I took a deep breath. I could smell remnants of cultists. Sorceresses had been here only days before. There were still scents of things like incense and burnt candles drifting through the air.
And blood. I smelled blood.
I changed back into a man and cast an illusion spell. Sparkling bits of light scattered from my gloved fingers, illuminating the cave. I turned in a circle, observing what had been left behind. Crystals, charms. One cauldron. A few items of clothing, like a black cloak and a singular shoe. Stains of red littered the stone from the cult’s sacrifices, but the blood was long past dry. They’d picked up and gone in a hurry days ago.
They’d moved their location. But how? I searched the cave, looking for clues as to where they might have gone, but they’d left none behind. I was back at square one.
Dammit! Every time I took a step forward, it was like the cult was five steps ahead.
The White Rose. She must’ve warned them. There was no other way.
I bared my teeth. This woman was becoming a problem. I’d finally located the cult’s base and had a chance to shut them down for good, and it was ruined by the White Rose’s interference.
I had to deal with her. Before she caused anymore trouble for me.
Tonight was a bust. I might as well go home. I walked out of the cave, my form tense. Lately, the Phantom was just as powerless as Prince Ethan.
I shifted into a wolven. But instead of going back to Arcanea University, I changed my mind and headed in the other direction, creating tracks in the heavy snow. I wasn’t done yet. I had to learn something new about the cult, in order to avoid making this night a waste of my time.
I was more or less being pathetically desperate— I didn’t think I’d find anything— but instinct drove me on. For some reason, I followed my intuition south, toward the boundary wall that surrounded Malovia.
It wasn’t too far off— a few miles, mostly. I couldn’t explain why... but it felt like that was where I had to be right now.
I reached the border. I expected all to be quiet and uneventful. I was wrong.
The border wall surrounding Malovia to keep monsters in was invisible. But an Arcanea could feel its magical energy pulsing through the area when it came near. Yet something was wrong. The boundary wall was weak... as I drew closer, I felt its power draining. There were holes in it big enough for monsters to step on through.
The Black Claw had to be doing this. They were creating holes in the boundary wall, so monsters could walk freely through and terrorize the human world beyond. But why? And for what purpose?
The sound of a roar cut through the trees. I crouched down. My eyes widened in shock as I observed the scene ahead.
There was a monster near the boundary wall, tied with ropes and chains. The creature was abukavac; a type of strange reptile. It resembled a warty toad, with six legs that ended in razor-sharp claws. Two massive horns stuck out of its head, and sharp teeth jutted out of its bulbous lips. The monster had to be twenty feet tall or more.
Bukavacswere water monsters. They resided in swamps and were known to eat large game like bears that came by the streams to drink. They remained underwater, and didn’t jump upon their prey until it was too late. They weren’t necessarily common, however— not at this time of the year.Bukavacshibernated in the winter in massive caverns until it was time to emerge in the spring. What was one doing out here at the end of January?
The people holding the ropes and chains were the Black Claw. Male cultists, in both their human and shifter forms, struggled to contain the creature while a few cultist sorceresses cast their illusion magic to hold the creature down. The giant monster fought, but despite its efforts to escape, it couldn’t break free.
The cultists finally forced the monster into a metal cage at the edge of the tree line. It screamed in rage and thrashed against the bars, struggling to get through. The wolven cultists came forward and used their telepathy magic together to levitate the cage off the ground. I watched as the monster was carried into the woods, vanishing with the rest of the cultists as its cries penetrated the night.
Why was the Black Claw imprisoning monsters? It made no sense. Wasn’t their goal to let them slip into the border beyond?
They must be using them for another purpose. A dark one, no doubt.
I came out of the trees and into the meadow, changing back into a man. The Black Claw was gone— I planned to search the area for more clues.
But the crunching of the snow behind me made me freeze. I turned. My veins turned to ice as I once again came face-to-face with the White Rose.
How had she found me? She must’ve been skulking around the cave. But even then, how had she caught up with me? Wolvens were fast runners, and she couldn’t have followed me on foot.
She must have wings. Flying would be the only way a sorceress could keep up with a shifter.
Wings were a defining factor of an Arcanea. No two were the same. If I saw her wings, I’d be able to figure out who she was. But she kept them concealed, staring at me with blue eyes like mirrors.
Her look was so haunted. It sent a shiver through my spine.
“You didn’t listen when I told you to stay away,” she said. She unleashed a dagger from her side. “Looks like I’m going to have to teach you a lesson.”
She attacked before I could say anything in response. She ran at me full speed, the dagger folded at her side and waiting to strike. I took a defensive stance and withdrew my own weapon, ready to counter-attack, but as I swung shejumped overme, sailing in an arc as she flipped and landing on her feet on the other side.
