Chapter Four
THE GENERAL
Darkness settled heavier than my shadows. It bounced off the stone walls, as oppressive as any shielding ward. My soldiers crept behind me in silence, moving like mythical ghost leopards. No sounds, save for my own breath, broke the tension.
I’d spent months detailing our route—the map in Finn’s hands testament to that.
I had every hallway and stairwell memorized.
Galea, our Prime Elixist, had created a glowing ink for this particular operation.
I had painstakingly drawn each curve and path with my own hand.
The ink led us like a beacon on the paper toward the prisoner.
We had no need for King Nolan’s floating light orbs.
My fisted hand swung upward. Everyone behind me stilled, awaiting my next command. An eerie quiet settled in the tower. Not one guard, one grunt, or even a distant bird call, could be heard. I assessed my team. We were ready for whatever lay beyond this door.
Stepping forward, my shoulders filled the doorway.
My metal magic swirled into the iron locks.
Several clicks shattered the quiet, making me wince.
I threw my shadows into the room right as the door swung open.
Cold metal formed within my grip, extending into double-edged, black blades that pulsed with my magic.
Yet nothing emerged from the dismal room. The emptiness unnerved me.
We fanned out. Searching. Searching. We were here for Ilayah, our Prime Oracle. She had been taken several weeks ago, and our spies within Maripol only just unearthed where they’d confined her.
I had never stopped looking for her, though.
Surely, even after all this time, I would recognize her.
My eyes scanned my surroundings, as if I would see her as an adult and I would just know.
An ember of hope would always smolder for her.
My disappointment settled as familiar as the sun’s rising. I instinctively searched anyway.
Hundreds of floating lights filled the space.
The brighter ones hung low, while the dimmer orbs hovered close to the ceiling.
The faint shimmer of magic coursed upward, as if drawn by a magnet, directly into the spheres.
I grimaced at the scent of burnt sugar and acid that permeated the room.
Glint and its residual dust lay thick upon every surface.
My team and I pulled on black leather gloves. Though Glint’s power only worked when it was ingested or injected, there was no need to purposely subject ourselves to the golden poison.
“Here! She’s here.” Harrison waved his dagger in the air, the blade reflecting against the orbs’ light.
My breath stalled as I rushed over. Ilayah resembled a mere shadow of herself, lying amongst wrinkled sheets.
Every line of her once-healthy body had become sharp and angular.
Each bone could be counted on her emaciated frame.
The metal around us began to vibrate. A few soldiers spared me worried glances.
Harrison took a subtle step away. I fisted my hands at my sides.
Her body remained motionless; her awareness obliterated by the Glint in her system.
The wrinkles around her eyes deepened in the dim lighting, and her sunken cheeks aged her well beyond her sixty years.
Bruises peppered her arms in varying shades of blue, black, yellow, and green.
Her once lustrous brown skin now ashen and dull.
My anger grew claws. It had taken us months to get information from our spies in the castle to determine where she was being held. I was grateful Xuri hadn’t seen her like this. I hoped we weren’t too late.
Harrison extended his arms, hovering them above her body as his magic seeped into her. He was dually-trained as a soldier and healer. “I can only numb her and keep her unconscious at this point. I don’t have time to do much more. Nothing is broken, and she won’t be in pain when we transport her.”
Finn, my second-in-command, stepped forward. We exchanged a look, both of us grave in our assessment. I nodded to him. He scooped her up, holding her gently to his chest as her head lolled to the side.
A whine caught my attention as we turned to leave. I squinted into a dark corner of the room.
“We need to go,” Finn urged me. I waved him off, creeping from shadow to shadow. A large crate covered by an oversized blanket sat against the back wall. Soldiers shifted on their feet. None dared to challenge me.
I lifted the blanket off the crate. Several wolvin greeted me with whimpers and fangs.
They shoved themselves back against the far side of the enclosure, huddled around each other.
Their fur bristled along their spines as they glared at me.
I didn’t deliberate my decision. My magic unlocked the bolts fastening the bars together.
The animals stilled at their sudden freedom.
They bowed their heads to their feet in a show of submission.
When they met my gaze, I froze. These were not normal wolvin.
I cloaked the beasts in my shadow, blinding them with darkness until we exited the room.
They snarled and bucked within the darkness, but I couldn’t risk an attack on our team.
Finn rolled his eyes as I passed him. “Those could kill anyone.”
I knew what was potentially at stake. If Nolan played with beasts like he played with Primes, then he deserved to have them unleashed upon his own people. “Then so be it.”
We exited the tower into predawn darkness. Stars glittered above us, indifferent to our infiltration. I raced ahead, trusting everyone followed closely behind me. Not a guard in sight. My spies did not lead me astray with the intelligence they’d supplied us.
My shadows shifted, warning me of movement ahead. Our small group halted at my signal. Fear over Ilayah’s condition had my magic itching to unleash.
Finn subtly cleared his throat. I ignored the insinuated directive.
I probably should have melted into the shadows, but my ire begged for an outlet.
Two guards strode past, unaware of our presence.
Before they could blink, I pulled the two longswords crossed at my back.
The blades sliced through the air as cleanly as they did the throats of the king’s soldiers.
Their knees slammed against the ground, blood gurgling out, staining their proud armor.
One of my men leapt forward and dragged the soldiers’ swiftly draining bodies away from the open.
He positioned them to appear as though they were leaning against one another in slumber or stupor.
I arched a brow at the soldier, offering him an impressed nod.
He almost smiled, then caught himself, saluting me instead.
I took us back to the location we’d entered the castle from.
Under the cover of darkness, the back corner of the sparring fields offered a concealed space for Finn to open a portal.
Finn entered first, holding Ilayah carefully.
The portal’s breeze fluttered her graying hair as he stepped through.
I remained behind, making sure the rest of my soldiers made it into the spiraling portal.
When it closed behind them, I returned to the shadows. I had to meet up with Finn’s newest recruit, and our time frame was brief.
A scream sailed through the night. I turned in its direction, locating the wolvin predators I’d released. They were known as solitary hunters, but this group must have bonded in their confinement because they stalked passersby in what appeared to be a coordinated effort.
Retribution warmed me from the inside. I hoped those beasts released mayhem. My satisfaction was short-lived when the oppressive weight of Nolan’s darkness intensified. My shadows writhed beneath the assault. I peered upward into the night sky, squinting to differentiate the night from the veil.
That veil of darkness only meant one thing. The king’s power was increasing.