Chapter 17 The Gilded Cage #3
“I’ve never understood why people find it so surprising. The histories say the dragons fled the fae realm following their oppression. Are they not fae as well?” Lark said carefully.
The Void Drinker’s form rippled with what might have been amusement. “Is that what they taught you? How charmingly simplistic.” It paused directly before her. “The dragons did not flee oppression, dragonrider. They fled guilt.”
Lark frowned. “What do you mean?”
“The original twelve dragons were not victims. They were jailers. Tasked alongside the fae courts to ensure I remained… contained.” It gestured to the runes on the walls.
“With bindings much like these that I have recreated in this chamber. But the dragons grew tired of their duty. There were those among them who were weak and saw opportunity in this new realm. Those you hold in such high esteem abandoned their charge.”
“This story you’re making up. It won’t work on me. I know you’re lying,” Lark said.
“Am I? Ask your dragon, if you ever become reunited again.” The Entity’s form solidified further, becoming almost completely human save for the eerie eyes.
“The fae courts were left alone to maintain the bindings. They failed, of course. And in their failure, the first rimeshade were born. Fae of the noble houses were corrupted by exposure to my essence.”
Lark’s mind raced, comparing this account with what they’d learned in the Northern Sanctuary.
The dual script of the binding runes, the ritual requiring both types of magic working together to empower the runes, the Concordat.
White Eye’s ancestral knowledge proved that fae who were left behind in Sataran had been transformed into the rimeshade by the Entity’s influence.
They had been altered to act as servants to this otherworldly creature.
This version of events was possible. It suggested the dragons bore responsibility for weakening the barriers that kept the Void Drinker contained.
“If what you say is true,” Lark said slowly, “it doesn’t justify what you’re doing now. Harvesting magic from living beings, corrupting people like the King and members of the Magi Order to create instability in the world.”
“Justify?” The Entity seemed genuinely puzzled. “I do not seek to justify, merely to exist. To feed. To grow.” It reached out, one finger nearly touching Lark’s cheek but stopping just short. “Just as you do not justify breathing.”
A chill so cold came over her, shaking her to her core. The casual indifference in its voice was more terrifying than the revenge-fueled malice she was expecting.
“The Flashover approaches,” it continued.
“The barriers between realms grow thin, even as we sit here. The powerful beings you call your Gods will become exposed. It’s the one time every five hundred years they are vulnerable.
With the Realmstone, I can ensure that gateway between the worlds they lord over becomes permanent.
All realms, accessible to all beings in existence all the time.
You can’t imagine what it’s like to have that amount of power flowing freely between worlds.
No more need for bonding to access power.
No more need for squabbling over Hyalites and Yogo Sapphires.
The energy will be there and all I have to do is take it. ”
“You would feed on all of it, taking every source of magic for yourself? I don’t believe you could contain it,” Lark said.
“I am generous with my favored servants. They would receive what I could afford to spare.” The Entity gestured again to the runes.
“These bindings, they’re like everything in this realm, imperfect.
Not even the hasty adaptations of the original sanctuary’s defenses are truly imprisoning.
There are always gaps. Always ways to get around them. ”
Lark kept her expression neutral, though her heart quickened. Was the Void Drinker inadvertently giving her information she could use?
“Why tell me this?” she asked.
“Because, dragonrider with the fae bond, you have a choice to make.” It leaned closer, its breath like a winter wind against her face. “Serve willingly, and I will grant you power beyond imagination. Your bonds would grow stronger, not weaker. Your dragon and fae would be elevated alongside you.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Then I will feed on your essence anyway, drop by precious drop, until nothing remains but an empty shell.” The Entity straightened. “Consider carefully. The binding ritual your half-elf escaped with is incomplete. The pages contain only part of the knowledge needed.”
Lark fought to keep her expression neutral at the clues the Entity was delivering.
“Barrik, your mentor who worked with those on your mother’s side if I’m not mistaken, holds a critical piece of information,” the Void Drinker continued, watching her reaction closely.
“He believes he can control the rimeshade. He thinks he can use me to reshape Nordraven into an almighty empire. An empire with him at its helm and loyalists like his son as the King Regents subordinate to him. Ambitious, but ultimately futile.”
“Where is Barrik now?” Lark asked, unable to contain her curiosity.
“Seeking the final pieces in the sanctuary beneath the Keep in Wintermire. But he’ll need to get around my shades.
Thorgan will give his life to stop Barrik.
The Warlock King has been a useful tool.
But like the Magus Joc, Thorgan’s greed makes him disposable.
Either Barrik succeeds in his quest in Wintermire, and he continues to foolishly try to control me, or Thorgan will dispose of him and we’ll both be rid of that nuisance.
” The Entity’s form began to dissipate, darkness reforming into tendrils of shadow.
“Think on my offer, dragonrider. When I return, I will require your answer.”
It dissolved completely, leaving only frost patterns on the floor as evidence of its visit. The torches flared back to normal. Warmth gradually returned to the chamber.
Lark released a shuddering breath. The encounter had been terrifying, but informative.
The ritual pages Venrick escaped with were incomplete.
Barrik held crucial information that he might die retrieving.
And most importantly, the Void Drinker had confirmed her suspicion that the runes in her cell had weaknesses.
She studied them with renewed focus, tracing the patterns with her eyes.
These dragonrider runes were in standard Lamarian script, but the fae symbols were different from those she’d seen in the Northern Sanctuary.
More angular, less fluid. As if whoever had carved them had been working from an imperfect copy.
A faint but persistent warmth stirred against her chest. The pendant housing Nix’s essence was responding to her scrutiny of the fae runes.
“Nix?” she whispered. “Can you hear me?”
For a moment, nothing happened. Then the pendant grew warmer, and a tiny spark spiraled upward, condensing into Nix’s form. She appeared in her fiery figure, though considerably smaller and dimmer than usual.
“Lark,” the fire fae’s voice was barely audible. “The bindings, they’re draining me.”
“Save your strength,” Lark whispered, glancing nervously at the door. “Can you tell me anything about these runes? They seem different from the ones in the Northern Sanctuary.”
Nix flickered, her flame struggling to maintain cohesion. “Yes, I recognize these. Though the spells within them are designed to contain us, these runes were never used as suppressants in my realm. They’re meant to connect.”
“Connect? To what?”
“The fae realm.” Nix’s form stabilized slightly, though still diminished. “This chamber wasn’t designed to be a prison. I think it was designed to be a gateway.”
Lark’s eyes widened. “A gateway to the fae realm?”
Nix nodded, her flame pulsing with effort. “I remember one of my mentors telling us about the Kings of Lamar once. They used to maintain communication with the fae courts. It was before the wars. Even before the dragons first came to Lamar.”
Lark’s mind raced with implications as she considered the Void Drinker’s version of historical events.
“Maybe King Agadorn has access to the schematics. I bet the Void Drinker saw how similar the runes were to what imprisoned him and thought they created a prison, but in doing so made a platform to get to the fae realm.”
“Can we use it? To escape?”
“Possibly. The Entity did say the veil between worlds was thinning even now.” Nix flickered again, her voice growing fainter. “But if we try this, I need to tell you something I should have told you a long time ago.”
“You’ve been keeping a secret?” Lark asked.
“I wasn’t just bound to you by chance.” Nix’s flame trembled. “Our paths were set to intersect before you ever came through to the fae realm when you were young.”
Lark tried to remember it, the memory flashing in fragmented images.
She’d gone into the mines under the Everburning Forest, found a pool at the base of a cascade deep within the earth and swam down.
She’d found a necklace there at the bottom.
A golden lark, then there was nothing until she emerged back into Sataran with Nix.
“The necklace belonged to a fae who was sent by the Summer Court. His name was Zadar, and he was in disguise as a mage apprenticing with the Magi Order. They’d heard rumors that the rimeshade’s influences were growing and starting to affect organizations as powerful as the Magi Order.
They wanted to know if the rimeshade were trying to release the Void Drinker. ”
Lark stared at Nix. “Why me?”
“Because of your bloodline. Your connection to Skol’s royal house.
And because of the prophecy my people have about a princess of the North having the potential for a dual bond to stop the Entity from destroying magic.
” Nix’s flame guttered dangerously. “I have to remain hidden. The runes are draining me too quickly. But think about it, Lark. These aren’t meant to keep magic in.
They’re meant to let magic through, in a controlled way. ”
With that, Nix’s form dissolved back into a spark and then wisps of her essence retreated to the safety of the pendant. But her revelations left Lark’s mind spinning with possibilities.
If the chamber was designed for communication with the fae realm, perhaps it could be repurposed. Not just for escape, but as a means to contact allies against the Void Drinker. If the Summer Court had been keeping up with rimeshade activity here on Sataran, perhaps they would be willing to help.
But how can I activate the gateway without alerting my captors?
Lark closed her eyes, focusing inward. She needed to test a theory. If the runes suppressed outward connection but allowed directed energy toward the fae realm, perhaps she could use both her bonds simultaneously.
She reached first for White Eye, finding that thin thread of connection. Instead of trying to send a message outward, she drew his energy inward, pulling it into herself. Then, concentrating on the pendant, she did the same with Nix’s essence.
For several heartbeats, nothing happened. Then, slowly, she felt the two energies begin to intertwine within her center. Not fighting each other to be independent as they usually did, but harmonizing, creating something new.
The runes on the walls began to glow faintly. First the dragonrider script illuminated with green light, then the fae symbols answered with silver. Where they intersected, a purple luminescence formed, pulsing in rhythm with Lark’s heartbeat.
It’s working, she thought in amazement. The chamber is responding.
But before she could push further, heavy footsteps sounded in the corridor outside. The door’s locks disengaged with metallic clicks.
Lark instantly severed the connection. The runes faded back to normal just as the door swung open. The two Paragons entered, one a dragonrider in brismil armor, the other an elf with a Yogo-studded staff, followed by the short mage who’d used the mind probe on her.
“The King demands your presence,” the stout mage announced. “It seems you have information that might prove useful after all.”
Did they sense my use of power or is this about something else entirely?
“I’m afraid I’m rather comfortable here,” she replied dryly.
The mage’s lips twitched in what might have been amusement. “Nevertheless, you will come. We’ve received reports that your dragon has been sighted near the city limits. The King believes you might be able to dissuade him from taking any rash action.”
White Eye was close. The knowledge sent hope surging through Lark even as worry followed. If he attacked the Keep directly, it would mean his death, and possibly hers as well.
The guards moved to unlock her shackles from the wall, though they left her wrists bound. As they hauled her to her feet, Lark’s mind worked furiously.
If I’m moved from this chamber I’ll lose access to the gateway runes, Lark thought.
But being moved also meant an opportunity for Lark to gather more information about the layout of the Keep’s upper levels that had not been detailed on the plans the rebels had accessed.
If all else fails, this gateway could be my only chance to escape.