48. Tairyn

forty-eight

Tairyn

It was luck that brought me to Penestall Lake. Pure luck that I heard the right whispers from the wrong lips. A gathering of sorts, for those looking to upend the world.

I've spent days watching this growing following of various faerie creatures called to Yurghen like he's a martyr here to fight for their freedom. Instead, he's promising them destruction of all we know. I feel like the heel Mira thinks I am, slithering in the shadows spying on the darkest souls. Then again, maybe I am. Am I not here for selfish reasons? Personal gain?

My Chroma snapped away from my body the moment I broke my bonded bargain with Yurghen. The moment I let Mira leave my home and walk free with the Shards. Defeating Yurghen is the only way for me to move forward in this world. The only chance I have at survival. Now that I've betrayed him, it's me or him.

I peer over the crest of a hill to see a sea of a shantytown, temporary structures and tents propped up throughout the valley below. I caught sight of Yurghen only once since I found them, walking through a crowd praising the ground he walks on, the little bald one following behind like a lapdog. Where did he even find all these zealots?

Three nights past, I spotted a scout from Valenfall. Surely word would have arrived back to Cor'than by now about this force. Each day, more and more creatures pop out of the surrounding wood to join him.

I pull my cloak tighter around me, ducking back behind the hill to avoid detection. A part of me longs to just rush down there and confront him, call him out on his lies and deceit. But I'm not foolish enough to believe that would end well for me.

I'll wait for Cor'than's forces to arrive. The battle will be huge based on these numbers. The counts I have are inaccurate. There's no way to know the exact numbers, but I'd wager there are thousands of fighting men down there.

I considered joining them, pretending to be one of them to gather information. But the last thing I need is for Cor'than to show up with Mira and her see me, once again, on the wrong side. Besides, if Yurghen caught sight of me, he'd execute me on the spot.

The sun is dipping below the horizon when I hear a disturbance in the growing camp. Newcomers most likely.

I climb to poke my head out to see the statuesque High Fae I'd know anywhere. Malicryn is riding on horseback with a guard of a hundred or more faeries trailing behind her. Her white hair is a beacon in the last light of day. Even at this distance, I can see the coldness in her eyes, the determination etching lines into her face. The crowd parts before her as if they, too, sense her purpose. Her power.

Unease crawls through my chest as Yurghen comes out to greet her. I hum thoughtfully to myself. So Malicryn will bend the knee then. That doesn't surprise me. For all her bravado, she never takes a true risk. I'm sure she believes Yurghen will succeed, and her place in the world will grow beside him.

Something is happening. The entire camp is stirring, breaking down tents and rushing to the center. This is what they've been waiting for. Will they perform this ritual here and now before Cor'than arrives?

My heart hammers in chest. There's a brief discussion between the two after Malicryn dismounts from her horse.

A beacon of Chroma is thrust straight into the night sky. Malicryn's maroon magic wrapped and entwines with something inky black. Darker than night itself. Yurghen's Chroma is twisted and corrupt as it courses into the air and creates a dome-like bubble around the army.

I gasp for air, my heart threatening to burst out of my chest as I press myself against the damp ground. Panic sets in as I realize we are too late. This must be the beginning.

Suddenly, the air above the field ripples and shimmers with a blinding opalescent light - the familiar glimmer of a portal appears. The magic and power emanating from it is overwhelming, drawing in everything around it like a black hole.

Then the entire lake-side meadow is sucked into the portal's vortex, disappearing without a trace. The amount of power you'd have to channel to move that many people…

My mouth hangs open in shock and disbelief as I realize the whole of Yurghen's forces are about to drop on someone's doorstep.

But whose?