Page 19 of Crown of Wrath

I stop when everyone is clear of the hallway. In order to cover our escape, I pull another wall from the ground as I’d done a few seconds ago. If Veris, the god of good fortune, is on our side, noone will notice. The last thing we need is the House of Steel to catch us. This isn’t exactly quick work.

When I get back to the front of the group, I put my hand on the wall. The stone in front of me disappears as if acid was eating away at it. Each drip of the liquid stone hits the ground and is absorbed. A flat floor and rounded tunnel are left for us to walk through.

The Shade doesn’t seem to be bothered by the quick way I’ve altered the very stone under the mountain, but Darian and Lee certainly have looks of shock on their faces. I don’t say anything, more than a little disappointed in myself for needing help from the Shade. I’d been sure that I could handle myself, and maybe I would have been able to if we weren’t in such a hurry.

It’s done though. I may be disappointed in myself, but we were successful with minimal problems.

We begin our slow walk out of Draenyth. Slightly upward toward the walls of the city. It’s not fast, but it’s simple and safe. As the only person in the House of Earth, I’m the only person who can do this. No one else will follow us unless they break down the wall I made in the hallway.

But I can hear the Shade’s labored breaths behind me. We won’t be able to shadow walk back to Stormhaven, so Lee and Darian will have to carry me and Casimir on the flight.

We rescued Casimir, though. All we have to do is survive the escape and get back to Stormhaven. It could be worse.

Interlude 1

ThirtyYearsAgo

The Queen of Shadows steps out of the ruins, her midnight dress covered in dust, and with a thought, it all disappears, sent to the void. The book that she holds in her long fingers is a treasure that no one in the world remembers.

Fellwyn, a castle hidden in darkness, lays around her. It’s nothing but rubble, a broken thing that no one remembers, lost thousands of years ago. It was destroyed in the first war between the Immortals and humans. In every war between the Immortals and humans, humans have proven to be more than we expect.

Is it the curse of the High Fae to underestimate them at every turn? In this battle, they overwhelmed even the High Fae of the House of Shadows. My father was forced to sign a treaty after they destroyed this castle. This broken place is testament that there is more value in humans than as cattle, and it’s why the old treaties were written.

She looks down at the tome in her hand. It was spelled so that the pages will never tarnish. This is a relic of a time when dragons were as commonplace as the High Fae.A History ofMagic and Dragons.It was written by Erevan Morvyn, her father. The book is the only collection of knowledge and words from the dragons. Some of it came directly from them. Other pieces were recounted by the Darkness.

Brenna breathes hard as she sits down on a broken piece of stone. Her eyes grow black as she channels the power of shadows and picks the lock holding the book closed because there was never a key to this lock.

She begins to read. Stories of a time before Nyth. Explanations for why things are the way they are. Reasons for why the dragons left.

The hunters.

Who are they?Whatare they? What could cause a dragon to flee? What could kill a dragon? And why was Sidon the only one who had defeated one?

There are too many questions that can no longer be answered. Calyr has already said that he won’t speak of why the dragons left.

The Queen has found the answers she sought. She hadn’t expected that they’d give her so many more questions.

The shadows that flow from her body move on their own command. It has been six months since her House was shattered. A hundred shadow walkers are left, all of whom are deep in hiding, and all of whom know that they are to stay there.

Her child will need warriors once she finds the line of Earth. Those shadow walkers are the only warriors capable of defending them when it comes time to take back the Throne that Gethin and Casimir stole from her.

What she’s found in this book makes her question everything, though. The secrets. The lies that even the dragons told. Even the dragons weren’t prepared. Even Calyr doesn’t have answers for what happens now.Ruin will come…Calyr knew the Shattering would happen, and he doesn’t know if they’ll recover.

She can’t depend on her child to fix things. The Queen of Shadows will have to play another part. A different kind of part.

She’d thought that finding the Shadowed Cloak and putting it into the right hands would be enough to sway the tides. The Prince of Flames is strong enough, but… It won’t be enough.

First, she must find the line of Earth. Then she’ll do what she must to prepare the way for her child.

Whatever the costs…

Chapter 10

The past was made of lies and half-truths. The future is uncertain. We stand on the precipice of it all, and fear is all I feel. We were not ready. Calyr’s prophecies were correct, and there stands a single possibility now. There is a single way to possible success, and now I know the true weight of my choices.

~Maeve Arden, The Future of Magic and Dragons

Maeve

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