Chapter 28
T he shift is longer and more disorienting than any before.
For a moment, it feels like I’ll be ripped in two, twisted inside out, or both.
Even once we stop, the feeling persists, fading slowly as I wobble unsteadily between Elias and Katiya, each gripping one of my hands.
Without them practically holding me upright, I’d no doubt be sprawled upon the gray and lifeless ground.
That’s the first thing I notice about our surroundings.
That, the cold, and the lone sound of wind whistling through the otherwise silent night.
A gasp catches in my throat as the world stops spinning and I finally look up at the scene around us.
The wilds, when I first entered Faery, seemed initially barren to me.
They were, compared to the colorful and lush forests and fields of home.
But life persisted there in scraggly trees, thin rivers, and creatures who managed to survive in such an environment.
Though night has fallen, the haze that covers the land seems thinner here, leaving the almost full moon to illuminate the world in bluish light.
What it reveals is horrifying. This place is truly desolate, like whatever last bits of life existed here have been sucked from the very ground itself, leaving the landscape a barren, rocky expanse pocked with splintered, dead trees—all of it dark and gray, all of it utterly lifeless.
One thing stands out from the rest. A towering structure spears up atop a hill no more than half a mile away.
What remains of the structure anyway. It’s apparent that it, much like the surrounding land, is but a husk of what it once was.
Several onyx spires are broken off partway up, splintered and jagged like the few tree trunks I spy.
The highest one has sheared almost in half.
Chunks of black rock litter the structure below, making it look like a nightmare version of a sandcastle that’s just been stomped through by an excited child.
If I were a spooky villain in a horror film, this is where I would live. Ten out of ten, no contest. Between the absolute desolation surrounding us, the biting chill in the air, and the crumbling castle of black stone, I might as well have stepped into a frozen-over version of Mordor.
“What happened to this place?” I ask no one in particular.
“This was the castle of Awern, the last Unseelie King, and many monarchs before him,” Elias answers, staring at the structure in question with grim resolve.
“He was slain not far from here. It is said that, when that happened and the magic could not choose an heir, the land reacted…violently. While the rest of our territory faded slowly over time, the effect here was instant, reducing it to this.”
“Good God.” The life truly was sucked from the land.
“Our ancestors say the entire land rumbled in the wake of the loss,” Katiya adds.
“Mountains shifted. Rivers changed course. Trees swayed and fell. And what once was a symbol of the king’s power crumbled.
” She extends a hand toward the ruined castle.
As she drops it, her shoulders droop as well. “Many lives were lost.”
Shit. So, it’s not just a ruined relic. It’s a tomb as well.
“We avoided searching here for answers for a long time out of respect for the dead,” Elias says. “But we are running out of possibilities.”
And time. He doesn’t say it, but it’s there in the thin press of his lips and the determination in his gaze.
That’s why we’re here. He needs to find a way to strengthen his blade when all else has failed.
Somehow, I really thought my blood would help, but it did nothing more than leave a crimson smear on the metal, which Elias likely cleaned off before we shifted here.
But that’s just a guess. He never told me.
He hasn’t said much of anything since he nearly clawed me in bed.
And though he held my hand on the way here, his touch was formal, detached, not what it had been before.
I suppose, in that way, the setting is fitting.
“Come. Let’s find the others,” the king says to the handful of trusted guards who accompany us. He doesn’t wait before heading down the worn trail I can now pick out among the desolation that leads toward the castle.
We make the walk in silence, which is fine since most of my focus is spent on not tripping over something in the dark.
Not an issue the sure-footed fae seem to have.
The cold is deeper the closer we get to the castle, and I huddle into the fur cloak Katiya found for me before we left.
I thought the surrounding area was just desolate landscape, and it is, but it isn’t just the natural rock I spied in my initial examination of the place.
Ruined buildings pocket the area, our pathway seeming to wind through them.
Many are no more than a pile of rocks or bare foundations standing as eerie specters to our march.
This site isn’t just a ruined castle. There was a city here. I don’t have to ask to know that many of its inhabitants met a terrible fate. I can almost feel the sadness in the air, if the dark moods of my companions weren’t enough.
The dim flicker of flames beckons us ahead, wood smoke adding a strangely comforting perfume to the night.
My brows scrunch as I spy a few yurt-like structures erected near the foot of the castle, their coloring and position behind some large rocks hid them from sight earlier.
Katiya, ever observant, notices. “For those assigned here,” she says. “They thought it ill luck to sleep inside the castle.”
A nearby guard mutters in assent.
Up close and with the help of two merrily crackling campfires, it’s apparent that work has been going on at the site for a while.
Debris has been moved aside, making a clear pathway to an opening into the structure itself, one supported by fresh wooden posts.
A few crates and barrels are stacked around, and a makeshift table of stone bears a mass of objects—pottery, weapons, and others—that must have been recovered from within.
One guard, who ran ahead to announce our presence, returns through the opening, three others following behind, two carrying lanterns.
The one without a lantern, a strangely oval-shaped male with brown skin and large eyes, walks with the assistance of a cane. Despite the wobbling of his spindly legs that seem too thin for the rest of him and the clear lines of age etched into his skin, he kneels.
“My king.” Reverence laces his voice.
The two carrying lanterns mirror him. These two are similar in appearance—possibly twins?—with petite forms, long limbs, and long hair in shades of deep blue.
“Hallam.” The barest hint of a smile crests Elias’s face, but his words are warm. “It is good to see you.”
I blink rapidly, my lips parting in surprise. This is Hallam, the king’s scholar and Vada’s mate? I suppose I expected someone more like her, where Vada is, by appearances, almost the opposite of him. But then, what does that really matter where love is concerned?
The scholar uses his cane to rise, legs wobbling once more. “I wish I had better news for you, my king.” He shakes his head, eyes momentarily downcast. “But we have not found what you seek, though I believe we are near to accessing the throne room. Perhaps it shall contain answers.”
“I hope so as well,” Elias admits. “How can we help?”
They show us to a room just inside the ruins of the castle, which seems to be somewhat of a base camp for the team.
There are many more objects in the expansive space, including a number of old books that look like they might crumble if someone breathed on them wrong.
The space has been cleaned, based on the lack of dust and debris, but it still holds a strange scent, stale and earthy, far too much like a tomb.
I sit in a chair and try not to fidget as Hallam discusses their latest progress with Elias and the others.
Two of the guards who came with us go to set up extra tents for the night.
It’s about the last place I would ever want to camp.
But apparently shifting back to the city takes too much power, and Elias and Katiya especially can’t drain themselves more than necessary, lest there’s another attack.
I offered to help with the setup but was politely told that it wasn’t necessary and to stay inside where it’s safer.
Safer from what, I don’t ask, though this entire structure collapsing on top of us feels like a very real and present danger.
Eventually, despite the late hour, Elias and Katiya go with some of the excavation team to inspect what they’ve uncovered of the structure and see if they find anything the others may have overlooked, however unlikely.
Despite my desire to go, if for no other reason than to give my mind something to do other than develop more wild and fearful thoughts about the place, I’m told to stay.
It rankles.
I get it. I’m human. Too important to risk bumbling around in an old ruined castle. But I’ve always hated being left out and left behind. It grates against my urge to do something, anything, when there is a need for action.
Even more biting is Elias’s continued distance. He answers my questions, sure. He’s never too far away. But it feels more like duty than whatever closeness was between us before this morning, or rather, afternoon.
Though the others leave, Hallam remains with me.
“You’re not going with the king?” I ask innocently, hoping he isn’t having to stay behind just to be my babysitter and make sure the human doesn’t touch any priceless artifacts. They could have left a guard for that.