Was it a choice that easily made? Was choice stronger than blood?
What if you don’t hate what you are…but the world does?
She wanted to say, but the words stayed stuck in Caramyn’s throat. He must’ve known she was holding back. But he didn’t push her farther.
She noticed him watching her. She wanted to look away, but the steadiness in his silver eyes felt like a calm harbor in the midst of a stormy sea. Maybe he would understand. Maybe he truly cared. After all, she’d already told him she would lead him through the Shadow Woods. She’d already agreed to what he wanted. If treating her kindly and spending time with her was a manipulation tactic, he no longer needed to do it. So why was he here with her when he should be doing a hundred other things? When his kingdom was splintering at the few seams left, and his sister was out to kill him, yet he was focused on showing her the cliffs of the Western Sea.
The wind on the cliffs rose without warning, a sharp gust knocking Caramyn off balance. She stumbled forward, boots scraping stone, just before a steady hand closed around her arm.
Asterious pulled her back from the edge in one firm motion, her shoulder colliding with his chest as the space between them vanished. His other hand came to her waist, steady and unyielding, anchoring her as the wind tore at their cloaks.
Heat flooded through her at the contact, settling low as he held her there a moment longer than necessary.
“Careful, little mystery.” His voice dipped close to her ear, warm despite the cold air. “The view is beautiful. But look too closely and you might fall into something… dangerous.” A sly curve touched his mouth.
Caramyn looked up at him, at the way his midnight hair whipped around his face, at the sharp attention in his gaze as it traced from her eyes to her lips. His arm remained at her back, firm and possessive. Not quite an embrace, not quite a release.
She leaned into him without meaning to, drawn by the scent of pine and leather, faintly spiced. His breath brushed her temple as he spoke again, close enough that she became acutely aware of how little stood between them—and how easily he could pull her closer still.
And then a twig snapped behind them, shattering the calm. Ripping the stolen moment right from Caramyn’s grasp, as the sound of something stalking through the forest overshadowed the rhythm of the waves below.
30
The Cavren
Caramyn
Asterious tore himself from their embrace as the rustling sounds of the forest neared. Two shapes emerged from the tree line, hulking and malformed, their bodies massive and uneven as they prowled forward on all fours. Their cracked skin looked carved from the earth, like stony hide stretched too tightly over sinew and muscle, cracked in places as though it might split under the strain of movement. Their legs were too long, their gait lurching and predatory. Thick, curled horns like a ram’s jutted from skulls encased in rock-like armor that tapered down their spines and along a jagged tail.
And where faces should have been, there were none. No eyes. No nose that was visible. Only a vast, monstrous mouth lined with rows of jagged teeth. The grating growls that rolled from them ceased all at once as their heads tilted. Even without eyes, it was easy to see they were locked on to them.
Caramyn’s breath caught. The air itself felt as though it had tightened around her chest.“What… what are those?” she whispered, horror crawling up her spine.
“Cavren,” Asterious said, already moving in front of her. His arm came out instinctively, shielding her. “Relics of the Lightborn army summoned from the depths of the earth. They guarded the land from Shadowbloods.” His jaw tightened as he watched the creatures prowling before them. “They don’t come above ground to wander,” he continued. “They’re after something.”
The Cavren’s mouths opened wider, their bodies lowering, claws scraping against the soil mixed with silty stone.
Then one lunged. Past Asterious and straight for Caramyn.
She barely had time to scream before the creature slammed into her, its weight driving her backward toward the cliff’s edge. Stone bit into her spine as she fell hard, the Cavren’s jaws snapping inches from her face, hot breath reeking of rot and magic washing over her. She clawed at its armored hide, useless, just before some force pulled it back.
Asterious. He seized the Cavren by its horns and ripped it off her as though it was no more than a yapping dog. The ground shook as he slammed it down once, twice, then wrapped his arms around its body and crushed the air from its lungs. Its form crumpled beneath his bulging arm muscle. The sound was sickening. Bone cracked like rocks. Flesh gave way.
The creature went still.
Caramyn lay frozen, gasping, staring up at him as he stood over the ruined body, chest heaving, hands slick with rust-colored blood. For a heartbeat, he did not look human, and those silver eyes gleamed an unearthly white.
The second Cavren was gone. Asterious’ gaze snapped around, sharp and searching. “It didn’t flee,” he called, the sound of restraint in his voice buried in a guttural growl. “It’s circling.”
Caramyn pushed herself upright, trembling. In the prince she’d seen something she could not name as he’d cracked that vicious creature in half like he was squeezing a lemon. No Lightborn could possess strength like that. Not even the strongest steel singer in the world.
Asterious followed the motion of the second Cavren as it returned, prowling, closing in. Once again, it’s sights seemed focused on Caramyn.
Asterious’ eyes widened. “The letter you’re carrying from the Shadowblood. They’re designed to hunt Shadow magic. It must be the letter they sense. You need to get rid of it. Now.”
The word landed between them like a blade. Caramyn knew the truth. She knew why they were really here if they were truly Shadow trackers. But she had to at least hope by some miracle disposing of the letter might be enough.
Her heart lurched. She tore into her cloak with shaking hands, pulled the letter free, and hurled it over the cliff. The wind caught it, spinning parchment into nothing before it vanished into the foaming waters below.
