimming the grass instead of returning to his body.
The sensation of us being watched snapped me to my senses.
Mithras, encircled by his Light Legion, was standing across from us, shoulders dusted with ash and boots marred by the Shadow Bringer’s low-lying shadows. Peering through his mask, his eyes, golden and all-seeing, betrayed an expression of abject shock, and the legionnaires who had previously ignored us were now staring, mouths agape. We were still in this dream, but they could see us.
They can see us.
The Shadow Bringer, half-crumpled at my feet, cursed.
“You’re the Havenfall daughter. Esmer,” Mithras began, taking a step forward. Light threaded around his fingertips, dissipating some of the shadows that clung to him. “And what is that monster doing at your feet?”
The Shadow Bringer staggered upright. The fog began to move, darting around ankles and rising to meet his outstretched hands.
The Light Bringer’s face paled. “You aren’t meant to be free.”
“Ah, Mithras,” said the Shadow Bringer, his shadows beginning to hiss. “Your death will finally bring me peace.”
“Monsters like you can never find peace,” Mithras spat, the color beginning to return to his skin. “You will be banished to your castle immediately.”
“No,” the Shadow Bringer said menacingly. In an instant, his shadows became serpents, grabbing legionnaires and slamming them into the ground with violentcracks. He laughed and the darkness rose, swallowing any legionnaire who managed to escape the beasts’ powerful bodies.
“After him!” Mithras yelled, but many of his followers were either incapacitated or drowning in the shadows.
I sidestepped a legionnaire who fell from the dark, blindly swiping a serpent off his throat only to catch a jab to the ribs from his comrade. I bent over, gasping for air. Fire stung my lungs as I tried to catch my breath.
It was here that Lord Mithras found me. He held his hands at his sides in a show of false civility, but his eyes were murderous. I stumbled backward, horrified by his anger and nearly tripping over one of the Shadow Bringer’s serpents.
“Did you free the Shadow Bringer, Esmer? He was bound to that castle in order to protect the entire Dream Realm. We will beevisceratedwith him roaming free.”
“Of course not—never, my lord. I was his prisoner,” I insisted, wincing at another sharp wave of pain from my ribs. “I saw you burning my home, my family. The villagers, too. Are they…?” The question burned off my tongue, tasting of ash.Are they dead?
Mithras made a sound of disappointment. “Don’t sound so pitiful. As an Absolver daughter, you should know better than to question your Light Bringer. To burn is to purify. If their souls aren’t purified, they’ll be reborn in the Shadow Bringer’s domain as his demons.” Mithras held himself very still. “But perhaps you are right to be afraid. After all, youhavebeen consorting with our kingdom’s greatest enemy.” He raised ahand, light simmering, and I flinched. The shadows nearest to me mimicked the movement, and Mithras cocked his head. “And manipulating the darkness yourself, no less.”
“I-I’m not manipulating anything,” I said, voice cracking. “My sister was killed by the Shadow Bringer. I want no part of this.”
But the Light Bringer was not swayed. His hands glowed bright, drawing closer to me like flames on the pyre—and the shadows around me shot forward, slamming him to the ground.
Oh hell.
Mithras rose, eyes glinting. Golden, light-flecked blood dripped from his mouth, staining the top of his armor. “Well, well, well. I don’t think you were held captive, Esmer. I think you sought him willingly.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you, my lord.That wasn’t me.” I said, equal parts shocked and distressed.
“I beg to differ,” Mithras snapped, making a point to raise his burning hands. To my horror, the serpentlike shadows flared up, sensing my alarm. They hovered by my waist and looped around my arms, ready to strike. “The worst of humanity pulses through you, wicked girl. And to think I was prepared to bestow mercy upon you.”
The light in his hands burned brighter and hotter just as his eyes began to glow, aflame with unspent fury. His mouth curled up, showing bloodstained teeth. A predator’s tell before landing the fatal blow.
Mithras raised his fist and charged, sending a powerful blast of light at my head.
The shadows around me threw themselves into the light, but they were instantly destroyed, shattering as soon as their bodies met the Light Bringer’s blinding flames. A serpent on my wrist tightened, yanking me down one second before the blast could touch me. I quickly rose to sprint toward what was left of the Visstill Forest, but the serpent pulled me back, almost as if it was tied to something—or someone—else.
The Shadow Bringer.
