Page 21 of The Shadow Fae Rhapsody
The assassin grips the hilt and withdraws the dagger from his flesh as though pulling it from a sheath. He throws it to the ground and walks to me. “Let’s get out of here.”
I couldn’t agree more.
I glance at the trapped beasts behind us before leaving. They’re howling and shrieking in the dark, whispering a promise of death. I hope Cedwynn manages to deliver my message to my knights and reinforcement is coming soon.
Fear pulses down my spine in constant dose as we forge our way back to the main tunnel. We continue walking until Shade’slegs buckle from whatever injury he sustained. I let him sit down to catch his breath.
My body will succumb to the exhaustion soon too.
The assassin straightens his spine and leans on the wall. “Your Highness, listen to me. I need to you to promise me something…”
I hate this.
I don’t want to listen to his last will.
“You’re going to be all right, Shade,” I assure him. I call upon Anastarros and his blessing.
Come forth and heal this assassin,I will it.
“Promise me,” he insists, snatching my hand. His gaze flicks up, stealing my attention and my breath.
I inhale deeply. “What is it?”
He stares into my eyes, his eyes intense and hard. “No matter what happens, you must live for the next one hundred and twelve days.”
I blink at the request. A torrent of questions goes through my mind, the first being,Why one hundred and twelve days?
I decide it’s best to just vow it. “All right. I’ll try not to die…”
A flicker of shadow on the wall makes me pause. Movements and light flash from the crevice of the crack on the wall. I move closer to inspect the hollow opening. Something dark and ancient peers back from the narrow slit.
My heart nearly stops, then speeds up in sharp beats. I grab the hilt of my long sword instinctively.
The stone begins to shift and bulge, as if there is something behind it. Shade and I watch as an eyeball appears on the wall before us. My blood freezes to ice when it blinks like a proper, living eye.
“Careful,” Shade says, pulling me back a step. I heed his word because this is no ordinary magic, unlike the kind performed by the Mhlaryan elves.
This is something darker and far more dangerous.
It’s sorcery.
“Congratulations on finding me,” the voice through the eyeball speaks. The malevolent tone sends goosebumps rising over my skin. “Are you ready for the kind of death you’ve earned?”
But I could recognize the deadness in that voice anywhere. It was a long time ago, yet I remember it clearly.
“I know you,” I say to the eye on the wall.
“No, you don’t—”
“The village of Feywildra in Elowen. You came for me when I was a child.” I stalk forward.
The admission completely stuns whoever it is hiding behind the eyeball, and he turns mute.
Shade looks back and forth between the giant eyeball and me. “You guys know each other?”
I nod firmly and the darkness shudders.
“You called yourself the Shadow Fae,” I say.
