Page 91 of Vow of the Shadow King

I turn my awareness away from the woman. Beyond her there’s a faint slip of shadow. It’s Vor. At least, I think it’s Vor. It’s impossible to discern his features. I can scarcely detect the flicker of his soul. “When she wakes,” I whisper softly, finishing the woman’s train of thought, “she will destroy his world.”

“Sooner or later. She will. She must.” The woman shakes her head heavily. “I’d hoped to make it later. Much later. And I thought you might be the one to help me.”

“Help you? How can I help you? How can anyone do anything against such a being?”

“But you’re not just anyone, are you? You’re gods-gifted. Bestowed with divine blessings intended for divine purpose.” The woman takes a step closer. Her eyes shine like two torches, burning through realities to meet and hold my gaze. “With the right training, with the right technique, you may be just what Vor needs.”

I shiver, drawing back from her. My little filament thread flickers, tenses, ready to snap. “What of the Miphates?” I ask.

“What of them?”

“Vor believes they could help.”

“Maybe they could.” The woman shrugs. “I don’t know much about Miphates magic. I know it’s big, it’s dangerous, it’s chaotic. It might be just what he needs. Itmight.”She takes a step forward, lifts her cane, jabs the pointed end of it straight at me. “But Iknowyou are what he needs. So, tell me—are you willing?”

“What?”

“Are you willing?” she repeats. Those eyes of hers seem to dance like flames before my vision. “To come back? To fight for Vor? To fight for Mythanar?”

I turn away, unable to bear her gaze. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t say yes unless you mean it. Such magic always requires a price. It may be greater than either of you wish to pay.”

“What sort of price?”

“That I cannot tell you. But when it comes, it will be harsh indeed. You may wish you had made a different choice.” She tips her head, raises an eyebrow at me. “Then there’s the pain to consider. Souls are not meant to reenter their physical bodies once they’ve left. It will not be a pleasant experience.”

“I’m not afraid of pain.”

“Bravely spoken, little princess. But this is worse than you’ve known. You might not survive the process. And if you don’t, well, I cannot speak for the results on”—once more she vaguely waves a hand, indicating my non-corporeal self—“allthis.”

“Do you mean . . .” I stop, uncertain I want to continue. “Do you mean I might cease to exist? I, myself? As Faraine?”

“It’s a possibility. No one knows for sure what happens to souls after a failed restoration. They don’t come back to tell the tale.”

I draw away from her, shivering. Warm light beckons me from above, from that great space beyond this mist. I could almost swear I hear the voice of my goddess singing. Calling me home. Part of me wants to answer. Part of me wants to know the comfort and safety of that voice, the wholeness of her embrace.

Am I willing to risk all hope of heaven for Vor?

I look at his shadowy image again. Even through the layers of mist, I feel his desperation. He needs me. He needsme.I don’t know if I believe everything this strange person says to me. But I do believe in Vor. In the two of us. In what we are and everything we could be. How could I abandon him, knowing I could have done more? How could I truly go on to heaven’s light, leaving him in the Deeper Dark?

I turn again, meet the woman’s strange, golden gaze. “Very well,” I say. “I’ll face both the pain and the price. And should I not prove strong enough, I’ll accept whatever end. For him.”

She gives me a narrow look. “And the dragon? Should you succeed in returning, will you face that foe?”

A shudder ripples through my essence. “I cannot say.”

“Fair enough.” The witch’s lips tip in a mirthless half-smile. “One thing at a time.”

With those words, she steps back into the mist. It closes around her like curtains, obscuring her from my view. “Wait!” I call after her.

But she’s already gone.

41

VOR

With a sharp intake of air, the witch comes out of her trance and staggers backward several paces. She shakes her head, recovers her balance, then immediately leaps forward and closes Faraine’s eyes. The strange other-light shines through her lids for a moment longer, but when the witch snatches the crystals off her chest, that dims as well. The tension leaves her body. Soon Faraine lies lifeless and limp once more.

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