Page 159 of The Cruel Dawn
The horses, including Vapor, stomp their hooves, their eyes wild and nostrils wide.
“We’re free!”
“He’s dead.”
“They too will die.”
“Hold fast for now,” I advise the horses. Then I snatch the head of Syrus Wake from the dirt and hold it up by that snow-white hair for his very best captains to see. “You have a choice on this day,” I tell them. “Live and protect Vallendor from foes of this realm. Or…” I lift Wake’s head higher. “You die alongside the charlatan, Wake.”
Some soldiers bow their heads and immediately kneel before me. Others stick their blades between their ribs or slide their daggers across their necks. They prefer death to serving me. That’s certainly a choice.
“For those joining me,” I tell the survivors, “I will bind you to that promise. The moment your purpose turns from mine, you’ll drop dead where you stand. An extreme punishment, yes. One relying on your fear of me, certainly, but you’ve already shown me your disloyalty. But this”—I hold Wake’s head even higher—“is your prize if you show me your ass.”
“Hey, Kai,” Elyn says, coming to stand beside me. “We have a guest.”
39
Jadon Rrivae Wake stands high above the desert, on the Rim of the Shadows. The ink that had started on his right hand now covers his torso and shoulder blades, but his left arm remains unmarked.
He wears my stolen pendant around his neck, and the moth now burns as bright as the daystar. He wears Veril’s stolen fox amulet in a brace around his bare left arm, and the Wake family’s signet ring that unlocked theLibrum Esotericasqueezes his left ring finger. His eyes shine lavender, the second-most vivid light in Selenova’s fullness.
Staring at him, Elyn says, “I thought your amulet was dead.”
“I did, too.” My gaze stays on the most powerful being conceived on Vallendor Realm.
“So what is feeding it?” she asks.
We both turn to my father, who has joined us for this last battle.
“Linionium,” he says.
“From the signet ring?” I ask.
Father shakes his head. “Without Celedan Docci, the ring itself does not contain linionium.”
“But if it’s not in the ring,” I ask, “where is the linionium?”
Father doesn’t speak—is it because he doesn’t know…or because he does?
“So what now?” Elyn asks.
I turn to her. “I talk to him.”
“We can’t use Jadon in the fight,” she says, “not beyond using him as a threat against Danar.”
I nod. “If he dies, we all die.”
“We need Danar’s amulet first,” Elyn says. “Kill the traitor and then…”
“Kill Jadon before he can absorb Danar’s power,” I say.
She and my father peer at me with uncertainty.Can you do this?
My cheeks flush. “I will do what must be done to save this realm.”
…
Elyn hangs back as I approach Jadon up on the bluff. She’s a quiet anchor behind me. She gives us space, but she’ll never be out of reach. “No stripping this time, please,” she quips, a parting shot as I walk away from her.
