I huffed out a laugh as a horrid cacophony of screaming whispered on the wind.
“And I love you too,” Fen gruffly said.
A single horn blared above us.
With their ability to travel quickly, the Moirai would be upon us in moments.
Chapter 65
Emmerick
“How could he get here?” I asked with a cough. Lark had Shadowed us to a volcanic island off the shores of Sahlmkar.
Cloying, foul-smelling steam greeted us, burning my nostrils. Glimpses of red lava flowed through cracks in the dark rock below our feet.
“My Shadows,” she answered, with a wince. She walked ahead of me, toward a steep incline, casting her gaze upward. “This way!”
The Princess scrambled up the cliff with a groan of exertion. “He’s here. I can feel it,” she added.
Pulse quickening, I imagined what it meant for us to fail—Caym held Dritan in his horrid clutches. The Corridors fell city by city. Isolde’s power restored to Death through killing my son.
Elsedora turned to dust…
Panic made my movements stiff as I climbed the scalding boulders behind Larkspur.
We were ill-prepared, and entering any battle with so little forethought spelled disaster.
The leather soles of my boots grew pliant as the heat emanated from the rock. Below, the tide steamed and beat the cliffs with relentless violence.
My height made it easier to climb, and I outpaced the Princess and offered her a hand to hoist her up onto a plateau. The smoke cleared enough to give us visibility across the volcanic mountaintop.
Yards away, Dritan stood, hands covered with blood, next to a hole dug in the hard ground. He wore wool socks that had burned through, a light tunic, and loose breeches, as though he’d just woken.
Lark’s gasp echoed against the gurgling waters. She screamed, “Dritan!”
“Son, it’s alright—we’re here,” I soothed out.
My old sword’s ruby pommel shone on the ground by his foot. A metal safe sat broken open next to it.
He didn’t respond. Instead, he clenched the carcanet in a reeled back fist as he held the black mirror in his other hand, intent to strike.
My hand flung out—he was still out of reach. “Don’t!” I yelled.
He paused, but his irises were onyx. His choices were no longer his own. Caym was leading him down a path of no return. I knew. I’d been there.
Lark grew rigid, and I grabbed her arm before she could Shadow to him.
“Dritan, please,” I called. The mirror trembled in his white-knuckled grasp. “Put it down, son. You can fight this.”
His eyes met mine; a flash of blue told me he was trying.
Lark broke free of my hold, and when she started for him, he barked out, “Stay away! Please...”
He gasped, and his grip on himself loosened, back stiffening with horrid determination.
Before either of us could make another move, he punched through the pane. Shards dug into his fist, and blood ran through his fingers.
Amber smoke erupted from the glass and surrounded him, tearing at his clothes and forcing him to his knees.
