Page 70 of Daughter of the Darkened City

The bark had been some sort of living mask.

For underneath was a human face.

It was disfigured and lifeless, but the features were there, attached to this odd body. Enid moved closer, examining the body, and gagged. Now that she’d seen that, this wasn’t just an oddly shaped creature. No, it was a morphed and mutated human body, the back bent and the legs twisted, the body covered in bits of the forest.

“What in the pit is this?” Onora muttered.

Enid’s stomach lurched. “I don’t know, but we’re going to get answers.”

Enid felt sick, carrying the dead creature—human—on her back. But here she was. Onora scouted ahead of her, no longer afraid of Enid at the moment. Their questions outweighed any animosity. They came to the palace gate and kicked it open, not sneaking back through to get to the palace. People gasped and looked on in horror as they passed, going through the halls.

“Where’s the king?” Onora barked at a shaking servant.

The servant boy stared in horror at the beast on Enid’s back, then pointed down the hall. “In the throne room. He’s in a meeting.”

Onora didn’t thank him, she just kept walking. Enid threw a thanks at him as they passed, coming to the large double doors of the throne room and walking in.

He talked to a merman in his human form, both laughing jovially. Edond looked up when they entered, and his smile faltered as he saw what Enid carried. A commotion sounded in the hall and others entered. Kaemon and Dryston, followed by Avenay and Cyrus, probably having heard something from the servants.

Enid came up to the throne and laid the creature down. She pointed at its face. “What is this?”

Surely,they knew. They must have. Was this why they didn’t want them in the forest?

Sorrow painted Edond’s face, and he ran a hand over it. “I see you’ve discovered a part of our world we don’t like to talk about.”

Silence fell as Edond looked over the body.

“His name was Maurice,” Edond said. “Possibly one of the most nefarious parts of the curse is that it turns our dead into creatures of the forest, beasts with no memory, only able to do the will of the curse, and attack any who would attempt to leave, or come in.”

Enid looked down at Maurice, horror coiling in her gut. What was it like to grow up here, knowing that upon your death, you’d turn into this creature? To know your loved ones would? She looked up at the king. “Not for much longer. We’re going to break this curse and free all of you.”

Onora nodded, solidarity blooming between them. There was at least one thing these two could agree on. Saving the people of this city. No matter the danger it presented to them.

Chapter 27: Avenay

People filled the streets of Evolis, preparing for the festival in two days. Avenay’s gut was a cauldron of anxiety, boiling and making her dizzy. The festival was the night before the new moon—the night before the rite. And Enid still refused to back down. Nymphs and satyrs, centaurs and merfolk smiled and nodded to her as she made her way through the streets to the temple library. She’d been poring over the grimoire andThe Tales of Lemialate into the night with little luck. They were interesting to be sure, but there was nothing in it that seemed to overlap with the ritual that had been described by Hevena.

“What’s got you frowning?”

Avenay startled, placing a hand over her chest as she turned to see Cyrus coming up behind her in all his armored seraph glory. She scowled at him. “Don’t sneak up on me.”

Cyrus gestured to his armor. “I definitely wasn’t sneaking.”

She nodded and rolled her eyes in acquiescence as she continued walking, Cyrus falling into step next to her. She had hardly talked to him since entering Evolis. If she was being honest, she was using her research as an excuse to avoid him.

Even though he’d agreed to let them go for a few more days to get here, his words in the forest still rang in her ears. He’d looked so disappointed in her;he’d thought she was crazy. And yes, she understood where he was coming from, but it still stung. If there was one thing about Avenay, she wasn’t irrational, yet so many people treated her as such.

She had been right.

Even if they were now stuck here and the only way out was putting the female she loved in mortal danger.

“You’re frowning again,” Cyrus said.

She sighed. There was no point in hiding her feelings from the all seeing, all knowing Cyrus. “I’m scared about the ritual.”

Cyrus nodded, lips tight. “It’s dangerous, and I’ve heard Enid is struggling to perform it correctly.”

Avenay’s stomach plummeted. Hevena had seemed undeterred by Enid’s performance the other day, but if Cyrus had heard that, it no doubt was from others talking, and if others were talking, did that mean it was hopeless?

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