Chapter 62 Nox
Nox
Half a dozen black carriages rolled up the steep incline, wheels precariously close to the drop-off as the wind rocked them back and forth.
From the thick cover of trees and pouring rain, we watched them make their way over the rocky threshold and out of sight, deep into the forge.
The sky darkened rapidly as the sun descended and more storm clouds moved into view.
I homed my Shifter hearing in on the caravan of carriages.
We needed to make sure they unloaded the cargo and took it beneath the first level, deep into the underground tunnels where Arowyn found the holding caves.
That was where we could set off the explosive charm to do maximum damage to the weapons without killing all the guards on the first level.
Some of Scarven’s men chose to follow him, but many were just like his prisoners. Pawns in his games of power. Forced into the role because of what they could do for him. I didn’t want to take the chance that we’d hurt a single innocent person, even if it meant sparing some who were loyal to him.
We waited and waited, but there was nothing out of the ordinary that I could hear—instructions doled out by gruff guards, metal scraping against metal, rustling as a handful of guards unpacked the cargo.
Nobody suspected a thing. This was just a regular mission.
Everything was going smoothly. Too smoothly.
It set my teeth on edge, making my stomach clench with every whisper of movement.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a bigger play here.
Something we weren’t seeing. Blowing up this weapon’s forge was one thing, but what if Scarven had more?
What if this was just a small stepping stone to his end goal?
My burning curiosity and need for control couldn’t sit around here and wait while my suspicions were raised. I rocked forward on the balls of my feet. I had to see for myself. Make sure there wasn’t something else.
“I’m going to check on things,” I said to the other three. Arowyn tried to protest, but I held a hand out. “I’ll only be a minute, I promise. Devora, do you have the new piece of enchanted parchment?”
She nodded.
“Good. I’ll signal all clear on there, and then, Arowyn, you get in and set the fire quartz. Be careful.”
When they all nodded, I slipped on my charmed camouflaging ring, no longer caring about consequences for using Scarven’s “gift.” I’d already lost that trust.
Rain pelted my camouflaged skin as I left the others and stalked to the entrance. The scent of sweat, metal, and musty stone overwhelmed me, the sharp smell that could only belong to steel filling the air.
There were hundreds of boxes disappearing into the forge. Scarven’s lackeys worked with precision, forming an assembly line to remove them from the carriages, sort onto wheelbarrows, and roll down the pathways.
I got as close as I dared to one of the boxes whose lid had slipped off. Dozens of daggers glinted back at me, with blades such a dark green, they looked almost black, like oil. I touched one, then immediately recoiled with a hiss as my magic lurched.
Fatesprig.
This confirmed my fear. Scarven had imbued hundreds, if not thousands of weapons with the herb. This entire forge was toxic to Veridians, full of objects designed to weaken and detain us before we could blink.
And if he was starting to move them outside his labs…
I gingerly grabbed the hilt of one with the fabric of my shirt, then slipped it into my weapon’s belt. It couldn’t hurt to have another sample.
A man in a sleek black uniform and daggers strapped to his body marched toward the line of carriages. “Is this the last of it?” he barked at one of the other guards.
The second one nodded. “We’re almost done.”
“Good,” the man in charge said. “Let’s pick up the speed. This isn’t the only cache we have to move this week.” He jerked his head at the carriages. “Make sure they’re out soon, or we’re leaving you down here when Mortep puts the wards back up.”
This isn’t the only cache we have to move this week.
The meaning of his words snapped into place, and dread pooled in my stomach.
Scarven was putting these weapons into circulation this week.
He’d hijacked this old forge—who knew how many other hidden locations he’d turned into holding cells?
Once he had them in place, he could release magic-dampening weapons over all six provinces with the snap of a finger.
We had even less time than I imagined. Our people wouldn’t have time to prepare. To react. Without our magic, we were helpless against someone like him.
Was that what this was all for? So Scarven could make a move on the entire Veridian Empire?
I waited a few minutes for the last of the guards to get back to this top level, then ripped the enchanted parchment and a small piece of charcoal from my pockets, quickly scribbling one word.
Go.
The reply was immediate.
Two minutes, starting now.
Two minutes. That was how long of a headstart we agreed on.
I made my way back to the entrance. Arowyn should have stridden to the caves beneath this very spot, where she’d be counting down the seconds to ignite the fire quartz. As long as everyone was out of the lower levels, we would be—
A scent broke through the haze, drifting to me through the mountain. It was familiar. Like smoke and amber and rose, mixed with something sour.
The world stilled.
Vera.
I turned on instinct, feeling like I was spinning in molasses. My heart beat louder than a drum as ice seeped down my spine.
She was here. My sister was here.
And we were about to blow up this cave.
I snapped into motion, weaving around wheelbarrows and darting over boxes, frantically searching for any sign of her. That dirty-blonde hair, those golden eyes, the sharp cheekbones. I tried to follow the scent, frustration mounting as I counted the seconds in my head. How much time was left?
It didn’t matter. I had to find her.
Boots hammering on stone, breath burning in my chest, I raced through the dim tunnels, dodging stacks of boxes and flickering torches.
The ground declined steeply as it led into an underground system of caves.
My pulse ticked faster than the seconds remaining.
Every step was heavy, driven by panic and a dread deeper than I’d faced before.
One minute left.
A fork appeared in the jagged path. I barreled down the right side, which opened to a larger cave with shelves built into the walls. Boxes and boxes of weapons were already in place, ready to blow. My eyes swept the shelves, the crates, the shadows between stone pillars. Nothing.
Thirty-five seconds.
Time was running out. This underground level was about to go up in flames. Once I found her, we’d both have to shift to make it out alive, but we could do it. We were powerful enough. I wouldn’t leave her again, not after everything.
Then there was movement.
A flicker of color down the tunnel across the cave. Dirty-blonde hair and squared shoulders. I only saw her for a second before she passed, but it was enough.
I ripped the camouflaging ring off my hand. “Vera!” I roared. Sprinting across the cave, my hands shifted into talons, ready to grab her and claw our way out from under the mountain.
Twenty seconds.
I tore through the tunnel opening, breaths ragged. Dragon fire radiated up my chest as smoke filled the air around me. Slowly, so slowly, she stopped walking and turned her head.
But she wasn’t looking at me.
I whipped around to peer down the opposite tunnel to find a menacing form staring back at me.
Scarven.
The cave rumbled. Rocks fell from the ceiling and clattered at my feet.
Arowyn had ignited the charm.
“Vera!” I shouted again. I took off down the long path toward her and away from Scarven, but out of nowhere, something yanked my arm. I stumbled backward as Arowyn appeared before my eyes.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” she hissed. “We have to go!”
Terror blazed through me, stealing the breath from my lungs. More rocks fell from the ceiling.
I tried to break out of Arowyn’s hold. “Arowyn, no!”
Looking back down the opposite side of the tunnel, I saw Scarven’s lips curving into a smile.
A thunderous boom vibrated in my ears, and the cave disappeared.
We landed in the wet rocks of the mountain pass. I fell to my knees, my claws scraping the ground as I watched smoke envelop the night sky. A frenzy built in my chest.
Distantly, I heard a scream.
I thought it was my sister. An echo of her pain, my own mind crafting her gruesome death under the burning mountain. I bowed my head to the ground and gripped my hair in my talons.
Another shriek pierced the air.
“Nox!” Arowyn grabbed my shoulder. “It’s Devora!”