Show me how to save us.
Show me how to save all of us.
Suddenly, the temple began to glow with a radiant, overwhelming light. The tree was turning gold, lit from within as if by the sun itself. I felt warmth spread through my limbs, a pure achingrightness. Tears slipped down my face because, for a moment—for once in perhaps my entire life—I finally felt nothing but peace, hope, and the reassurance that everything would be fine. The dreamers behind us were similarly amazed. Some wept; others simply beamed in outright joy.
The Shadow Bringer stood at my side, utterly speechless. He cast a beautiful shadow with the sun dancing in his eyes.
The dream flickered again. We were running out of time.Hurry.
“Your dream is Maker-given, dreamer. A light in the darkness,” Erebus said, standing to get a better look. Beside him, Mithras was staring in similar wonder. “Nightmares are false; they exist to misdirect, twist, and misalign dreamers with their true purpose. Weaver-sent dreams are messages meant to inspire, teach, warn, or guide—all depending on the Weaver. But Maker-sent dreams serve a greater purpose. They can alter the fabric of the Realm itself.”
“What does my dream mean?” I urged. “Can you tell me what I should know?”
Erebus closed his eyes, considering. Then they opened quickly, snapping back to mine.
“I cannot. Maker-sent dreams are not for me to interpret. I can only tell you that you are on the right path and that your dream serves an important role in the fabric of our world.”
“That tells usnothing,” the Shadow Bringer spat.
“Is there truly nothing you can tell me?” I implored, echoing the Shadow Bringer’s frustration.
Erebus peered into the water. “When I try to interpret your dream, shadows cloud my vision. The only thing I can glean is that you are meant to walk through this darkness in order to find what you are looking for. Keep moving forward, and trust that you will reach your purpose. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more. I wish I could.”
Suddenly the dream quivered, fraying at its edges.
In the open space behind the dais, the Nocturne could be seen in all its great expanse. But something was terribly wrong. A murky presence had formed on the horizon, and it was sliding through the water, turning the sea black in its wake. With every step, the dream temple shook.
“I see you, dreamers,” the shape rumbled, its voice shaking the foundations of Evernight. The dreamers around us, including Erebus and Mithras, began to fade, unaware of what was happening. “You will not run.”
In a blink, the intruder was upon us. Its colossal face peered throughthe temple’s open wall, skull ringed in horns that framed red smoking eyes. Its face was still a mask of swirling darkness—a terrifying storm cloud that sought to devour more than just bones and blood. It hungered for the very fabric of a person’s being, the threads that held souls together.
“You fight against your fate; you are meant to succumb to the dark. It is in your blood,” the demon spoke to me.
The Shadow Bringer grabbed me by the waist, urging me to run. He sent a wave of rolling darkness into the demon’s head, but it was useless. The demon merely laughed, a strange, hideous sound that felt too similar to the crash of thunder, and began to smash the temple wall so that its body could properly fit.
“We need to wake up, Bringer. We have no chance.”
“No, we don’t,” he agreed, holding me tighter. “This isn’t natural; this demon is so powerful that it’s destroying the threads of time itself.”
The demon grabbed the willow tree with a massive claw. Instantly, the bark charred, turned black, and erupted into flames.
“Hold on,” the Shadow Bringer urged. Our shadows swept us forward, desperate to save us.
“If you continue squirming, dreamers, I will find other ways to pry you apart,” the demon warned.
“Ignore it. Keep running—”
“I know!”
“I will start with your brother, Esmer Havenfall. If you do not succumb, I will tear him apart limb from limb. I will dismember him and make you watch.”
Fear, sharp and deep, twisted my stomach, sending my mind reeling. Demons were liars—deceivers and weavers of ugly half-truths. But this demon already knew Elliot. Had tried to devour him once. Hadhuntedfor my entire family, if what Somnus said was true.
The demon pulled the tree out by its roots, throwing it at us in a fiery, smoking spiral.
And then the world went black.
We woke in the Shadow Bringer’s bed, haunted and shaking. We had no time.
