Page 85 of Slaying the Shadow Prince
His name on Drue’s lips was a plea.
She had frozen beside him, dozens of her fellow Naarvians facing a horrific death before them. But one wrong move from him, from any of them, could set the whole cage alight.
‘Weapons down,’ the man barked, brandishing the torch menacingly.
Talemir assessed the warehouse and every viable option, the darkness crackling inside him at the feeling of being cornered, outmanoeuvred.
How had this man known where to be and what to do? Rage blinded him for a second, rage at what the raiders had intended to do to these innocent people – offer them to the wraiths, potentially so they could be turned into monsters like him.
Shadows writhed inside Talemir, clawing at his insides, begging to be freed, to be unleashed —
Although the man at the cage had the advantage, he flinched when he looked upon Talemir, as though he could see the monster behind the face.
‘Talemir…’ Drue lowered her weapon.
Adrienne, Wilder, and their forces were doing the same.
Every fibre of Talemir’s being objected to surrender, but he too dropped his sword beside Drue’s.
‘Use it,’ she whispered. ‘Use your power to save them…’
For a moment, Talemir froze. But as though it heard her, the darkness called again, and this time Talemir didn’t hesitate to answer it.
Shadows swept in like whipping coils of night, extinguishing every candle, every light source, one by one. The entire warehouse went pitch-black, but for the torch the raider held; then it too was snuffed out.
People screamed.
But Talemir became one with the night. Invisible to the rest, he surged with the wisps of onyx magic, moving through time and space differently, becoming a part of the shadows he felt swirling around him.
Shouts and terrified shrieks continued, the cage rattling, the sound of swords being seized and brandished echoing through the building, its inhabitants suddenly sightless but for Talemir.
One moment he had knelt at the northern exit; the next, he stood before the raider, black power thrumming through every part of him, the song of darkness calling his name.
‘I don’t respond well to threats,’ he murmured, tendrils of shadow writhing at his command, squeezing the raider’s wrists, knocking the useless torch from his hand.
Talemir shed just enough power that the man and the man alone could peer upon his face, knowing that the veins around his eyes had gone black, that his stare mirrored that of the darkest evil. He didn’t need his swords for what came next. He could end this man with the lashings of shadow —
‘You’re one of them,’ the raider gasped, and the scent of urine filled the air. ‘You’re —’
A strangled, gurgling sound followed and the hot slap of blood hit Talemir’s chest.
And at the smell of iron, suddenly, Talemir came back to himself, finding Drue by his side, her dagger dripping with the raider’s blood, his throat slit from ear to ear.
Somewhere, light flared as a torch was lit.
And all Talemir could do was stare at the ranger. His kill on her blade.
‘You…’ he managed, dropping the raider’s corpse to the ground. ‘How did you… Could you see?’
Drue crouched, wiping her messy dagger on the raider’s shirt before sheathing it at her ankle. ‘No, I couldn’t see. But I could sense you… Could feel you, somehow…’
‘And you killed him. Why?’
Drue looked around carefully. ‘He was about to spill your secret.’
‘But…’
Drue waved him away. ‘Let’s get these poor people out of that damn cage.’ She was already storming towards the bundle of chains and the heavy lock hanging around the door. ‘Someone find the key to this! And someone fetch Fendran. He might have something to prise it open!’ she yelled, sizing up the contraption. Then, more gently to the people within, she said: ‘Don’t worry, you’re safe now. We’ll have you out of there as soon as we can.’
