Page 105 of The Cruel Dawn
Agon shakes his head.
“Jadon’s marking,” I say, lifting my hand. “Not only has it returned, it’s spreading. And there are dead everywhere and…”
Agon’s gray eyes brighten. His owl amulet pulses in time with my moth and Elyn’s dove. Soon, a shimmer wraps around him and everyone in this aerie.
Fear.
“Until we understand what’s happening here,” my uncle says, “the Weapon needs to leave the abbey immediately. We have only six dawns left, and Danar’s amulet must still be destroyed.”
“Where are we supposed to take him?” Elyn asks.
“We’ll figure that out,” I say, already retreating out of the aerie.
“But theLibrummay know,” Elyn protests.
“There’s no time left for study,” I shout.
I still don’t know how to kill the resurrectors. I still don’t know how Danar Rrivae is creating these otherworldly, old and new. I don’t know if destroying the traitor’s amulet will have any effect or if any of us are meant to survive this.
“Go!” Agon shouts. “The Weapon must leave the abbey before everybody’s killed. And if youdon’tremove him, we’ll have to evacuate this realm. You understand what that means.”
Losing protection from the orders means we lose this war. Losing this war means Danar Rrivae wins. Danar Rrivae winning means Vallendor as we know it is no more.
Back down in the dungeon, Elyn casts a ward around Jadon to contain the danger he presents. As we speed through the corridors, those closest to us fall to their knees, many taking their final breaths. We break into a run to escape this sacred space. We climb the seemingly interminable stairs and hurry across the sitting rooms now teeming with bodies in various states of living and dead. We rush through the chapels and anterooms and finally down that long hallway with the catherite floors. We burst out into the open air, and soon, Jadon, Elyn, and I find ourselves standing in that dell of blue flowers. No red cardinals join us—the Raqiel must stay and protect the Abbey.
Jadon sinks to his knees, the marking well past the bones of his wrist now. The blue flowers beneath him tremble before they wilt, and their vibrant color instantly drains to gray. The grass also recoils, browning and withering despite the shimmering protective shield encircling him.
I watch helplessly, knowing this is terribly wrong, scared that I can’t stop the inevitable—but that I must.
Breathless, Elyn rests with her hands against her thighs. Her hair sticks to her sweaty neck and face.
The color of Jadon’s eyes wavers from blue to lavender to translucent to blue to lavender to no color at all. “What do we do now?” he asks.
The slow roll of Miasma pushes past the shields Elyn and Agon set, making me woozy. To wait for the spell to pass, I rest my hands—
Shit.
Bruises shaped like dead flower petals speckle my hands. My knees ache and creak as I rest upon them.
I force myself to look away from my hands—right now, I’m more worried about vomiting than about those spreading bruises. But then I stare at the dell’s dead blue flowers…
Vallendor is dying right beneath my feet.
Jadon says, “What do we—?”
“I don’t know,” Elyn shouts, her mouth twisted. “What doyouthink we should do? Or are you content with just sitting there, letting shit happen, waiting for Kai and me to do all the work? You get to go around destroying the realm while we come behind you, cleaning it up only for you to do it again.”
“You think this is easy for me?” he shouts back. “Do you think I chose this path—?”
“Poor you,” Elyn spits. “Will someone please think of poor Jadon Wake—”
I squeeze shut my eyes as the two bicker about what was supposed to work, why it didn’t work, why this isn’t his fault, why thisishis fault. “Quiet,” I finally shout. “Listen to me.”
Both shut their mouths as the ground keeps trembling and those blue flowers keep springing to life only to die again.
My dream…
I’d been falling, headed toward my death until I righted myself.
