For a moment, it seemed like the plan was going to work. The earth began to slough off the golem in waves of mud, and its steps slowed. But the black magic beating in the center of its chest flared, and shadow magic poured out, reforming the shield. Within seconds, the mud raced back up, solidifying around the golem once more.
“Fuck,” Prentis said, echoing my sentiments perfectly.
The golem lumbered toward us, its form growing larger and more menacing with each step. Prentis and I closed ranks, summoning more magic, but my body was trembling with exertion. I hadn’t eaten in days, and my reserves were severely depleted. There wasn't much magic in the primal stone either—it had only been a few days since I'd used it.
I was about to rally myself for one last attempt when a massive winged shadow fell over us, blotting out the sunlight. Every nerve in my body came alive, and I looked up even though I already knew who had come to rescue us.
Einar. In all his dragon glory.
His fiery eyes flashed at us as he let out a sky-shattering roar that was somehow both a battle cry and an admonishment. His ruby scales flashed in the morning light, and my gaze snagged on the enormous stone slab clutched in his massive claws. It looked suspiciously like a rooftop that had been ripped off some poor, unsuspecting building.
The golem looked up too, just in time for Einar to drop several tons of stone on top of its body.
The golem collapsed beneath the weight of the slab, but Einar wasn’t done. He landed on the slab with all his weight, smashing the monster flat like a pancake, then launching himself skyward before the tendrils of shadow magic could touch him. Prentis and I held our breath as the inky clouds slowly began to dissipate, then evaporate into the air.
Einar circled the area a few more times, checking for other threats. Seemingly satisfied, he made to land, but I held up a hand. “Take the slab off him first,” I said in response to his irritated glare.
Einar did as I asked, removing the biggest chunks—the slab had shattered beneath his weight—to the side so I could get a good look at the golem. The monster had been crushed into a million pieces between the two blows, but even so, I could still see bits of earth trying to inch back together, encouraged by tendrils of shadow. Gritting my teeth, I reached into the rubble and pulled out the black primal stone that had acted as the golem’s life force, animating it and driving it to murder us. The stone pulsed in my hand, sending shivers of revulsion through me as the evil magic tried to penetrate me.
Closing my eyes, I summoned my remaining fire magic and channeled it into the stone, gripping it as tight as I could. The corrupted primal stone crumbled beneath my fist and rained to the ground in ashes.
“There,” I said as Prentis and Einar—back in his bipedal form—approached. “Now it won’t be able to attack us again.
“Good,” Einar said. He crossed his arms over his chest—his verybarechest—I realized, and raked the two of us with a look that could only be described as quietly murderous. “Now, which one of you is going to explain to me what thefuckhappened here?”
34
Einar
“And you’re certain it was a shadow creature you fought?”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes at Lady Axlya’s pointed question, which was neither directed at Adara, who had been shouting about the shadow creature threat from the rooftops since we arrived, or at me, who had actually defeated the damn thing. No, she was asking Prentis, as if his opinion on the incident was the only one that mattered.
“Absolutely,” Prentis confirmed. He didn’t seem to notice Adara’s clenched jaw, or the barely concealed annoyance on her face as he answered the question. “It was a golem, but the black smoke cloaking it was unequivocally shadow magic. I could feel its noxious presence in the air, and the rotted lines it left in the marble…” He shuddered a little at the memory. “Well, let’s just say I’m happy Adara used her magic to destroy the primal stone powering it. If not for her, I’m not sure we would have survived.”
“I think the dragon deserves some credit too,” Cascada said, surprising all of us. We were gathered in the Hall of Mirrors, with the clan heads and Lady Axlya’s immediate family present, including Cascada and the consorts. “He did rip the roof of that building and use it to crush the beast, did he not?”
“I definitely wouldn’t have been able to kill the beast if he hadn’t smashed it to bits first,” Adara said. She shot an apologetic glance at me, trying to catch my gaze, but I refused to look at her. I still hadn’t forgiven her for the way she’d snuck off with Prentis without eventryingto wake me up and tell me about it first. Instead, my gaze bored into Prentis, who in turn had been doing his best to avoid catchingmyeye.
I was certain he was the reason I’d slept through his and Adara’s departure, and there would be a reckoning between us for sabotaging my duty and putting Adara in danger.
“Yes, yes,” Lady Axlya said with an impatient wave of her hand. “Einar is to be commended for doing his duty and protecting his charge.” The hint of sarcasm in her voice left no doubt that her comment was meant as a jab, but I kept my expression blank, refusing to rise to the bait. “But who sent this shadow golem, and how did it get into the city?”
“Aren’t golems earth magic?” Kalis pointed out, a pensive expression on his face.
“They are,” Tamil said. “And General Slaugh was a member of the shadow guard, who we all know were gifted shadow magic by King Aolis. He has every reason to want Adara dead, and the means to make it happen.”
“But General Slaugh and the others don’t have their shadow magic anymore,” Cascada protested. Adara pursed her lips at that, but if Cascada was lying, she was a very good actress. The confusion on her face seemed genuine. “It disappeared when Adara killed the king!”
“My dear,” Ilsa cut in, sounding both exasperated and sympathetic at once, “if that was the case, then where did that shadow golem get its powers from?”
Cascada’s cheeks colored, and something dark flickered in her eyes. An uncomfortable silence filled the room as the rest of the council members peered speculatively at Cascada, before Adara reluctantly broke it.
“Perhaps General Slaugh used shadow magic to muddle Cascada’s memories of that night,” Adara offered, trying to be charitable. “That could explain why her version of events is so different from mine and Einar’s.”
“Even if that were the case, that still doesn’t explain why the shadow creatures have vanished from the rest of the continent,” Lady Ria interjected. “I’m inclined to think Cascada’s version of events is correct, and that this was just a fluke. Perhaps King Aolis kept some primal stones filled with magic, and Slaugh or one of his cohort saw fit to use them.”
The rest of the councilors muttered at this, clearly torn on the issue. Prentis, Tamil, and the consorts seemed inclined to believe Adara, while the other two clan leaders and Lady Axlya seemed to favor Cascada. I suspected Lady Axlya’s willingness to lean into her daughter’s narrative had more to do with supporting the version of events that would allow her to maintain control over Adara and the throne than it did with what she actually believed.
