Page 95 of A Sun Scorched Bloom

"You know better than I do, Gray, that once the Lonely Death has been introduced to a household, it is too late. These communities are small. They are unable to avoid each other. There is only one baker, one butcher… Their lives are too interdependent for true isolation."

"Then where are they!?" Gray roared, clenching and unclenching his hands as his shadows spread even further.

"As I told you before, we have closed the borders. While I feared that the king’s spies may have still been infiltrating the villages by sneaking through a break in the wards somewhere, I donotbelieve that more than a single man would be able to avoid detection. There must have been a hundred people living in this village. It’s impossible that enough wagons crossed back-and-forth to take the bodies back to Auropera. My magic would have sensed something that big."

"Do you think they fled?" Gray asked.

Tanad looked toward the south, where several days’ rides away, countless other towns dotted the landscape. "If they did, they would’ve infected other villages."

Gray pushed down the nausea rising up his throat. "The Lonely Death could be spreading throughout the entire kingdom as we speak."

"I don’t know whether to pray they fled, or that they disappeared," Tanad said, closing his eyes and kissing a medal of the sun god hanging around his throat. "Both would have dire consequences."

"We need to return to the castle, send word to every other village to close their own walls and not allow travelers to enter." Gray stalked back toward Obsidian.

Tanad followed behind him. "No. We only have an hour's ride left to complete the border. We’ve come too far to leave that stretch undefended. Especially when it’s so far from the capital. If there is any place the king is likely to sneak in, it would be there, where it’s further from detection."

"Then let’s gonow." Gray looked at the sun’s position in the sky, indicating it was late afternoon. "We’ll quickly finish what we set out to do and return directly to the castle. If we push the horses, we should be able to make it back far more quickly than the infected would be able to walk to another village. They’re rather isolated out here."

Gray jumped on Obsidian's back with ease, turning him straight north to resume enchanting the border. They’d been forced to move slowly, using up their magic and then waiting for it to replenish. Once it was done, there would be nothing stopping them from returning home as quickly as possible.

They worked even more efficiently this time, Gray adding his magic little by little, his arms cramping from holding them up in front of him. They rode until Gray once again saw the sea in the distance, the moon reflecting off the serene waters. The ripple of small waves floated toward them, along with a fresh breeze carrying the scent of salt and—a shockwave zinged through Gray’s chest. "There’s magic here, Tanad. Dark magic. Can you feel it?"

"I can." Tanad closed his eyes, concentrating as he raised his hands and walked toward the rocky cliffs bordering the beach. Gray dispersed his shadows, allowing them to follow the darkness emanating from the direction the king walked on their own accord.

"It isn’t magic of the Fae." the king scrunched his face in concentration.

Tanad was right. Whatever it was felt foreign to Gray, unlike any magic he had encountered.

"It’s the work of a witch." Tanad gritted his teeth as he pushed out more power. "It feels like—No that’s not quite right. I can’t place it."

Gray’s ears began to ring, a sharp, high-pitched sound that made him squint and cover them with his hands.

Tanad did the same, taking a step backward as he looked at Gray with fear in his eyes. "This might not be safe. If you want to turn back—"

"This is without a doubt the work of my father. Even if it was his witch who performed the spell, he was the one who forced her to do it." Gray tried not to think of the witch his father kept enslaved; a broken woman, tortured and tormented until she had bent to his will. She might have been beautiful once, but scars marred her face and neck, her eyes so mutilated that her eyelids had fused together. "I will not abandon you, Tanad."

"Nor I you." Tanad lowered his chin. Gray was certain that they were both promising the same thing to one another, though in fewer words. They were complete allies in this war. One kingdom could not succeed against his father without the help of the other. They might not even succeed united. This was only one of many dangers they would face over the course of this war, but they would not face it alone.

Together, Gray and Tanad walked down a curving pathway, the sandy shore becoming rocky and uneven. The ringing grew louder, almost painful, but they continued on. Waves washed away their footprints, soaking their feet and trousers.

Gray’s shadows abruptly halted, blocked by something solid that prevented them from moving forward any further. "Whatever it is, it’s just ahead," he informed Tanad. With cautious steps, Gray crept forward, sidestepping a large uneven rock jutting out toward the ocean.

As soon as he turned the corner, he saw it; the magic that had caused his heart to quicken and his magic to revolt. Before him, just inside a small cave carved into the cliff side by thousands of years of waves crashing against it, was a doorway. At least, it was shaped like a doorway.

A perfect arch glowed from within the rock of the cave itself, illuminating it in a soft, gold and blue light. It rippled like water, reminding Gray of a time he had gone for a swim on one of his trips to Calir. He’d dove to the bottom of the ocean floor, holding his breath to swim for a shimmering shell he’d spotted. He could still see in his mind the way the sun's beams had danced as they reflected in the water. He’d wanted to stay down there forever, basking in the beautiful, dancing light and cool, calm water.

Now, looking at the blue and gold rippling water, he wanted to turn away and never return. Unfortunately, just like the last time when his lungs had begun to scream for oxygen, he’d had no choice but to go toward the surface.

With tentative steps, Gray moved in front of the doorway.

"A portal…" Tanad whispered.

"Can you sense where it goes?" Gray asked, praying that the king did, that they wouldn’t have to enter without a clue as to where it would take them.

Tanad stepped forward slowly, using his powers to try to discern what lay beyond it. As he approached the portal, the king squinted his eyes and tilted his head, getting so close that Gray worried he would be sucked through at any moment.

"Do you have any idea where it leads?" Gray asked after several moments, unable to wait any longer.

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