Page 33 of The Cruel Dawn
I close my eyes, and a single teardrop blazes down my cheek. “Why won’t Supreme just skip to the ending and destroy me? I’m not who I’m supposed to be. A Grand Defender—the Mera warrior ultimately responsible for protecting this realm, crying? A Grand Defender—a Mera warrior now fearful of losing this realm and the beings in it, including those dumb windwolves looking down at me? That’s not supposed to be.”
“Says who?” she asks, tugging a lock of my hair. “None of the great books I’ve read says ‘You are not to fear.’ Recognize and acknowledge that fear, Kai. But then move forward, press ahead, and use that dread to do what you are meant to do.”
“And what is it that I’m meant to do?” I ask, drying my tears with the back of my hand.
“Destroy Danar Rrivae before he can destroy Vallendor and our charges.”
Sybel and I stand in silence until I push out a long breath and stiffen my back. “I will skip going to Eaponys for now, and I’ll go to my uncle and hear what he has to say.”
Footsteps pad above us again, but this time, I hear only four feet. I look up to the bluff.
One windwolf sits there, gloating and gaping down at me.
You will fail, Lady.
You do nothing but fail.
9
I can’t return to the Sanctum right now, not if I’m trying to figure out what Uncle Agon needs from me. If I return to the Sanctum and try to explain to Zephar why Eaponys is now postponed, he will get pissy. Though eventually, he’d come around to understanding, more time will have passed, and I just can’t deal with that right now.
He aims to control you—he always has…
Zephar is a warrior, a planner, someone who needs to…to control the situation. And sometimes,I’mthe situation.
He’s an obstacle to your ascension.
No,I’man obstacle to my ascension.
My gaze skips up to the cliffs.
The windwolf still sits there, snickering at me.
“I should burn you to a crisp right now,” I growl at it.
“But you won’t.”
I roll my eyes and tap my Spryte-filled amulet, and think,Sea of Devour—
An eclipse of gold, crimson, and black moths surrounds me.
I can’t see, but I feel the wind being made by the moths’ madly fluttering wings. Then, suddenly, they’re gone.
I stand alone as the daystar hides behind dark clouds. Wind gusts across the plains, transforming sand as well as tumbleweeds and the dried skeletons of soldiers into prickly little cyclones that spin across the toxic green surface of the Sea of Devour. Limbless trees with scoured trunks pepper this dying land. Ashes swirl over bizarre creatures now scampering across the rocky terrain.
I remember the sea at its healthiest. Once upon a time, the sea had been a destination for holiday and sport. Those who settled Peria, the land of saffron, had used the river that originated here to till the earth. Zephar and I had bathed on the harder-to-reach banks of the sea. Yeah, we made waves and made love. But now, my nostrils curl from its stink, and my eyes sting from this acid-tinged air.
Oh, Sea of Devour. What happened to you?
Ihappened to you.
Danar Rrivaehappened to you.
Only one of us regrets being an asshole—and she’s standing here with burning eyes.
Speaking of the traitor… I don’t sense his presence. Good. Even though I wear new armor, I’m not ready to confront the usurper alone.
But I’m not alone.
