As if I’d intended to do anything else. It wasn’t like I knew the first thing about finding my way out of this shadow world.
He brushed past me, his shadow cape dragging Baran in his wake.
Left with no other choice, I trailed behind him, my fascinated gaze on the almost tangible weight of the shadows around us. To my surprise, colors flickered into existence when I stared intotheir depths long enough. Blues and purples only a shade off of true black.
All too soon, Brin was peeling back the veil, leaving us standing in a realm that I’d only visited on one other occasion.
“You brought me to Noctessa,” I said, the magic of the realm sinking into my bones.
It whispered of welcome and homecoming, offering itself for the taking.
I resisted its efforts, knowing that its temptations could lead to me being trapped here. As integral to the fabric of its reality as the first king whose shadow it was birthed from.
Trees of glass with branches twisted into enthralling works of art greeted my eyes when I looked around. The rolling hills contained the craggy outlines of an old woman’s face. The rocky outcrop in the distance, the crooked hook of a nose.
The landscape held a dreamlike quality. If that dream was also something of a nightmare.
In the periphery of my vision, strange creatures flitted among the trees. They changed shape the moment I looked directly at them.
A permanent twilight lay over the realm. That period that existed between day and night; it was the perfect environment for a vampire.
Brin glided through the glass forest without a backward glance. I followed, noting the way the land seemed to shift to accommodate his path. As if it knew where he was going and was making the journey easier.
A whimsical notion maybe, but the realm had once been meant for him.
Those memories might still be there.
Soon, we arrived at the ancient oak grove that held my grandfather’s prison.
In an eerie echo of the meadow I’d encountered a few hours earlier while in the Summer Lands, an immense oak waited for us. Only unlike that oak, this one was surrounded by a circle of irregularly shaped rocks that I suspected were the source of the power binding my grandfather to this place.
Brin dumped Baran’s unconscious body outside the stone perimeter. It was vaguely concerning that the Fae hadn’t woken yet. I didn’t know what the eldritch creature had done to him to cause this extreme reaction.
The shadows under the oak rippled, a man forming at their center.
“You look more like a grandfather this time,” I observed as the man moved toward the edge of the circle.
It was difficult to put my finger on why. His features were as ageless and unlined as Brin’s. Despite that, he had the aura of an elder. The wisdom gained from countless centuries a mantle he carried easily.
“I’ve been practicing,” my grandfather said with a slight smile. An endless darkness peered out at me through the twin abysses that were located where his eyes should be. Black voids that would probably have terrified a normal person.
I found it charming.
“You passed my message along to your father.” My grandfather gave me a warm smile. “Thank you.”
My expression soured as I shot Brin a sidelong look. “I didn’t mean for him to drag me along for the reunion.”
“And miss such a touching moment? All of us in one place for the first time ever?” Brin arched a sarcastic eyebrow before peering at his father. “Is this what they refer to as the rebellious phase?”
Ha. Fucking. Ha.
It seemed sarcasm was a hereditary trait.
“I’m beginning to see why your siblings have such complicated expressions any time your name comes up,” I muttered.
I felt a little bad for judging them so harshly if this was what they had to deal with.
“That is to be expected. They resent me for the realm’s fall. As they should. In their eyes, I consigned them to exile. That is a difficult thing to forgive.”
