“An experimental Shadow soldier,” Leejia replied. “Sinevia’s practicing forbidden spells on the bodies of dead soldiers and men to create an undead army fully under her control and impossible to kill. But she’s still not powerful enough to bring back the dead. The most she seems to be able to do is temporarily reanimate their bodies with the rune carvings, but not much more. In this, she seems as limited as any other Spellbound blood witch. Her magic can’t seem to sustain them longer than a few hours, and they’re easy to kill…for now.”
“How many did you see?” Asterious asked.
“More than you’d expect. Maybe a hundred.”
Asterious drew his brows together. “Where is she acquiring so many bodies? Evylere is not at war.”
Leejia’s eyes darkened and a heavy silence filled the room with something grave and brooding. There was no explanation Caramyn could think of that didn’t send a shudder down her spine.
The prince gave a somber nod of understanding as he looked around the room, and then back at the lead scout. “Is Sinevia still in Blackwynd Court?”
“Yes. Would she have reason to leave?” One of the other scouts asked, brows raised.
“She’ll be looking for a way to strengthen her spells, and once she finds it, she will. Shadow magic is the only magic capable of bringing dead back to life. But it must have a constant source to draw from to keep the host alive. Like a heartbeat. One spell won’t simply sustain forbidden life. Sinevia knows this from trying to bring back Daphne, and that means she’ll be seeking a greater source…and I fear it won’t be long before she finds it.” He clenched his jaw and swallowed. Caramyn noticed the way he flexed his hands at his side and chewed on his lip before continuing. “And the moment she does, that’s when our time truly starts running out.”
“A greater source?” Wyran asked. “What are you talking about exactly?”
“The source Sinevia needs to resurrect her army is in the same place as the thing we need to stop her—in the Shadow Woods.” His gaze slid to Caramyn. “The Veil. It’s a living wall of raw Shadow power. It’s the only plausible explanation. And if I’ve thought of it, no doubt Sinevia already has.”
There was a long silence in the room, and each second carried the weight of the question everyone must have been thinking until Tyrios finally asked it. “So then, what’s next?”
Caramyn’s eyes flicked to Asterious, noting the tension in his jaw, and the unsettled curling of his fingers back and forth into a fist. He drew in a deep breath before speaking, never taking his eyes off the table where the horrid Shadow soldier lay, its soulless sockets like empty voids of oblivion. “We make it there before she does.”
An uneasy feeling crept its way into Caramyn. How was it that Asterious knew so much about Shadow magic? The things he so confidently explained were supposed to be secret laws and forbidden knowledge—things that even she didn’t know after living amongst Shadows for five years. He surely couldn’t have learned it here in this Lightborn haven, or in his father’s court…unless he’d been looking for it. Unless he was hiding something still. Unless there was something about him that made him more deadly than just being a skilled steel singer.
Or perhaps she was just overreacting. It was her instinct to assume the worst—to immediately mistrust any and all intentions. Perhaps he was just thinking one step ahead of the enemy, and he was very good at it. And she could help him. She could lead him through the Woods. Either way, she would have to go back. All eyes were on her Woods, and she would not abandon them.
As she stared at the rotting creature on the table, at the puncture wounds in its chest and neck, from either blade or arrow, where clotted black blood had dried, it reminded her of how many times she’d inflicted the same wounds on those she’d killed defending the same darkness Sinevia was trying to reach. The same darkness she was bound to by birth. If she didn’t stop this, it’d make her more of a monster than she already was. She’d fail everyone—Asterious, her mother, herself, and even her Woods—and that thought scared her far more than Sinevia ever could.
Something drew her attention to the patterns carved into the monstrous thing’s flesh. They were runes and spells and symbols she vaguely recognized through glimpses. But then her eyes snagged on the symbol etched deeply by jagged cuts along the right arm of the deathly soldier—a thick middle line with two smaller swooping lines outward, forking down like broken wings—the same mysterious symbol that had become visible in herShadowblood veins the day she ran to the Shadow Woods. The day one curse became another. A curse she hardly understood, but a curse nonetheless. Whatever she was, whatever she was born to be…she was anything but Light.
Wretched.
As she stood, the blood draining from her face at the realization, Wyran pulled Asterious aside to discuss preparations for leaving within the week. As they spoke, all the other gazes in the room fell on her, and the air became heavy. A tightness coiled around her chest like thorny brambles choking out her breath. She couldn’t focus here. Not with that thing on the table and everyone silently questioning her presence. She’d talk to Asterious later. She’d tell him she would help. But not now. Not here in front of everyone.
“I...I must go.” she uttered to no one in particular before exiting the room. And the moment the door closed behind her, she could breathe again.
27
For All Our Sakes
Asterious
“We'll leave within three days at the latest. That will give us enough time to prepare rations and avoid any potential run-ins with travelers for the harvest celebrations.” Asterious gave the order loud enough for everyone to hear, though Wyran had pulled him aside to ask.
“I’ll get started on preparations this evening.” Wryan nodded, hands on his waist.
The door clicked shut, drawing both of their attention to the fact that Caramyn had left without much warning. A sly grin took over Wyran’s face as he lowered his voice and tapped hisforehead. “Now I see why you brought her in here. That was good thinking, letting the scouts get a good look at her.”
Asterious pressed his brows together. “What do you mean by that?”
“Aren’t you going to ask if they recognize the girl? If they ever came across the likes of her during their mission?” Wryan asked, his voice near a whisper.
"I imagine they would’ve told me by now. Besides, Caramyn has never even been close to Felhold.” Asterious spoke just as softly, aware of the curiosity looming in the rest of the room.
Wryan clicked his tongue. “Because that’s what she told you? What if she’s lying?”
“I believe her.”
