I was a gangly thirteen-year-old when I met her; she’d called me by my full name and asked if I was there to usher her into the Darkness, like she knew exactly who I was. I’ve been wary of the knowledge she somehow possesses ever since, but Denver’s disappearance had me begging her to use it. And that’s when her voice grew dark, and her eyes rolled into her head, and she spouted the words that led me to Mirren.
Destroy her. She who captures the sea in her eyes, bound without hate or love. Destroy her and the lost shall be found.
It was the only clue I had to go on. Finding and destroying an innocent girl. It was horrific, but I dipped into the unfeeling mask that kept me alive as a child and pushed all my morality to the bottom of the abyss. Denver saved my life and there was nothing I wouldn’t do to repay him, no one I wouldn’t sacrifice. And abducting Mirrenhadled me to his location with the information provided by that disgusting Boundary hunter.
But that was before I saw her, knew her. Before I saw the bravery that thrives within her, the heart that beats outside her chest.
And after—after, the thought of it was impossible. I know where Denver is and that has to be enough. I’ve held onto the idea that we can gain access to Yen Girene and then escape together. That I can keep her safe.
Shivers run up my spine and I get the overwhelming sense we are only pieces on a chessboard; that a game is being played we don’t yet understand. If Mirren is the key to some old prophecy, if magic itself led me to finding her, she’s in more danger than ever. There’s nothing the power hungry of the Dark World won’t do to find her and wield her for themselves.
“We’re going to Nadjaa to find the southerner,” Luwei says. I look to him in alarm. “Sura was training with the Kashan. We’re going to help him with the prophecy.”
Sura nods emphatically. “What I know is only a fraction of our Kashan’s knowledge, but I will do everything I can to honor him. To revive magic and bring balance back to the land.”
Balance.
It’s what Denver has always talked about. He believes law and freedom are both needed. That the world is off kilter, Similis and Ferusa each pulling in a different direction, and that restoring balance is the only thing that will bring prosperity to all. If the passion with which he speaks wasn’t enough for me to believe, the moon city, in all its glory, convinced me beyond a doubt. It’s what we’ve worked for since Denver found me all those years ago. What I still work for now, in my own crude way.
Later, when the soft snores of the others fill the camp, sleep doesn’t come to me. Instead, I close my eyes to waking nightmares of burning villages and unrestrained magic. And Mirren, the sea in her eyes, standing in the midst of it all.
* * *
Mirren
We bid goodbye to Sura and Luwei the next morning. The siblings have no horse, and we cannot afford to slow, but the farewell aches nonetheless. Sura hugs me before we depart and my heart swells in my chest. It’s the first time I can recall being hugged by a friend and when she lets go, it is far too soon. Luwei nods his head with an earnest ‘thank you’ as Shaw lifts me onto Dahiitii.
“When your journey is over, we’ll find you in Nadjaa,” Sura promises. I nod, my throat tight. I can’t tell her that when this is over, if I’m even alive, I’ll be on my way back to Similis. That I won’t ever get the chance to enjoy the company of someone who actually seems to enjoy mine in return.
Shaw, who remained willfully silent most of the evening and has continued the trend into the dawn hours, settles himself behind me. He takes the reins, pulling me tight against him, and some of the chill that came with leaving Sura’s embrace is sated by his warmth.
“Stay off the roads,” he barks at Luwei. The younger man’s eyes widen in surprise. It’s the first thing Shaw has said to him all morning.
I feel like elbowing him for his gruff manner. The siblings have been through hell and back. They aren’t deserving of his sour nature.
“When you get to Nadjaa, go to Evie’s boarding house and tell her Shaw sent you. Eat whatever you want and wait there for me. I’ll find you in a few weeks.” I gape at him in surprise as Shaw clicks his tongue and Dahiitii speeds off.
The mountain pass is a treacherously narrow avenue situated between a rock face and a steep cliff wall. Littered with loose gravel and large boulders that plunge off the ravine, echoing into the unfathomable depths, I can see Shaw’s wisdom in waiting until the morning to traverse it. The height is dizzying as I stare down the sheer drop and I resist the urge to squeeze my eyes shut until we’re past it.
After a while, the path becomes even more precarious and we hop off Dahiitii, navigating the rest on foot. It’s slower going, but I feel steadier on the ground than atop the towering mount.
“Is Denver the man that Sura and Luwei talked about? Is he the southerner?”
Shaw’s eyes widen. Something that looks suspiciously like fear flickers across his face so quickly, I can’t be sure it’s what I’ve seen. He nods his head. “He fits the description. And he packed for a long journey, though he never said where he was going.”
“Is that what you meant when you said he was going to bring light to the Dark World? Magic?”
Shaw lets out a strained laugh. “No, not really. I had no idea Denver was interested in the Dead Prophecy. I was referring to what he’s been committed to building in the concrete.”
“And what’s that?”
Shaw shrugs, but it’s clear he isn’t as nonchalant as he lets on. That Denver, and his visions for the world, are important to him. “A better world. He’s already done it with Nadjaa. When Denver first settled there, it was the same as every other Dark World city. Poor, hungry, plagued with violence. Warlords have fought over it for centuries because of its location and the violence had left its people destitute and the city in ruins. But Denver worked to bring the people together. He gave them a voice in how their city was run. In what laws would govern it and what goals they had for it. He allowed them to choose if they would join the ranks to protect it, and in doing so, created a fiercely loyal guard. It wasn’t magic…but it felt like it.”
“Ferusians are resistant to it. They’re suspicious of anything limiting the freedoms they have, and they’re scared of the reactions of the warlords, and rightfully so. It’s been a long, grueling process, but he dreams of something greater and it’s contagious.”
My foot slips, but Shaw’s hand steadies me before I even cry out. I flash him a grateful look. “How did you come to be with Denver?”
He’s silent so long I don’t think he’ll answer. He keeps everything about him tightly wrapped in an impenetrable veil. The little I know of him is only a vague combination of clipped words and gut feeling. When he answers, it feels as though I’ve won a hard-earned battle. “I had a…different sort of life before I met him.”
