Page 140 of Cursed Evermore
“They are Moonfrost-borne,” Arielle explained, her voice taking on the cadence of someone sharing ancient lore. “The elk of Vaelthorne carry a lunar blessing, bestowed upon their kind during the Age of Echoes. A time before the Accords, and before the Illymiare Moon faded away.”
“There was a moon that faded away?” I didn't even know that could happen, that something so eternal could simply cease to exist.
“Yes. There was a time when there were always two moons in the sky. Legend says the rift between realms, and the raising of the Veil, made the moon unstable. It lingered for a few hundred years after, then gradually faded, becoming less and less each year, until it was gone.”
“That's so sad.” The tragedy of it hit me unexpectedly. It was saddening to imagine a whole moon lost forever.
“It is. But it left its magic in creatures like the Crown elk, descendants of the Moonfrost herd, who were said to have once lived on the moon itself.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “They lived on the actual moon?”
Garrick smiled, nodding alongside Arielle with the patience of those used to explaining wonders to mortals.
“They certainly did,” she said. “They can harness the power of the moon and the tides. Their hooves solidify the water the moment they touch it. Whatever they carry, like this carriage, becomes part of them temporarily, so it won't sink.”
“That's absolutely amazing.” The words felt inadequate for the miracle I was witnessing.
I looked out the window and noticed the faint shimmer on the water's surface, left behind in the elk's wake.
“I think you'll find a lot of amazing things here, my lady,” Sirril said, watching the shimmer with me, his voice gentle and knowing.
I glanced back at him and smiled, a thrill blooming in my chest. He was right. Everything I saw here would be a marvel, because I'd come from a place that had denied me magic for far too long.
Ahead, a path appeared with a pair of massive wrought-iron gates, and I prepared myself to see the dark fortress I'd created in my mind.
The elk galloped onto the path, prompting the gates to swing open with silent grace. Then we rode onto a paved stone path that led to a manor that looked nothing like the brooding fortress of nightmares I'd conjured in my imagination.
There were no blackened spires piercing a gray sky. No haunted shadows clinging to cursed stone. No hideous gargoyles perched on the walls or gables of the roof, watching with hungry eyes.
Instead, a honey-colored stone manor rose from the earth like it had been carved from a dream. A beautiful, impossible dream.
Its pale stone walls gleamed in the late morning light, kissed by threads of warm sunlight that made them glow like liquid gold. Twin towers pierced the sky, not with menace but with quiet watchfulness, while vines of silver-leafed ivy curled around the outer walls like nature's own decoration.
“Thisis Vyrenth Hollow?” I whispered, my voice filled with the weight of my surprise and something dangerously close to awe.
“Indeed, it is,” Arielle replied with a proud nod, as if she'd had a hand in creating this masterpiece.
Wolfe's home was something far worse than what I'd expected.
It was beautiful.
And that beauty terrified me more than any nightmare fortress ever could.
Chapter 27
Elariya
“Where Magic Knows All”
“Wolfe really liveshere?” I was still gazing ahead at the manor with wide eyes, half expecting the glamour to fade. The manor seemed so normal for Wolfe. It was more fitting for a nobleman than the shadowed god I'd come to know.
“He does.” Arielle chuckled, genuine amusement dancing in her voice. “What did you expect?”
“Just not this.”
“I guess that's understandable.” Garrick tilted his head and regarded me with curiosity. “It doesn't seem like his style, does it?”
“No. Not... really.”
