Chapter 23

Aelia

For the love of Raysa, what had I gotten myself into?

The terrifying Shadow Fae creature stood tall, with limbs elongated and fingers ending in talons sharp enough to slice through the massive trunk I currently cowered behind. My damp locks fell over my forehead, blurring its form. I squeezed my dagger tight in my fist, waiting for an opportune moment to strike. The problem was that its body, ethereal and shifting, seemed to be made of shadowstuff, with a texture that oscillated between smoke and solid darkness. It was nearly impossible to focus on or predict its movements.

Its eyes, if one could call them that, were two glowing embers of hatred that pierced through the dark forest. They scanned the thick copse, searching for its prey. I heaved in a breath and pressed my back against the rough bark as it moved closer. The monster"s face coalesced around the trunk, a mask of sorrow and rage shrouded by the cloak of shadows it wore.

My fingers itched to loose my dagger on the beast. If I could make a clean hit to its head, I could, in theory, kill it. If my blades impacted Reign's shadows, then surely, they must be lethal to this monster as well. But what if my reasoning was mistaken?

Reign already had one of my daggers, I couldn't risk losing the second.

Stars, I never should have followed him here.

The creature let out a resounding hiss, and the blood froze in my veins. The most terrifying aspect of the beast stalking me was not its appearance, but rather, its voice. It hissed in hushed tones, a cacophony of whispers that seemed to come from all directions. Oddly enough, it reminded me of Reign's strange power of communicating through shadows.

The hisses grew more insistent, penetrating every corner of the forest. My head spun, the echoing sound pushing my thoughts to madness. I clapped my hands over my ears to drown out the incessant sound, but it was useless. The continuous droning pierced my senses and scrambled my thoughts.

The creature's murky shadows once more coalesced now right beside me, and an embarrassing squeal squeezed through my clenched lips. I swung my arm in a wide arc and sliced through the spectral form.

The beast recoiled, a sharp hiss escaping through what I assumed was a mouth. A trickle of dark liquid oozed from its torso and pooled on the ground. Was that blood? Had my dagger managed to wound the shadow fiend?

The dark tendrils whipped and spun, recomposing themselves into its giant form. A snarl rent the air, flashing me a sneer full of pointed teeth. It swung a clawed hand at me and a long talon sliced through my jacket all the way to the nightgown underneath. The scorching sting seared across my shoulder, and I hissed out a curse as I ducked, just barely darting out of the way to avoid the brunt of the hit.

It lunged again, swiping those feral claws. I staggered back, the burn in my shoulder reaching a fevered pitch. I gritted my teeth as I leapt out of the way again. With my good hand, I attempted to staunch the blood now free-flowing from the wound. A thick dark substance coated the crimson, and a bout of unease twisted my gut.

The spiraling veins of darkness continued to twirl around me, despite my dagger's strikes. The blade cut through the umbral wisps, each one earning a hiss from the creature. At least I succeeded in wounding it, but with the pain coursing through my shoulder, I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold it off.

A coil of pure night extended from the beast's form and wrapped around the hilt of my dagger. "No!" I shouted as it pried my weapon free and tossed it to the ground. Dropping on all fours, I crawled, reaching and pawing blindly through the shadows at the dark earth in a desperate attempt to find it.

I felt it the moment before it happened.

The atmosphere bristled with intensity, and I could sense the faint shift in the air as a clawed hand reached for me. An unnamable force buried deep inside shimmered to life. A rush of energy swept over me, like liquid lightning through my veins. I squeezed my eyes closed as the jagged talons aimed for my throat, and I waited for the sharp sting, for the accompanying darkness that would surely come.

Only, instead of darkness, I was surrounded by blinding light. The glow was so powerful the glare pierced through my closed lids. Sneaking a peek through narrowed slits, my heart danced a delighted jig. A radiant shield. After weeks of struggle, I'd finally summoned a radiant shield!

"Aelia!" A familiar voice boomed through the chaos, and a prickle of awareness surged through my being. Reign appeared amidst a tornado of shadows, the fierce tendrils spinning and churning with untamed fury in the chaotic rhythm of a wild tempest.

His overwhelming power pressed into me, his aura spirals of pure midnight. The instant he materialized, the creature staggered back. Its head dipped, and the vines of darkness that made up its spectral form began to waver.

I glanced up at my professor through the shimmering gold and relief flooded my system. The truest thing to a smile I'd yet to see from the broody male flitted across his lips, and the glowing orb encasing me in pure rais suddenly popped.

Returning his attention to the shadow fiend, Reign barked something in the old tongue, and the Shadow creature moved farther into the forest, until it disappeared into the night. The moment it was gone, he dropped to the ground beside me. Those starlit irises locked on mine and, for an instant, they were all I could see, all I could feel. A tempest stirred beneath the moonlit surface as unreadable emotion played across his handsome face.

A long moment of silence passed between us as my heart drummed out a frantic beat against my ribs. Not because of the monster who'd nearly killed me, but for the one kneeling in front of me. "For fuck's sake, princess," he growled, "what in the realms were you thinking, following me here?"

Every ounce of warmth evaporated at that tone. Irritation puckered my brow and I narrowed my eyes at the mercurial male. "What am I doing here?" I spat. "What are you doing here? Isn't banishment the act of expelling someone from a specific territory, typically as a form of punishment?"

"Thank you for that, Miss Dictionary. I wasn't quite aware of the precise terminology." His glare morphed into something downright murderous as it landed on my shoulder. "Did the Gloomwhisper do that?"

"Excuse me?"

He hovered over me, his presence much too consuming at this close proximity. "That creature I just chased away, did it wound you?"

Actually, how did he chase it away? And why not kill it? If it wasn't for the desperate look in his eye, I would have voiced my question. Instead, I nodded reluctantly. "But I got him too, and did you see my radiant shield? I finally summoned it, and apparently, my blades?—"

"Fuck, Aelia!"

Goddess, why did he keep saying that?

He scooped me into his arms as I squealed my displeasure.

"Put me down!" I kicked and squirmed, but his hold only tightened around my middle, and he started to move.

"Do you want to die?" he hissed, piercing irises searing into my own.

All the air caught in my lungs and an embarrassing choking sound squeezed out. "… What?"

"The gloomwhisper's claws are coated in poison from the nyxen tree. It's lethal to Light Fae." His Adam's apple jerked down the column of his throat as he spoke the final sentence.

"Lethal? But I feel fine…" Except for the slight piercing pain in my shoulder.

Reign's head dipped, and a look I would have sworn I'd never see on my professor's face swept across his tense jaw. Fear.

"Then why are you running if I'm as good as dead?" We were moving so quickly it felt as if we were flying, but Reign's shadow wings had vanished.

"If we can reach the Nightbloom Gardens, there may be a chance. There is a pond created from the very waters that feed the nyxen tree, along with all the other deadly flora of this court. For Shadow Fae, the poison is only a nuisance, so the pond was created long ago as a healing pool."

"But I'm a Light Fae, right?"

He shook his head slowly. "To be perfectly honest, Aelia, I have no idea what you are." His lips twisted into a scowl, a tendon in his jaw fluttering like mad. The ache in my shoulder had begun to dissipate, which as pleasant as it was, I knew was not a good thing. "So we must try."

The forest whipped by in a blur of spectral shadows and bedtime horrors. The gloomwhisper, or whatever it was, couldn't be the only deadly creature looming in the ominous silhouettes of the towering trees.

My eyelids drooped, exhaustion suddenly setting in.

"Hold on, Aelia, we're nearly there."

Why did I ever follow this man to this ungodly place? Poor Aidan. He'd be crushed when he found out I was dead. Killed by a Shadow fiend while chasing after his treasured gift.

"Aelia!" Reign's voice towed me back from the brink of sweet oblivion. A sharp sting lanced across my cheek.

"Ow!" I shrieked. "You slapped me."

"Keep your eyes open."

"I'm sorry you won't win the grand prize, Reign," I murmured, my voice strange to my own ears. "I tried my best. You just didn't pick a good acquisition." Numbness spread down my arm, nearly reaching my fingertips.

"You're wrong," he snarled, his fingers digging into my cheeks with unyielding resolve as he wrenched my gaze to meet the fire in his. "You are the strongest female I have encountered across this great continent, Aelia Ravenwood, and you will not die today. Just like you did not succumb to the icy embrace of the river, nor when those Light Fae bastards attacked you, or when you strode through the threshold of the Veil of Judgement. I do not pick losers, Aelia. Now fight, princess."