“What do you sense? Why don’t you want me to give him my energy?” Aquilan demanded to know.
Rhalyf’s gray eyes were intent on the young man. He gave Aquilan a half smile. “Look at him, Aquilan. The last thing he needs is more magic coursing through him. He’s full up. He’s trying to release it, but can’t.”
Aquilan looked back down at Declan. Was it an overload of magic doing this? Yet that seemed impossible.
“I suppose it could be a magical storm of some sort. But you saw what he did, didn’t you?” Aquilan asked with a shake of his head in wonder. “All that power released, he should be drained to the dregs, but you’re claiming he’s not?”
“Forget what you think you know. Just look at him,” Rhalyf said.
Aquilan lowered his gaze once more, ready to protest, but then he saw it. Declan was vibrating with power. There was so much of it that it was threatening to shake him apart.
But how is this possible?
Finley huddled down on the other side of him and Declan then. One of his elegant, expressive hands touched Declan’s forehead lightly as if to let Declan know he was there. And it seemed, for a moment in any case, that Declan did know and was eased by it.
“I’ve only seen him a fraction this ill after being in the Sun,” Finley said. His voice held a low hum of fear and anxiety, but he tightly controlled it. Aquilan could hardly believe that this young man had only lived 25 years. He had the poise of an elf who had lived a thousand at least. “But there’s no Sun down here, Rhalyf, what’s wrong with him?”
“His magic…” Elasha pressed a hand tight against her chest. She was carrying a set of magnificent daggers that glowed like the Sun. “How… How did he do that? The whole nest is destroyed by one blow.”
“No one has that much magic,” Darcassan muttered, shaking his head in disbelief even though he had seen what all of them had seen.
His nephew was tottering on his feet, looking gray and ill as well. Aquilan’s alarm rose, but Darcassan steadied himself. He could not have two people he cared about in such dire straits at once!
“Declan big boss,” Snaglak muttered even as he patted Glom’s head anxiously. “Big, big boss.”
And to think, Rhalyf and I laughed at the thought of him defeating six orcs! Six orcs would be nothing to him.
Helgrom’s amber eyes were glowing steadily as he stared at Declan’s suffering form. “Rhalyf, please help the boy. You must help him. You know who he is.”
You know who he is… The Night Prince… The son of Xelroth Vex… Heir to the Kindreth Empire… And here we are. In the shadow of Illithor. Vex, where are you? Aquilan called again mentally even as he warned himself not to.
“Who is he exactly?” Darcassan asked. His eyes flickered suspiciously between all of them. “You’re not saying he’s the Night King’s son again, are you? That’s just crazy.”
Everyone ignored him. He’d heard all their discussions before they went through the rift to Illithor. Evidently, whatever his nephew had experienced hadn’t shaken him out of his beliefs as to what was and wasn’t possible. Or he just didn’t want to accept it.
What will he think when he finds out that I am Ailduin reborn?
“He’s the Night Prince, Darcassan. They told us that earlier. And after what we just saw… how can you doubt it?” Elasha swallowed convulsively.
She’s afraid of him. But Declan has been nothing but good and kind to her!
And yet Aquilan understood. The power that Declan had just shown them was overwhelming. For those who had grown up on scary stories of the Kindreth like his niece and nephew, this must have seemed like one of those come to life. Yet this was Declan. His Shadow.
Iefyr. From the beginning, I knew who and what he was on some level. The Ailduin in me, perhaps?
“It’s Declan, Elasha. The young man who cared enough to listen to your fears about Darcassan. Who came all this way to save your brother,” Aquilan reminded her. “Despite… despite the risks of coming here for him.”
“Risks?!” Darcassan let out a choked laugh. “If he’s a Vex what risks are to them here? This is home! Like he said.”
“If you think that Declan is safe here then you are a bigger fool than I thought you were and that is a feat, I’ll have you know,” Rhalyf growled.
His nephew and niece winced at the angry, arctic tone in his best friend’s voice. But Aquilan was not sorry for it. He was glad. Rhalyf clearly understood that being the son of Xelroth Vex and wielding this much power was a double-edged sword. His eyes met his best friend’s. There was an opaqueness there, but Aquilan could see that Rhalyf and he were on the same page about this.
Did Vex come to see him? He supposedly saved Finley. And the young man looks… fine? Rhalyf found Finley. We will need to speak, but when we get home.
“I just don’t see how he’s in danger,” Darcassan persisted.
“Because, lad, he just announced who he is to all of the Under Dark,” Helgrom broke in with a grunt. “They may not realize yet who he is, but they’ll know someone is out there. And then the Night King…”
