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Tenny waved at the entire line of dwarves as they passed, scooping Zephyr up into their procession and trailed closely by Jocelyn, Young Shep, and the other sylvans who’d arrived with them. The group began making their way toward the encampment, dragging horses and wagons down the hill, and soon, only Elyria, Cedric, Tenny, Kit, Tristan, and Ollie remained at the top.
“What the—” Tenny yelped as something brushed against her leg, and when she pulled her cloak aside, a black nose and two dark ears were poking out from beneath her skirt.
“Sid, get out of there,” Elyria scolded, though her amusement was evident in her voice.
The shadowcat emerged with a huff, and Tenny gasped.
“She’s so small,” she whispered, like it was a secret.
Kit grinned, giving Tenny’s hand a reassuring squeeze before releasing it. “You’ll get used to it.”
Elyria tilted her head. “Yeah, apparently that’s a thing she does. Not to worry. She’ll size back up when it counts.”
Tenny released a disbelieving laugh as Sid bounded down the path after Thraigg and the others. The levity lingered for a few more moments, with Tristan finally releasing his grip on Cedric to lean affectionately into Ollie, but it wasn’t long before the atmosphere among them shifted into something more serious.
Cedric’s gaze swept across the encampment below. “How many soldiers did the king send?”
“Two hundred, more or less,” Tristan said.
“Less, after Malakar’s visit,” Ollie added darkly.
“What?” Elyria’s head whirled toward Ollie so quickly, Tenny thought it might spin right off her neck. “Malakar is here, then?”
Tenny pursed her lips, her gaze falling to the ground. “He arrived yesterday. Just moments after I sent back your sparrow. King Callum’s men had only just finished setting up the perimeter around the village when he did.”
“He was singularly focused on getting into Kinsgaith. Barely noticed the rest of us, save for the unfortunate souls who got in his way.” Tristan looked away, disgusted.
“And now?” Elyria said, her voice almost manic. “He’s still down there?”
Ollie nodded. “We haven’t seen him since he made it past our line. But we can’t follow inside, because he threw some kind of blood-runed barrier up around the village. You can’t see it, but believe me, it’s there.”
Cedric grimaced. “Yes, he’s got a penchant for those kinds of spells, it would seem.”
“You haven’t seen him since?” Elyria repeated, pacing back and forth in front of them now. “He’s made no attempts to reach the Chasm?”
“None,” Tristan answered. “We’ve been vigilant in watching the border.”
“If anyone tried to breach the edge, we would know, Elle,” Ollie added.
Elyria turned sharply, her eyes snapping to the scar of the Chasm, easily visible from the hilltop. “Would we? What if we’re already too late? Four fucking hells, I knew we should’ve—”
Cedric reached for her, snagging one of her hands to slow her pacing. Their gazes connected, and there was a long, prolonged period of silence during which their facial expressions ran the gamut from anger to panic to melancholy to understanding.
“You’re right, Ollie,” Tenny whispered. “That is very odd to witness.”
“You’re telling me,” Tristan agreed.
Cedric shrugged at the two of them as he finally broke his attention from Elyria. “Another thing you’ll both have to get used to, I’m afraid,” he said simply, and the soft smile curving his lips had something warming in Tenny’s chest. As did the ring she saw glinting in the aurora’s light from his fourth finger. Both their fingers, she realized, taking in the ring of black on Elyria’s hand.
Congratulations would have to wait, though.
“We can’t risk Malakar slipping down to the Line,” said Elyria. “We need to seal the Chasm now.”
“You can do that?” Tenny asked, surprise speeding up the beat of her heart.
“They can,” said Kit softly, and Tenny watched with astonishment as both Elyria and Cedric waved their hands in unison and the air above them shimmered. A fraction of a second later, twin crowns appeared on their heads.
Ollie gasped before Tenny had the chance to. “Two . . . ? But I thought—the prophecy . . . ?”
