Page 93 of Crown of Wrath

She doesn’t respond, but when I move, she follows soundlessly behind me. Then there’s a flash in the darkness in the direction we’re headed. “What was that?” she asks.

“I don’t know.” A wave of power flows through me as if someone else’s shadow has brushed against me. Then I realize that whatever this is, it’s enormous, and there’s no doubt that it’s stronger than either of us.

Daughters of Darkness and Stone.A voice whispers through my mind, and I’m sure Echo is hearing it as well.It has been many years since ones like you have been here. Many years.

The words are felt at the same time that my mind hears them. My chest rumbles with the voice as though this thing can speak with sound in a place that has no sound. Another flash ripples through the darkness like sunlight on a serpent, and fear creeps down my spine.

“Who are you?” I ask, knowing that Echo will depend on me to take charge. She may be the future Queen of Shadows, but she’s still so young and inexperienced.

I can feel the creature moving toward me, and I can’t help but wonder if this is another dragon. Do the dragons come from the void? When it speaks, it certainly reminds me of Calyr.I have been known by many names. The Eater of Worlds. Ancient One. Your mother called me Darkness, as I was the only one of my kind to speak to her. You may call me what you wish, but I wonder if this is the question that is most pertinent to a blind one such as yourselves.The words are so much louder now. My head hurts from their vibrations, but I do my best not to acknowledge the pain. The last thing thatThe Eater of Worldsshould be seeing is my weakness.

There’s more movement, but it seems to be movement away from me, away from the creature. Then it speaks again.Now you aredifferent. You smell of the old Queen, yet you are not hers. You smell of the Fae, yet you also smell of Other. What are you, young one?

The words are less of a roar and more of a rumble now. It’s interested, and that curiosity seems to have dulled its need to be strong. “I am from Valinar,” Echo says, and there’s not a hint of the terror I’m sure she’s feeling. It makes me proud of her for my mother. She may be young, but she’s being the Queen of Shadows even if she’s never worn a crown.

“She is the future Queen of Shadows, Brenna’s protégé,” I say.

The voice turns to me.You are your mother’s daughter, Daughter of Stone. I can smell it in your magic, but there’s barely a touch of her on you. Strange. She is everywhere on the young one, yet her magic is different. Both darker and lighter. Curious indeed.

I’m not entirely sure what to do as the silence becomes deafening. I want, more than anything else, to go back to Valinar and speak with my mother about this creature. But we’ve floated too far away from the shadows to pull ourselves out of the void instantly. Something inside me tells me that the creature that we’re talking to is far faster than us in this place.

“You say that you know my mother. Did you talk to her regularly?” As I speak, my shadows pull Echo closer to me, and she doesn’t resist. My shadows begin to slowly pull us back toward that line in the void where we can reach through to Valinar and Nyth.

I see another flash in the darkness, and an even darker ripple of fear rolls through me. It’s as large as a dragon. Maybe larger than Calyr.What is regularly, Daughter of Stone? She asked me questions, and I answered. I did the same for her.

“What kind of questions?” I ask as I steadily inch us backward. Over the past year, I have learned that everything and everyone lies. Even the people that I trusted the most lied to me. My father, Vesta, and Cole all lied. The only thing I can trust is experience and my instincts, and my instincts are telling me that leaving is the only thing that matters.

It swims closer to me, mostly ignoring Echo, and I realize that my Earth senses are beginning to work here. Similar to how I could see through the Shadowed Cloak’s shadows to envision what Cole’s face looked like, I have flickers of understanding of what this creature looks like. It’s not a dragon.

It’s a faceless eel that’s so massive that even Calyr could fit in its mouth. Its ebony scales are as large as I am, and shine with power rather than light. The teeth that fill its mouth are as tall as a house, and its fins are made of shadows, flickering in and out of existence, just as my shadows do.

Eyeless, it stares at me, its mouth open only a few feet away, its shadowed fins maintaining its distance. Its streamlined body undulates slowly in a non-existent current, and when it speaks, its mouth opens just a tiny bit wider.

Questions that only the void knows, Daughter of Stone. If you’d like to create an arrangement as your mother and grandfather had with me, I would be happy to. As Vyran and I agreed to before your kind had been created.

Vyran? Vyran the Black? What kind of agreement would they make? And why? I wish Cole was here. Maybe he’d know… No. He wouldn’t. My mother would, but I doubt anyone else in the world would.

“And if we don’t?” I respond, and through the tendrils of shadow that hold Echo close to me, I can feel her shake.

The booming voice rattles my mind, and I can see the creature smile in the darkness.Then none of the old agreements willapply.More cryptic answers. More answers that only create more questions.

It doesn’t matter though. The more I think about this, the more sure I am. The only right answer is to escape, and we’ve slowly been pulling away from that deeper part of the void. Echo may not know where we are, but I do. I’ve spent enough time in the void to estimate where we are, even without feeling behind us.

We may not be able to see in the void, but I have a very strong suspicion that this creature can see here just as clearly as I can see in Valinar. “What are the agreements of old?” I ask. I try to keep the confidence in my voice, even though my heart is racing.

It is not my problem that you do not have memories of the agreements, and without the agreements, I am under no obligation to answer your questions. Agree or do not. My patience is waning.

I know why it’s becoming agitated. We’re so close to Nyth. “I will have to consider it. I need to consult with my mother before I make any decisions. I’m not agreeing or disagreeing. I’m simply postponing for the time being.”

And I reach behind us with shadows. We’re close enough.NO!the creature shouts, but it’s too late. I pull us both out of the void and into Nyth. I hadn’t cared where we wound up. Anywhere would be better than in the jaws of that thing.

Chapter 45

The Darkness is not the enemy, but neither do I call it a friend. Our alliance is the age-old unification against a stronger, mutual foe. It is not something I trust, but The Darkness’s desire for survival is stronger than its hunger. For now.

~Maeve Arden, The Future of Magic and Dragons

Maeve

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