10. Interlude 1
Interlude 1
Thirty Years Ago
The Queen of Shadows steps out of the ruins, her midnight dress covered in dust, and with a thought, it all disappears, sent to the void. The book that she holds in her long fingers is a treasure that no one in the world remembers.
Fellwyn, a castle hidden in darkness, lays around her. It’s nothing but rubble, a broken thing that no one remembers, lost thousands of years ago. It was destroyed in the first war between the Immortals and humans. In every war between the Immortals and humans, humans have proven to be more than we expect.
Is it the curse of the High Fae to underestimate them at every turn? In this battle, they overwhelmed even the High Fae of the House of Shadows. My father was forced to sign a treaty after they destroyed this castle. This broken place is testament that there is more value in humans than as cattle, and it’s why the old treaties were written.
She looks down at the tome in her hand. It was spelled so that the pages will never tarnish. This is a relic of a time when dragons were as commonplace as the High Fae. A History of Magic and Dragons. It was written by Erevan Morvyn, her father. The book is the only collection of knowledge and words from the dragons. Some of it came directly from them. Other pieces were recounted by the Darkness.
Brenna breathes hard as she sits down on a broken piece of stone. Her eyes grow black as she channels the power of shadows and picks the lock holding the book closed because there was never a key to this lock.
She begins to read. Stories of a time before Nyth. Explanations for why things are the way they are. Reasons for why the dragons left.
The hunters.
Who are they? What are they? What could cause a dragon to flee? What could kill a dragon? And why was Sidon the only one who had defeated one?
There are too many questions that can no longer be answered. Calyr has already said that he won’t speak of why the dragons left.
The Queen has found the answers she sought. She hadn’t expected that they’d give her so many more questions.
The shadows that flow from her body move on their own command. It has been six months since her House was shattered. A hundred shadow walkers are left, all of whom are deep in hiding, and all of whom know that they are to stay there.
Her child will need warriors once she finds the line of Earth. Those shadow walkers are the only warriors capable of defending them when it comes time to take back the Throne that Gethin and Casimir stole from her.
What she’s found in this book makes her question everything, though. The secrets. The lies that even the dragons told. Even the dragons weren’t prepared. Even Calyr doesn’t have answers for what happens now. Ruin will come… Calyr knew the Shattering would happen, and he doesn’t know if they’ll recover.
She can’t depend on her child to fix things. The Queen of Shadows will have to play another part. A different kind of part.
She’d thought that finding the Shadowed Cloak and putting it into the right hands would be enough to sway the tides. The Prince of Flames is strong enough, but… It won’t be enough.
First, she must find the line of Earth. Then she’ll do what she must to prepare the way for her child.
Whatever the costs…