Yessss.They hissed.
Follow the light, little shadow blessed.
My head tilted when I realized they were right. It wasn’t a creature, nor a person, exuding the light, but little silver orbs that twirled andtwined through the trees, beckoning me closer. They were enchanting little things that sparkled through the darkness. My steps were soft as I entered the wild wood, gaze transfixed. Some part of me, deep within, urged me further—until it was the only thing I could think of. A voice, not my own nor was it the shadows, that was calling to me. Telling me I must follow, I must see what they wish to show.
But I had been doing something, hadn’t I? A job that was important for my—
My who? I could not remember. All I knew was the silver light, and the path they led me upon. I didn’t flinch when the reaching branches caught in my hair, nor when thorns and bushes stabbed through the wool of my clothes. I didn’t know how far I walked or how long.
Eventually they led me to a clearing in the trees, a cliffside where the sea thrashed against the rock far, far below. Near the ledge there stood a building of crumbling stone, the steps weathered and broken apart. The lights danced around it, joyful as they swarmed and twined through my hair and over my arms.
Here. Here. Here.
They seemed to sing, so loud it left my heart racing, my soul quaking.
What was this place? My steps were hesitant, a sort of fear I hadn’t felt before making my mind spin. Where was I? I was supposed to be—
A temple of old, left to rot here in the wood.
The shadows sang, urging me closer.
Crumbled and forgotten.
Where the sea meets the cliffside, where old and new meld into one.
Where the moon meets the rubble of the past.
I knew those words, knew they were important. Where had I heard them?
Go.
The shadows urged and my feet moved, stepping carefully up the broken steps as I entered the crumbling temple. The inside was no better, cracked stone and debris everywhere. Vines and thick moss covered the walls, grew through the cracks, but in the wall that overlooked the sea was a window. A beautiful, eerie thing that had me stepping further into the old temple. The moon sat in its center, its silver light casting over the ruins, bathingmein its glow.
The little silver orbs spun around me, dancing and cheery as they drew me closer. They buzzed with an energy that left my head spinning, and then they weregone.Disappeared in a second and the haze that had shrouded my mind slowly lifted. A small noise sounded in my throat as my head fell to my hands as I tried to reorient.
I should be on watchback at the campsite. Why had they led me here? Were they the silver lights from the story of Âme and Mireya? Did they wish to help, would I find Misha here?
“Hello little shadow-blessed.” A voice crooned, dark and rasping. “Or is it shadow-cursed these days? It’s so hard to keep up with the little politics of your kingdom.”
A dagger was in my palm an instant later as I slowly spun, but saw no one. Trying to keep the shaking from my voice I called, “Who are you?”
A figure emerged from behind a crumbling pillar, darkness clinging to his crooked form. His back was hunched, legs bent at old angles, his hands curled with nails long and sharp as talons that dragged and scraped across the floor. I raised the blade higher as he glanced up at me through dark, black hair. His eyes werered.Red as blood spilt upon fresh snow, full of derision and delight.
“I’ve waited so long to meet you and this is how you greet me?” His laugh was a cackle, rasping and insidious, “Allow me to at least introduce myself before you point a blade at me.”
“Then name yourself,” I hissed, my fear morphing, solidifying into anger as my heart beat wildly in my chest.
His grin widened, too wide as it pulled the skin around his mouth far too taut. “I believe you mortals call me Dedrio.”
Chapter FortyOne
Iwas frozen, my blood chilling as I stared at the creature before me. So human and yet gnarled as the trees that graced this cursed wood, otherworldly. His head tilted as his eyes drank in the shock that must’ve been on my face.
Dedrio.
My voice shook, head shaking in disbelief. “That’s not possible—”
“And why is it not?” He crooned. “Prince of Treachery, the Ninth realm of Hell is my domain, where the darkness stretches eternal.” He circled, slow and intent, like a predator waiting to strike. “But you know of darkness, don’t you little shadow-cursed? Do you know how long one must suffer in the dark before it begins to speak back?”
