Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Kaelith’s growl vibrated through the stone beneath my boots as I swung into the saddle, her violet scales glimmering in the muted light. Zander vaulted onto Hein with fluid ease despite the shadows under his eyes, Jax and Ferrula taking their places beside us, Naia as steady as ever astride Temil.
We knew this had to be quick. The majority of the Blood Fae riders were still tethered to the army marching on Warriath. If we were lucky, we could slip into the heart of their stronghold before Severeth’s spies realized what we were doing.
Ready? Kaelith asked, her tone taut with anticipation.
Always, I told her.
We lifted from the rocks in unison, wings tearing through the salty air. The isle loomed closer with every beat, shrouded by the swirling mass of cloud that had looked so distant from the sea. As we pierced through it, the stench hit me—rot, damp earth, and the metallic tang of blood.
Below us sprawled a dead land. The ground was cracked and gray, littered with twisted trees that had long since withered.
Pools of stagnant water reflected the dark sky, and no birds cried, no beasts moved.
Only silence, heavy and unnatural, broken by the low growls of our dragons as their claws flexed in unease.
The castle rose at the island’s center like a wound against the stone. Black walls slick with moss, jagged towers reaching for the sky. It wasn’t just built—it was bled into the land, carved by hands that had no love for beauty, only power.
There, Zander’s voice echoed through the bond, directing us toward an open patch of barren rock about a mile from the fortress walls.
We descended in careful spirals, landing hard enough to jar my bones. Kaelith folded her wings, her massive head swinging toward the looming fortress with open disdain.
“They can’t follow us closer,” Zander said grimly as he dismounted Hein, his boots crunching against the gravel. “The tunnels are too narrow—built for the black dragons’ size, not ours. We need to sneak in, so landing closer isn’t an option.”
I slid down Kaelith’s side, my hand lingering a moment on her warm scales. She rumbled low in her chest, disapproval clear, but she knew this was the only way.
One by one, we dropped to the ground, the roar of the sea behind us and the suffocating silence of the isle before us.
We were on our own now.
We moved like shadows across the broken ground, the air heavy with damp and rot. Every step toward that looming black fortress felt like walking deeper into a grave.
Zander raised his hand, signaling us to halt.
Voices drifted down the jagged path ahead, guttural.
I pressed my back against the remnants of a toppled wall—stone, cracked and blackened, maybe once part of a cottage or an inn before the isle had turned to ash.
Naia crouched low beside me, eyes narrowing.
Two Blood Fae emerged from the misted gloom, their boots crunching against gravel. They were speaking in a dialect I couldn’t place, harsh syllables punctuated by cruel laughter. They carried themselves with the arrogance of predators, blades glinting at their sides.
Ferrula didn’t wait. She slipped out from behind her cover like the strike of a serpent, Narvea’s bond burning fierce in her eyes. Her sword flashed, a gleam of green-tinged steel in the dim light.
Jax was at her side a heartbeat later, his massive frame moving with a speed that always surprised me. He slammed into one of the fae, forcing him back, their blades sparking as they met.
I shifted, scanning the horizon for more, Kaelith’s hum thrumming in the back of my mind. Careful, Ashlyn. Where there are two, there may be ten.
The first Blood Fae snarled, summoning a fireball in his palm. Heat rolled off it, scorching the air as he hurled it at Jax’s head.
But it never hit.
The blaze shuddered mid-air before twisting back, as if caught by invisible hands. It slammed into its caster with a thunderous crack, searing through flesh and armor alike. His scream was short, cut off as his body crumpled to the ground, fire devouring him in a rush of smoke and ash.
Jax didn’t falter, though his jaw tightened as the smell of burned flesh filled the air.
The second fae lashed out with cruel intent, his blade a flurry of deadly arcs. Ferrula ducked, spun, her reflexes nothing short of predatory. She used his momentum against him, slipping past his guard and catching his wrist with a brutal twist. His sword clattered on the stones.
Before he could summon another weapon or spell, Ferrula stepped in, her blade driving clean through his chest. His eyes widened, shock etched onto his features before his body went slack. She yanked her sword free, letting him collapse into the dirt at her boots.
She wiped the blade on his tunic with steady hands, her face unreadable.
Jax glanced down at the smoldering corpse at his feet, then at Ferrula. “I’d say we’re off to a good start.”
Ferrula gave a shrewd nod, eyes scanning the fog beyond. “Too easy. Which means more will come.”
The growl rolled through the ruined street, low and primal, vibrating in my chest like a warning drumbeat.
“What is that?” I whispered, leaning closer to Naia.
Her knuckles whitened on the hilt of her blade. “No idea. But it’s not a dragon.”
We crept forward, passing what had once been a stone well. Its frame was cracked, the rope and bucket long rotted away. But the sound came from inside it.
A sudden scrape, then something vast and black slunk out of its depths.
It wasn’t like any animal I had ever seen, its body sleek and sinuous, fur matted with an unnatural sheen that rippled like oil.
Muscles coiled beneath its hide as it padded forward on oversized paws tipped with claws that scraped sparks from the stone.
Its eyes glowed red, unblinking as it tracked us.
The squad instinctively drew together, blades raised, forming a loose shield line as the beast circled. Its growl deepened, vibrating low, the sound of a predator savoring the hunt.
“What is that thing?” Tae muttered, his usually flippant tone edged with unease.
I shoved the image into Kaelith’s mind, desperate for an answer.
Her response was quick, almost mournful. That is a Moor cat. One tainted by dark magic. They were thought extinct. You must show it mercy.
“Mercy?” I whispered aloud. “Kaelith says we need to kill it.”
Tae snorted, his blade gleaming as he adjusted his grip. “No shit. Did she mention how?”
Naia shifted beside me, her sandy hair falling into her eyes. “Same way you kill any animal, I suppose.”
“So we have to get close to it,” Tae muttered, his eyes narrowing as the beast’s tail flicked back and forth like a whip.
Ferrula stepped forward, sword raised, her scar catching the gloom. Jax moved with her, his massive frame casting a shadow over us.
The moor cat crouched, haunches tensing, every inch of it coiled and ready.
Jax tilted his head and called out in mock sweetness, “Here, kitty, kitty.”
Ferrula shot him a side-eye, but her grip tightened. “You’re insane.”
“Maybe,” Jax muttered, not taking his eyes off the beast. “But it’s about to find out I bite back.”
The air tightened as the predator growled again, lowering itself closer to the ground, preparing to pounce.
The moor cat launched itself at Jax, a black streak of claws and fangs. I shouted, but he was faster, his power surged like a crack of thunder.
The massive paw that should have ripped into his chest suddenly split open the cat’s own side instead. Blood spattered the stones as the beast roared, staggering mid-swipe before twisting back with renewed fury.
It whirled on Ferrula.
Her reflexes blazed to life. She dropped low, rolling with unnatural speed that blurred her form, her sword whizzing as claws barely missed her throat.
Ferrula rarely invoked her gift, too proud, too certain of her own skill to rely on magic.
But this creature was no ordinary opponent—it was shadow and rage given form.
She came up in a crouch, blade raised, moving with inhuman precision. Each strike of the moor cat’s claws was met with a parry so fast sparks danced in the air, her sword flashing like quicksilver.
“I can’t get close enough to the damn thing!” she hissed, dodging another swipe that gouged the stone where she’d been standing a heartbeat before.
“Guess I’m up.” Tae stepped forward, his usual grin gone. His blue eyes burned with determination as he locked onto the beast.
The moor cat froze, its growl cutting into the silence, as if something unseen had taken hold of it.
But then Tae gasped. His hands flew to his head, and he dropped to his knees, sweat dripping from his brow. “Run,” he rasped, his voice shredded with pain.
The moor cat turned on him—then paused. Its eyes flickered, the red glow dimming. It stared at Tae for a long, terrible moment, then with a guttural sound it bounded away into the shadows, vanishing back into the broken ruins.
“What did you do?” Ferrula demanded, chest heaving as I rushed to help Tae up.
He was pale, his body trembling as though the strength had been torn from him.
His words came breathless, each one costing him.
“The cat… isn’t evil. It’s fighting something—some kind of compulsion.
It was… happy to follow my command instead of the one forcing it to kill.
” He sagged against me, eyes distant. “It’s enslaved.
Just like the black dragons. But it won’t come near us again. ”
The squad went still at that. The silence that followed wasn’t relief—it was dread. If the Blood Fae could enslave beasts as well as dragons, then we weren’t fighting an army. We were fighting a plague.
Kaelith, I whispered into the quiet of my mind as the others caught their breath. Tell me there aren’t more surprises like that thing lurking in these ruins.
Her voice rolled through me, as low and heavy as the sea.
There were many species living in harmony on the Fae Isle before corruption claimed it.
The Blood King enslaved what he could twist, slaughtered what he could not.
I do not know which of those creatures still endure, but Veralin has likely bent every survivor to his will.
My stomach turned. So it’s not just dragons and fae we’re facing.
No, she said, as grim as iron. Every shadow of the isle could hide teeth.
I relayed her words to the others, keeping my tone flat even as a chill traveled down my spine. “Kaelith says the isle was once full of different species—creatures that lived in harmony before Veralin twisted them. She doesn’t know what remains, but they will all be like the cat.”
Naia swore softly, adjusting her grip on her sword. “So anything that breathes here could be turned against us.”
Ferrula spat to the side, still catching her breath. “Great. As if fae and their black-scaled monsters weren’t enough, now we have to fight shadow monsters too.”
Jax set his hand on her shoulder, his voice rough but resolute. “Then we cut down what we must and keep moving. One enemy or ten—it doesn’t matter. We’ll clear a path.”
Tae groaned as he straightened, rubbing the back of his neck. His grin was thin, strained, but still there. “So basically… we’re a walking buffet.”
I arched a brow at him. “Excuse me?”
“Think about it.” He gestured weakly at the shadows surrounding us. “Dragons bonded to us, we have fae blood in our veins, and enough raw magic to light up the isle like a festival. Veralin’s little pets must be salivating already.”
Riven rolled her eyes, though the corner of her mouth twitched. “Trust you to make impending death sound like dinner.”
“Someone’s got to keep things entertaining,” Tae shot back, though the weariness in his eyes betrayed how much his attempt at levity cost him.
But the truth of his words lingered in the air like a blade at our throats. We were prey walking into a predator’s nest, and every step closer to the castle meant darker shadows, and more teeth.