Page 39 of Ties of Shadow

Three wolves—including the gray one I’d met in the solarium—five bats, and a badger stood or hung at attention in the entryway.

The Shade paused and took in his unusual crew. “We get in, grab the moss, and get out. We do not go digging.” He glanced at the badger. “We do not go sniffing about or fluttering into mischief.” The irritated huffs and flaps of the animals displayed their displeasure. “Yet.” The animals settled. “There is time for all this but today, while it is day, we need to get in and out without detection from man or beasty.”

I gave him a hard side-eye and gestured to the crowd of animals. He cleared his throat. “The other wild, underground beasties.” Walking to the table, he took a coil of rope and set it across my shoulders, then placed a lantern in my hand. “Dayspring, I know you’re a wild hare, but no heroics today. Try to control your inner force of destruction, hmm?”

I’m certain my eyes glittered with the amusement I felt. His hand trailed down my arm and lingered on my fingertips. “Do stay close. I do not wish to see you harmed.”

“Your world would be lifeless without me.” I joked back, testing the waters.

His jovial expression darkened. “Truer words…Dayspring…”

He pulled the cloak around me, fastening it at my neck before he turned, donned his pack, and led the way outside toward the southern aspect of the manor. The manor was as black and tall and sharp-angled as I remembered from my flight here, but instead of menacing, the morning light made it look regal. The turrets gleamed as the sunlight struck them, and the black stone, likely laced with mica, glittered more than an enemy manor should. I smiled at the thought of the Shade wearing a sparkling outfit to match his obsidian home.

Across the expansive garden—before the canyon walls that angled back toward the valley—a cluster of arborvitae pines stood, their tops bent from the canyon winds. Behind them, built into the tall cliff walls, a small iron-bar doorway held back the menacing darkness.Unlocking the door with a large key from around his neck, the Shade yanked against the rusting hinges, revealing the gaping maw of a cave. It was pitch-black mere feet from the entrance, as though consuming the light of the sun itself. My courage withered.

The bats made gleeful circles overhead before entering, followed by the wolves and the badger who sniffed the dingy air before trundling forward.

I paused just before the entrance, my legs a bit stiff from…the stairs of the solarium, surely.

“Don’t tell me the heroine of the night—the one who defies princes and talks back to Death—is nervous about a bit of a walk in the dark.”

“I won’t tell you that then.” I was proud that my voice only wavered slightly.

He offered his arm again. “Perhaps you can see with me, Dayspring. Let me show you.”

My hand trembled traitorously as it reached for his arm. But I boldly stepped with him into the cave. And boldly stumbled over a stone. I reached for my lantern, but his warm palm halted mine.

“Not yet.” His chuckle echoed like thunder in the cavern. He led us into the pitch black. “Now, give me your hand.” My breath caught; my sight was now gone, and every touch felt like fire as I left the relative safety of his cloth-covered forearm for the heat of his palm. His fingers grasped mine. “With my magic, you’ll be able to see with the shadows.”

“That makes no sense,” I muttered.

“Master, are you sure?”Jamison asked, his wings fluttering off to my left.

“Close your eyes, Dayspring, it’ll be easier.” I obeyed, but it was just as dark. “Feel the magic of the shadows, cool and thick, reaching with their fingertips and telling you of the world around us.”

Nothing happened. A beat of disappointment. Suddenly, magic swirled through our linked hands, like frost on pine, scented and sacred. And then the world exploded into view around me. The colors were blue and red, the edges of everything lined by this contrasted light. The shadows moved constantly. It was like viewing a reflection on a slow-moving creek, but I could see the details of the floor, the path through the spikes of stones. I turned. I could see the details of the Shade’s face and the haunted look in his eyes as he watched me in return.

It was wholly unfair that he could look more attractive in the contrasting art of the shadow images. A wayward thought wondered what the Shade’s bonding mark would look like. I backpedaled quickly, back to mere admiration of statuesque features.

“The shadows become you as well, Dayspring. You look lovely.”

The first step felt like walking on water, but the second was surer. The image in my mind functioned almost as if I had a lantern, the light from it circular and constantly moving with us in gentle waves. Soon, it was as if I was seeing with true light.

That foresty, magical sense of happiness fluttered within me again. I glanced over, suspicious of this new sensation, and confirmed—the Shade was smiling. It couldn’t be that I could sense him, could it?

Quiet drips echoed against the stone, interrupted only by the tiny screeches of the bats or the wolves’ claws clacking along the way. I found I could hold the image of the shadow as I opened my eyes, but it was disconcerting to see nothing when my mind was full of so much imagery.

The shadows highlighted little tubes on the cavern wall. The Shade squeezed my hand, and I opened my eyes. I focused and the tubes became wriggling lights that glowed in green and yellow, coating the wall like odd stars reflecting off a waterfall. I stopped and leaned forward.

“Cave caterpillars,” the Shade supplied. Small one-inch caterpillars milled around the cracks and crevices of the cavern. Their many legs stuck out of pudgy thighs, much like their forest counterparts.

“They are adorable.”

His eyebrow perked. “Most gardeners don’t like caterpillars.”

“I find them charming. Especially these, since they glow.”

Tilting my chin up with his fingertips, the Shade added, “They also make a glowing silk.” I looked at the ceiling and gasped. Strings of light and balls of nests latticed the stone, like constellations linked in a woven pattern across the top of the cave. Wriggly purple babies glowed within pink eggs.

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