Chapter 18
Ryvin
Icy cold crashed around me,and my breath caught. The feeling was sharp, but brief, fading suddenly as I emerged on the other side of the shield. The scent of pine and dirt assaulted my senses as a sprawling forest came into view. It was as if we had traveled somewhere else entirely.
Massive pines stretched toward the sky, creating a canopy that only allowed for dappled sunlight to poke through the numerous branches. Their trunks were so large I couldn’t wrap my arms around them and they stood so high, the thought of scaling them made me nervous. I”d never seen anything like them in all of my travels, and I was certain they didn”t belong on this island.
“Where are we?” Vanth asked.
“I”m not sure.” It was possible we’d gone through a portal, but there was something about the landscape that felt off.
I took cautious steps forward, mindful of the fact that the woods were eerily silent. There was no movement from the wind in the branches, no sound of animals skittering through the underbrush, nothing flying or jumping along the branches. No sounds at all.
“No birds.” Vanth said, staring up and scanning our surroundings.
It was unsettling enough to walk into a forest that didn”t belong on an island like this. The addition of no life solidified that there was a good chance that none of this was real. I didn’t think we crossed through a portal. “Maintain your guard. I have a feeling we won”t be alone long.”
Vanth was already tense, his grip tight on his hilt. “I’m not sure this sorceress is going to listen to us easily.”
Suddenly, the ground rumbled and the trees began to melt. “What the…” I stepped back, wanting to give myself some distance from the massive trees as they drooped. Brown and green ran down their trunks like thick dollops of gooey paint. The branches wilted, sagging toward the ground until they fell off the trees entirely.
“What is this?” Vanth asked, backing away until he was right next to me. “This island doesn’t want us here.”
We couldn’t leave. We had to find this sorceress and figure out how to destroy the gifts she’d given my father. I slid my sword back into its sheath and marched toward one of the melting trees. When I reached out to touch it, my fingers went through it. “It’s an illusion.”
Vanth grunted, then approached another tree. His hand went right through the melting trunk. “She’s trying to scare us away.”
“Then we’re getting closer to her.” I retrieved my sword again, then continued forward. Vanth was behind me and the two of us fell into familiar habits of assessing the space around us, pausing on occasion to give a longer look. We’d been in so many battles together over the years that we didn’t need words. Even if I didn’t want to be here doing this, I was glad he was the one by my side. I probably trusted him more than I even trusted Laera.
Something screeched, making the hair on my arms stand on edge.
“That wasn’t you, was it?” I asked the shifter, trying to diffuse the tension.
He handed me his weapon. “I think it’s time I change forms.”
I sheathed his sword so I could hold it for him, then covered him while he shifted. The huge gray wolf next to me bared his teeth, releasing a growl. His superior senses were catching something I missed. “Show me.”
He took off, and I followed at a run, charging toward whatever was waiting for us in this sorceress’s playground.
We wove around the melting trees, even though we could likely charge right through them. As we moved, the forest began to flicker and fade. Some of the trees were transparent, giving away their false nature.
Just as the trees vanished completely, leaving us on a shrub covered rocky surface, a beast came into view. With an ear splitting roar, the monster swept in. Its enormous body and leathery wings were reminiscent of a dragon, but its head was that of a giant eagle. The monster cried out, the sound making my bones vibrate.
The creature flew at us, snapping its sharp beak and flapping its enormous wings. Vanth reached it first, not hesitating to attack. He launched himself at it, digging his claws into its scales and clamping down on the elongated neck.
It twisted, throwing Vanth like he was nothing more than a nuisance. It charged at me and I attacked, dragging my sword along its chest. The monster seemed irritated, but wasn’t injured by my steel. The dragon scales were protecting it.
Scrambling back, I knew we’d have to be smart about the way we defeated this beast. This creature shouldn’t exist. It was an abomination. Either bred or magically created.
“Distract it,” I called to Vanth.
The shifter moved with precision, charging toward our foe. He growled and snapped, attacked and fled, before striking again. The monster was turning in circles, trying to bite or claw at the smaller threat. Vanth was faster. And he was practiced in battle. He was so much deadlier than the monster realized, but he needed help.
I called my shadows, easily bringing them to the surface until they twisted and swirled around me. They flowed and undulated, a familiar part of me that obeyed my commands. For years, I’d hated the dark power I commanded. There had been too many accidents when my magic first manifested. It was a risk to even be in my presence for nearly a decade. If my emotions got the better of me, everyone paid the price.
Eventually, I embraced the fear I commanded. With that confidence, I owned my shadows. And I used them in horrific ways to ensure my father’s power. I was the monster everyone accused me of. And I enjoyed it.
Now, I reached for that depth. That slightly unhinged part of me that wanted destruction. The part that reveled in the fear I could command.
“Run!” I screamed, trusting that Vanth knew what I meant.
The shadows exploded from me just as the wolf passed me, taking shelter behind me.
Darkness consumed the monster, the shadows weaving around the creature in an impossible web of death. It cried out, but quickly turned to a strangled, gurgling sound as the shadows tightened around my enemy. Soon, there was no sound at all, and the shadows flattened, having destroyed everything in their wake. A soft breeze blew, causing the shadows to move and flow like smoke from a fire. They skimmed over the rough ground, killing anything green and growing before they faded away completely.
The space where they’d been was barren. The monster was gone. The plants were gone. A dark stain on the rocks remained as a reminder of what was.
“I forgot you could do that,” Vanth said.
I looked over to see the shifter pulling on his clothes. I retrieved his sword and handed it to him. “I used them in Athos. The day they attacked us.”
“They weren’t the same kind of shadows. Those were targeted. You spared all our men and Ara. What you just did would have taken us out.”
“It was necessary,” I said, my voice clipped. I could still feel the lingering anger making all my muscles tense. The place I had to reach to use those shadows was dark, even for me. It came at a cost.
“You shouldn’t do that again,” he warned.
“I don’t recall asking your permission, shifter,” I spat.
“Be as pissed at me as you want, but you bring this Ryvin home to Ara, you might as well be saying your goodbyes,” he warned.
Ara. Her face appeared in my mind, a reminder of what I had to lose if I ever returned to that place I’d occupied for so long. It had been a battle to bring myself out of that place. To find my own identity after being my father’s weapon.
I looked at Vanth, then nodded. “Let’s find this sorceress so we can get home. Ara is going to be waiting for me.”
“She will.” He started walking. “I caught a scent over here.”
I followed him to a well-hidden path. If not for his keen wolf senses, we might have missed the minimal signs that someone had walked here. They’d been careful, but a couple of the sparse plants were broken in a way that couldn’t be done by the wind. And considering the lack of wildlife, it couldn’t be blamed on a rodent.
We continued along a path that got more obvious with each step. As if the person who’d traveled it dropped their guard the higher up the mountain they climbed. The path slowly became a ledge, circling the mountainside. The drop got higher with each footfall, but we continued, the signs of travel too obvious to ignore.
Finally, we could see the end of the path leading us right into a cave. Vanth and I glanced at each other, silently judging the fact that this mysterious sorceress lived in a cave on top of a mountain. It was a little unoriginal. Though, I had to give her credit for the guard we’d slayed. It would have prevented most trespassers.
We slowed as we approached the cave, taking cautious steps until we reached the opening. Slowly, I peered into the mouth of the cave, expecting to see some indication of a home.
Instead, I saw only death.
The entire ground was littered with human skulls.