Chapter 12
THE MONSTER THE NETHER VOID FEARS
Seryn
We followed the vrykas through twisting paths and rising slopes, winding up the plateau trail that split the forest down the middle.
“I’ve had enough of the Mourning Pass for one day,” Thesa muttered as she eyed the cliff’s steep drop to our left.
Screams and insults hurtled up the side, and I glanced over, grimacing when I noticed the field of living bones. I shuddered, grateful that we’d skipped that area.
As we moved, my nerves prickled with every sound, and Breena’s chatter filled the silence. I didn’t know whether she was trying to annoy our two guides or to keep me from sinking into the panic churning in my belly.
She bumped my shoulder. “Vryka, huh? Love that for us.”
Thesa’s wings twitched.
I tucked some curls behind one ear. “You said my mother sent you? That you’re part of a group called the Hespira?”
Therrok nodded, heels digging into each step. “Your mother leads us. And does a right good job of it. Brought unexpected allies together. Taught us to hope again.”
“She taught us to remember we were more than prisoners,” Thesa murmured.
Her words were so quiet, I wasn’t sure if I’d heard them correctly.
Breena arched a brow, but then glanced at me. “Seems like rebel leading runs in Nightshade blood, Firefly. I’m impressed.”
A soft ache spread through me, and I flexed my hands at my sides.
My mother was here. Breathing the same air as me. Fighting the same fight. Or so I gathered from the sparse replies the pair had offered.
“You all right?” Breena whispered.
I wasn’t sure.
I was barely holding myself together.
“I just … I’ve waited so long for this.” My words quivered as we reached the bottom, the dark forest fanning outward before us.
Therrok stopped abruptly, the handle of his spiked maul thumping between his wings. “As has she.”
He pointed toward a massive flower thicket. The dark, translucent flowers were mesmerizing, their veins illuminated in pulsing rainbows. “Less fussing, more moving, lass.”
“Isn’t that nethershade?” I squeaked, recalling my studies about the deadly Void flower. I slapped Breena’s hand as she reached for one of the berries.
She laughed, shaking out her arm. “I knew that. Just seeing if you’d stop me from certain death.”
A wry chuckle lodged in my throat.
Thesa ran her tongue over her front teeth and stomped ahead, vanishing into a rippling veil, the image of the deadly foliage dancing over it. Therrok nodded toward where his sister had disappeared, his expression more than disgruntled.
I breathed in, and Breena weaved her fingers with mine. My exhale caught as we moved through the nethershade illusion, the secret cave entrance shimmering into view.
And the world narrowed to the shape of her silhouette. Auburn curls dancing over her shoulders. So like mine. The glowing cinder light dancing over her hazel eyes. So like Letti’s.
My throat closed.
A hallucination—that had to be what this was. After all these turns, scouring every shadow, imagining her rising from the unknown, there she was.
“Mama.” The rasping word drifted from me like a wish finally answered.
She ran, her arms closing around me, and our bodies sagged, relieved sighs mingling. When I pulled back, her hands framed my face, and her thumb brushed away a stray tear from my cheek.
“Little Star,” she whispered, her lash line wet as her eyes roamed over my face. Her smile wobbled. “Look at you. Ancients, how I’ve missed you.”
“I knew you were alive.” My voice broke, and I took a shaky breath.
Mama pressed her lips together, hugging me again. For a moment, I let myself sink into her embrace—the impossible weight of finding her, the miracle of holding her.
Breena sniffled loudly and waved when my mother glanced to our side. “Breena Cadell. Best friend extraordinaire.”
Mama smiled, and a watery laugh spilled from me. She hugged me tightly once more. “There’s so much I need to tell you. So much time has passed.”
“We’ll have time.”
“I hope so,” she murmured, releasing me. Her expression shifted. The joy morphed into something urgent. “We found him, too, you know. Gavrel. He’s here.”
My heart stumbled at the possibility of getting to hold him again.
“Where is he?”
Her brow creased in thought. “I’ll take you to him. He should’ve woken by now.”
Suddenly, a young man burst outside, breathless. “They’re—they’re missing. I’m sorry.” He rubbed his forehead. “She tricked me into removing her manacles, then did something to me. When I woke …”
Mama’s back stiffened; her voice clipped as she snapped orders. Therrok and Thesa took to the sky, while the young man sprinted to gather reinforcements and search the surrounding area.
“Melina’s abilities are already waning.” Mama ran her fingers over the top of her head. “That boy’s brain would’ve been mush otherwise.”
“Or she didn’t want to waste the time needed to escape,” Breena added with a shrug.
My jaw tightened, thumb rubbing the pommel of my dagger.
A breeze brushed my face; prismatic light twirled around my head before hovering in front of me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, eyebrows lifting at the familiar pixie. It wagged a tiny finger at me, squeaking in rapid bursts.
“It wants us to follow,” I called back, already chasing after the tiny pipsqueak. “Wait up, Pip!”
The beastie skidded in mid-air, wings buzzing, and shot me a grin so wide it showed every razor-sharp tooth. Clearly, it liked the nickname.
My mother and Breena hurried after me. Every rustle set my nerves on edge. Therrok had warned us that void umbras prowled the northern sector of the Gloaming Weald, but we’d been lucky with their absence so far.
Not much later, Pip spun in frantic circles, its glow flickering as it darted over a small clearing littered with snapped branches, churned gravel, and soot.
My attention shot to a tree ahead. A bloody handprint was smeared over its ashen bark.
The pixie hovered near it, wings beating frantically. Then, with a sharp chirp, it clutched its throat and went limp in an exaggerated faint. It cracked one eye open to check that I was still watching. Satisfied, it snapped upright again with a shudder.
“Gavrel,” I whispered, pressing my palm to the mark.
Breena’s hand squeezed my shoulder, and Mama stepped closer with a frown.
Therrok and Thesa landed behind us, their wings folding. Therrok stepped forward, eyes scanning the blood stain as he licked residual crimson from a fang. “We dealt with one of Phobetor’s scouts.”
“They’ve taken your commander and Elder Harrow to his palace,” Thesa added. “This is their doing.”
My vision tunneled.
Every muscle in my body tensed, fingers curling into fists.
If harm befell my fated, I would tear this place apart with my teeth and bare hands. Down to its bones.
I would become the monster the Nether Void feared.