And then nothing.
Smoke. River. Hands dragging me down.
I gritted my teeth against the fragmented memories. Nali and her people had saved my life. They’d done what Aurelia had asked and provided a safe retreat. Problem was, they’d also ripped me away from her.
I dragged a hand down my face and pushed up to sit. Thetent Talthis had loaned me was large enough to stand in, but not by much. A single lantern swung from one of the center poles, its light turned down to a faint glow. My boots sat neatly beside the cot, cleaned and dried again by some Spring fae soldier with more patience than I had.
My sword leaned against the far wall.
The mark on my ribs burned.
A dark, angular rune inked into my skin years ago. The one that tied me to a vow I couldn’t stop thinking about these last few weeks. One that was made of the same magic as Aurelia’s. Gifted from the same dark god.
I promised him I’d die for her.
I’d meant it when I’d said the words all those years ago. I still meant them now.
What I hadn’t anticipated was what it would feel like to love Aurelia and know every day brought me closer to the moment I’d lose her forever.
For all I knew, that moment could be happening right now. What if I wasn’t there when she needed me? What if she burned herself out, alone in those mountains, while I lay in a pretty tent in the Emerald Forest, drinking spring wine and waiting for news?
I slid my boots on and rolled my shoulders, testing the stiffness in my muscles. The naiad’s touch still lingered, a cold deep in my bones.
I buckled on my sword and turned the flame down on the lantern until it was nothing more than an ember. Then I loosened the tent flap and listened.
Silence.
Good.
I slipped out into the night.
The camp was a spill of low tents tucked beneath massive trees with a canopy that glowed faintly with filtered starlight. Ancient magic hummed in the roots and branches, a gentle,living thrum that made even the shadows feel softer than they should have. It was a comfort, knowing the magic of the Emerald Forest had not begun to fade as the rest of Sevanwinds had. Not yet at least.
At the perimeter, sentries stood, spears in hand. I recognized one or two from earlier—scouts who’d stared at me like they were still deciding whether I could be trusted.
Better they kept thinking about it.
I let my shadows loosen.
They slid from my feet like spilled ink, pooling across the ground, then crept outward. Not enough to be visible as anything but a deep patch of darkness. Enough to bend the edges of sight, nudging gazes away from where I moved.
They’d grown stronger these last weeks. Since I’d found Aurelia again. The way I’d used them to slide through those Obsidians’ throats at the war camp; that had been new for me. Slade’s shadow-walking, too, had grown stronger. He’d never carried anyone with him such a distance before. I wondered if he’d noticed the way his own gifts expanded in her presence. If Ire had done that or if it was something our own bond had brought.
One of the sentries glanced in my direction, blinked, and turned away.
Good.
I stole along the camp’s edge, breath slow, steps careful. In another life, I might have slipped out of camp like this to meet some lover in the trees.
Now, I was going to pick a fight with a god.
The forest thickened as I left the last of the tents behind. Emerald leaves arched overhead, drinking in what moonlight it could find among the clouds. Moss muffled my footsteps. Somewhere in the distance, an owl called.
I walked until I’d left all trace of the camp behind. Where the trees grew older, wilder. Here, the air felt less curated. Lesssafe. A thin ribbon of the Osphanis whispered somewhere farther off. Hopefully, far enough to avoid its listening ears.
When I was sure I was out of range of the patrols, I stopped in a small clearing where the canopy opened just enough to show a slice of overcast sky.
I drew my sword.
