Chapter 35 August
AUGUST
There had been no time to stop it. No time to properly react.
One second Wren had been lying on the floor, convulsing, eyes rolling back into her head, and the next, August had been thrown back by an earth-shattering force, crashing down upon the ground a few yards from where he had been standing.
Around him, chaos ensued. Voices rose and screams echoed throughout the cavern.
An opaque smoke clouded the air, thick enough that August could barely make out his own hands hovering in front of him.
He staggered to his feet, searching for Wren, but everything was obscured by the impenetrable cloud of smoke that seemingly filled every inch of the cave.
But it didn’t last long.
As quickly as the smoke came, it dissipated.
Inch by inch, it parted, drifting up toward the rocky ceiling of the cave.
The cacophony settled as the air cleared.
August could see the others now—the crowd surrounding him, their faces contorted in confusion.
Edith stood only a few feet away, coughing as the last of the smoke vanished.
August had expected to find Wren’s body lying on the floor. Her contorted form thrown across the ground, broken and wrong. But when he finally spotted Wren, she wasn’t on the floor anymore.
In fact…she was awake.
Wren was standing. A serene expression had fallen over her face, a look of pure calm.
For a fleeting moment, relief rushed through August. The tiniest spark of hope.
But it was quickly ripped away when he noticed what was surrounding Wren.
What was pouring out of her.
Shadows.
They were everywhere. Coursing through her veins.
Exploding out of her. Dozens upon dozens of shadowy tendrils sprouted from her body, slithering around her limbs with an almost ravenous desperation.
Even her dark blue eyes were blotted out by shadows, nothing but two pools of darkness staring back at August, the ghost of a smile curled onto her lips.
Wren hadn’t simply succumbed to the shadows… she had become them.
August stumbled forward. He reached for her, hand trembling.
“Darling”—his voice cracked as he fought to speak—“what have you done?”
But Wren—or what was left of her—didn’t answer.
He wasn’t even sure she had heard him.
Suddenly, Edith stepped forward. She approached Wren tentatively, eyes gleaming with something feral and terrifying. She stopped abruptly, and August stiffened, prepared to throw himself in front of Wren. But Edith didn’t draw her weapon. She didn’t even call upon her own shadows.
Instead, she did something August had never imagined his sister would do.
She knelt.
The sea of Demiens surrounding them followed suit, knees pressed against the ground and heads bowed in reverence. August watched as, all around him, Demiens fell. Even Quinn and Arthur lowered themselves onto their knees, though August didn’t miss the terror reflected in their eyes. The horror.
In the end, only August remained standing.
In front of him, Edith raised her head, meeting Wren’s eyes. And this time, when Edith smiled…Wren smiled back.
A shudder ran through August. It was a wave of agony that finally brought him to his knees, pushing him to the ground.
He kept his eyes locked on Wren the entire time.
He couldn’t bring himself to look away…to avert his eyes from the destruction he had caused.
Because this was his doing. His responsibility.
Wren was the cosmos. The very stars themselves.
But Wren was gone.
And now the catalyst had awoken.