Chapter 29 Rose
ROSE
All I could do was stare at the tall beast in front of me, shaped like a man but made of magic even blacker than night.
Wispy tendrils of shadow danced off his shoulders and drifted from his fingertips.
Great, pointed wings rose from his back, and his eyes crackled with white lightning.
The Shadow Lord was terrifyingly beautiful and inhuman, radiating so much power it made my hands tremble, but I couldn’t back down.
“Where is Raith?” I called out. “What have you done with him?”
“Raith.” The monster’s voice was cold and jarring, like the scrape of claws against glass. “Raith is gone.”
“Gone?” I stumbled back and pressed a hand to my stomach, overwhelmed by worry. No, it wasn’t possible. Gone didn’t necessarily mean gone. But what if Raith had already fought him and failed? Was the Shadow Lord here to collect on the kingdom and everything else my husband had once held dear?
No. Not while I lived. He would have to get through me first.
I moved to stand in front of him, digging my heels into the soft ground while I raised my hands to cast what runes I could.
I had no idea if my husband was dead or alive.
For all I knew, he could be out there looking for the Shadow Lord now.
And if not… Well, if Raith couldn’t defeat the Shadow Lord with all of his magic and knowledge then I had little hope of it myself, but I wouldn’t run away.
There was no one else to fight for Ilidan except me.
I was Queen now, and I would die before I let the darkness claim my kingdom.
“Move aside,” the Shadow Lord commanded.
“Never.” I cast the rune for fire and summoned bright flames in each of my palms. “Go back to the Shadow Lands and leave this kingdom alone!”
I sent the fire toward his chest, but he swatted it away with a thick, black hand tipped with sharp claws.
The flames seared through some of his fingers, making the shadows break apart like wispy clouds, but then they reformed instantly.
My throat clenched, but I summoned more fire, casting the runes in my mind as I rapidly unleashed magic at his chest. The dark beast let out a roar that made my skin crawl as the flames burned through his shadowy skin, but every time I hit him the damage quickly healed.
His large claws swooped down and knocked me aside before I could conjure more magic.
I fell flat on my back in the damp grass, the impact forcing the air from my lungs, but I wasn’t injured.
I sucked in a ragged gasp as I pushed myself up, preparing for another blow, but it never came.
Why wasn’t he attacking me with his magic?
Or tearing me apart with those claws? Was he dragging this moment out to torture me further?
“Return to the castle,” his icy voice demanded.
I was getting really tired of people telling me what to do. I scrambled to my feet, ripping the skirt of my dress as my boot snagged on it, and raised my chin defiantly. “I will not.”
Remembering Raith’s teachings, I traced the rune in my head and added my own flourish to the design, imbuing it with my willpower before letting it go.
A ring of flame circled around the Shadow Lord’s neck, squeezing tight.
He raised his hand to put the fire out, but it tore through the darkness nearly faster than he could heal it. Nearly.
With a horrible screech he backhanded me again, sending me tumbling to the ground once more.
As the fire was snuffed out he towered over me, and I felt pure, primal fear like I’d never known before.
Dark, inky claws wrapped around me, pinning my arms to my sides, and though I tried to fight back I knew this would be the end.
My magic did little to harm the Shadow Lord, and I’d failed to protect my kingdom.
My one consolation was that Raith was probably waiting for me in the Celestial Lands already.
I squeezed my eyes shut as the shadows tightened around me, and I whispered the words that would be my last. “Forgive me, Raith. I love you.”
The Shadow Lord paused. My death never came. The darkness retreated.
I opened my eyes as the inky black tendrils pulled away and the Shadow Lord’s body began to grow smaller, as if contracting in on itself.
I shuffled backward on my hands and knees, desperately trying to catch my breath while wondering what new horror I would face next.
But as the Shadow Lord shrank away and his darkness dissipated, he left only a man in his place.
He collapsed to the ground, seemingly unconscious.
A new kind of horror gripped me as I crawled toward the fallen man.
A man with raven-black hair, eyes the color of an angry storm, and lips I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about.
A sob escaped my throat as I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him to my chest. He was breathing, but it was shallow, and his skin was ice-cold.
Worst of all was the revelation that we’d been wrong all along, and the threat was far worse than I could have imagined.
It wasn’t the Shadow Lord who was attacking Ilidan.
It was Raith.