“It’s a shifted world—just like the morphi demonstration during the tournament.”
Eira remembered that night all too well, her eyes drifting to Olivin unbidden. He held her stare, his own gaze softening some. How simple things had been, then…if only there was a way back to that place.
“Can you unshift it?” Eira suspected she already knew what the answer would be.
“No…it’s powerful magic. Ancient and secret, even—it’s like the shift around the Twilight City itself, which is far beyondmy abilities.” He leaned against the wall, spine curling with an invisible weight. “How did they get a morphi to do it?”
That soft question stilled all of them.
Historically, Ulvarth had been unfriendly toward anyone that wasn’t an elfin of Meru because they were not “chosen” by Yargen. It had been under his orders that Ducot’s hamlet had been burned.
“He worked with the draconi; it’s possible he cut a deal with the morphi, too,” Eira suggested to Ducot with an encouraging hand on his shoulder.
“Or he gave someone no choice.” Ducot’s fist was clenched so hard it trembled. “I’ll find out and someone will die for it…either the morphi that crossed our people and willingly worked for him, or Ulvarth, for whatever he threatened that got someone to do it.”
“First we have to get through there.” Eira released him and looked back toward the wall and its archway. So the darkness wasn’t just the night playing tricks on the eyes and the mind.
“I could make a staircase to go over it?” Alyss offered.
“Impossible, the shift extends upward,” Ducot said, dismissing the notion.
“We’ll go through—there has to be a way for Ulvarth’s own people to do it. We’ll find the path.” Eira held out her hand. “Form a chain. We’ll keep ourselves illusioned until we’re inside.”
Hand in hand, they made their way to the wall, Eira’s magic draped over them. She focused on her magic and movements, rather than anyone else who might be near. But the streets remained empty, the night silent, and with barely a whisper of clothing, they were plunged into a space completely void of light.
“I don’t like this,” Alyss said under her breath. “I’m blind.”
“You get used to it,” Ducot said.
“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry.” Alyss apologized profusely. Ducot laughed, clearly unoffended, but the sound didn’t carry. “What I meant was more than sight… I can’t feel anything. There’s nothing for my magic to sink into…it’s…”
“Nothing,” Cullen finished. “Even the air is still; it’s almost like there’s no air at all.”
“How do we know we’re going the right way?” Alyss asked, doing a poor job of scrubbing the panic from her voice.
“Let me shed some light on the situation,” Olivin said.
“I doubt—” Ducot didn’t have a chance to finish. There was a flash of Lightspinning that followed Olivin’s command. Like a spark of flint. Bright. But only there for a second. Olivin tried again, to no avail. Ducot sighed. “This is a shifted space. It is not quite the world we all know any longer…the same rules cannot be expected to apply. The rules that govern this space were designed by the morphi who made it.”
“Well I hate this even more,” Alyss muttered.
“Don’t let go of each other’s hands,” Cullen said firmly. “If you do…we might never find each other again.”
“You’re not helping,” Alyss sighed.
“Can you give us any headway, Ducot?” Eira asked.
“My magic is as lost as yours.”
She pursed her lips and carried on. There was nowhere to go but forward. Though it was impossible to tell if they were making headway at all. With no landmarks, no light, no sound or wind…they could be walking in circles for all she knew. But Eira remained confident in her abilities to keep a course and, soon enough, there was a whisper.
“What was that?” Ducot asked.
So it hadn’t just been in her head… “Be on guard,” she breathed, continuing.
Another voice. Another pause. But no one emerged from the darkness. There was no light or signs of any other living creature.
“What’s happening?” Alyss asked. Though no one answered. None of them had an answer.
