My heart is in my throat; my blood, pounding in my ears.
I press my hand to my chest, trying to calm myself.
Beside me, Gallium has frozen, but I don’t miss the way his hand has tightened around his hammer.
Thaden’s voice sounds close to my left shoulder, a soft growl in my ear. “Do you see that mountain ridge? The one the dust storms can’t seem to pass?”
My throat is constricted and all I can manage is, “Yes.”
“The fire dragon Graviter Rex burned that ridge,” he says. “Just as he burned this one.”
Thaden points to the path we’ve been walking along.
“By burning all living matter along both ridges, he stopped the blight from spreading in either of these directions.”
“It spreads through living things?”
“No.” Thaden’s voice is harsh. “It spreads throughdeadthings. That’s the problem. Anything dead that was once living has the potential to feed the rot.”
I sense the blood draining from my face. “A living tree drops leaves that then decompose.”
“Exactly. Even a leaf that may still appear green is already dying.” He nods, his face stony. “But it’s dead, magical beings that really feed the darkness and help it spread.”
I exhale slowly, trying to stop the sinking of my stomach. “Fae magic is connected to nature.”
Thaden nods. “They draw on their environment when they use their magic. They literally drew the blight into their bodies. And when they died, their magic fed the darkness like no other supernatural’s body could.
“Layer upon layer of magic has built up where the fae cities used to exist—creation magic, dark magic, elemental magic. Humans, on the other hand, have very little magic in their bodies, which is why the blight has not raged out of control in the south or west. But here…”
His eyes are shadowed and dark. “The fae were doomed as soon as the darkness entered the soil, water, and even the dust in the air. Now their land is pure chaos. Magic is building on itself without an end.”
I’m tense with a new worry as I turn to Gallium, my fears forming words that tumble from my mouth. “Ten years ago, when the Vandawolf killed over a hundred Blacksmiths, did he bury the bodies? He hated our people, but he would never stoop to disrespecting the dead. He would have considered burialrespectful. Do you know where he?—”
Gallium reaches for me, gripping my shoulder with his free hand. “He burned them, Tamra.”
I take a shaky breath. “Are you sure?”
Gallium nods. “I heard Maybelle and Kedric talking about it. He made the humans build pyres. It took them two days. Many of the men were angry about it. They wanted to rebuild their homes. Braddock was the most vocal.”
I shudder at the memory of the human named Braddock, who had called for our deaths on the night our people died.
“They were even angrier when the Vandawolf collected up all of the crimson coal and used it to burn the bodies. It’s how he destroyed all of the tools…”
Gallium’s gaze is suddenly far away, and I study him closely.
“Brother?”
“I snuck out in the night,” he says quietly. “After I heard Maybelle and Kedric talking. You were asleep. When I got out there, the pyres were already lit. The humans were staying away. The Vandawolf was in the middle of the field, standing in front of a bowl of blazing crimson coal and he was burning tools. One by one. Putting them into the fire. Making sure they burned to ash.” Gallium focuses on me again. “I’ll never forget the look on his face.”
“Anger?” I ask softly.
He shakes his head. “Grief.”
I’m quiet as Gallium turns back to the dark plain in the east, clears his throat, and says, “The Vandawolf had no part in this.”
My worries now grow for another reason. I gesture to the dark environment in the east. “Thaden, if your village is close to the heart of the damaged land, how is it safe from this?”
His expression softens a little. “It’s sheltered by barren rocks that curve around it in a near-complete circle. It sits, quite literally, in the shadow of the mountain and also, remarkably, protected by it.”
