Page 136 of Crown of Wrath

It’s been twenty-four days since Casimir began watching me. Twenty-four days of constant training to teach my body the basics of combining all four powers.

Maeve, it’s too much. It’s…

“You’re wrong. You told me to train. You told me to become the strongest so that I could protect the world. But you’re my world, Cole. Everyone else…”

I shake my head, and his voice is sad in my mind.I meant the people who couldn’t protect themselves. The drakelings. The humans. The Lesser Fae.

“I’ll protect them when I have you back.”

Maeve…

I pick up the piece of wood that barely shows any black anymore, and without hearing another word from Cole, I fall into the void.

For the first time since my husband died, I don’t rush to leave the void. I let the darkness flow around me, comforting me. There’s a temptation here that nothing else can ever compare to. Not even the training grounds offer the same serenity.

I could give into the void, and quickly enough, all my pain would fade away. It would devour my emotions and my body as quickly as it would swallow up any other person.

Just that bit of temptation is enough to make the tally mark on my arm burn. I feel like I can breathe again. Even here in the void, I can smell spiced amber and feel his flames flicker over my body. I’m not alone when his flames are on my skin.

“I’m coming for you, Cole. I’m going to do what no one else has.” The void swallows the words and leaves no echo.

Pain flows through me, no less intense than the moment that I felt the tear in my soul. I’ve just learned to embrace it. It feeds me. It feeds the anger and pride and joy and desire because that pain is Cole. His entire life was pain, and he’s given it to me to keep safe.

So I smile as I send my shadows out to pull me away from the safety of that transition area between this world and Nyth. I know what’s waiting for me in deeper shadows. I know thecreature that I narrowly escaped from before. The Darkness. The Eater of Worlds. An eel with no eyes that’s larger than a dragon.

I do something that’s unheard of. It’s something that no one else could do. I send my shadows out, and then Ichange them into fire. It’s a fire so bright that it would blind anything here in this world full of darkness.

A flash of power unlike anything that’s common here. The void devours the fire almost instantly, but I know that The Darkness will come to me. It won’t be able to resist the explosion of power that’s so unusual here.

Daughter of Stone and Darkness. The voice in my head is loud and full of simmering anger. It’s been more than a month since I last saw the creature.

“Darkness,” I shout. “I am here to give my answer to the question you asked me before. I would like to honor Vyran’s agreement. I have questions.”

Chapter 69

The little ones in the void are souls. The difference is that their bodies and most of their power have been stripped, usually because they died. When a magical child is conceived, the spark of life reaches out and, through a process we do not yet understand, it chooses a soul from the void. It gives that soul another chance at life. Without a connection to the void, no life can be created. This was the way it was when the Throne of Shadows lay unclaimed.

~Rhaskar Thorne, The First Book of the Priests

Maeve

You’ve been told of Vyran’s agreement?The Darkness’s voice booms in my mind, but the anger is gone. It knows that I’m young. It knows that if I am bound by Vyran’s agreement, then Ihave to answer any question that’s asked, and I have to answer truthfully. It knows just how likely it is to outmaneuver me in this relationship.

And it knows about a world nearby that’s hidden from it. It knows it could very possibly devour that world.

“I have, and I agree to it.” The words are a magical bond. My words wrap around my soul, becoming a mark that will never leave me. I cannot break the bond now that I’ve said the words. If I lie to The Darkness, I will die. If I refuse to answer its questions, I will die.

But it’s bound to it as well.You have sought me out. What questions do you have for me?

I smile as my Earth senses feel The Darkness and create a mental image of the creature. It’s massive. The creature’s body is long and thin, with empty eye sockets. It’s as close to an eel as anything I could imagine, with jagged teeth extending beyond its mouth. Shadows flow from its body instead of fins, lengthening and shortening as they move slowly, maintaining its position in the void a few feet in front of me.

“I’m not Brenna, Darkness. I know I’m not clever enough to get more information out of you than you give me. I’m following Vyran’s agreement because I would prefer you didn’t eat me.”

There’s a pause, and the image in my mind of The Darkness shifts uncomfortably. I’ve found that beings that are ancient don’t do well when you offer them something new.That is understandable. Why did you seek me out if not to ask me questions as your predecessors have done?

I take a deep breath and focus on my exact wording because, with this creature and our current arrangement, the words matter a great deal. “I would like to offer you a temporary, simpler agreement. I have two questions, which I’m sure you’ll dance around. You’ll give me partial answers that skirt the truth. We’ll both do our best to take as much information as possiblewithout giving any extra, and we’ll be here for weeks bickering. Instead, let’s save us both some time and just give each other what we want.

“I ask that you give me the simplest, straight-forward answers to my questions and continue to clarify as much as I need for both of them. In return, I will not only tell you about a world that cannot keep you out, I will bring you there.”

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