Chapter 6

"Dane left to patrol the woods." I slipped into bed beside Tristan, his body immediately curling around mine, his arm wrapping around my middle. Tavion had gone with his uncle, while Raziel and Zorander were passed out on the other side of the bed, both of them snoring softly.

Then I was staring into a pair of burning hazel eyes rimmed with gold.

"You saved us, Tristan." I brushed my fingers down his cheek, still faintly scarred from the explosion. "Again. If you hadn't…"

"Don't say it. Don't even think it." He captured my hand, pressing a kiss to my knuckles before tucking my palm against his thumping heart. "We're all here, we're all safe. That's enough for me."

I closed my eyes and nodded.

It should be enough for me, but…ice formed in my veins.

"I killed four of Corvus's creatures today," I said quietly, feeling him stiffen against me.

"You'd gone back for Raziel and Zor. They crawled out of the darkness like the shadows spawned them. They were…" I blew out a shaky breath. "They were deadly. Once that blight reaches Blackcastle…if this was only blight, the people could outrun the threat, but if it's filled with Reapers and deadly creatures, people will die."

"Simon flew straight back. He'll warn Torin." Tristan brushed his fingers through my hair. "You left the city in good hands, Anaria. And we are the only ones who can face Corvus and the Oracle, you said so yourself. You have to trust in your decisions, trust you've made the right ones."

"I do," I whispered. "I do. But this entire realm is at risk from a threat that can't be combated by military force or steel. They'll need magic to hold Corvus off."

"Well, it's a good thing Solarys has magic now, isn't it?" He tugged me closer so we were pressed into each other. "Let your fears go. For one night, let them go." He rested his forehead against mine, our breath mingling together.

Everything he said was true, and yet, I couldn't stop thinking of Tempeste. I'd killed two kings and freed two realms from oppression. Yet one lay in ruins and the other was well on its way to destruction if we didn't stop Corvus.

"You recovered faster than Raz and Zor did today, and Dane expects it will be a day before they're ready to travel." I paused, cursed myself for a coward, then asked, "Is that because you were in your wyvern form?"

"Partly," he hedged, nestling even closer until there wasn't an inch of space between us. Blood rushed to my face at how tightly we were pressed together, yet all he did was sigh in contentment.

"And partly because I'm older than the rest of you. Let's just say my advanced age gives me a measure of strength that helps in situations like these."

"Really? How much older?" I asked breathlessly, staring deep into those amazing eyes. "How old are you, Tristan?"

"Old enough to know when to stop answering questions." He nipped my nose with a faint smile. "Go to sleep, 'Naria, and let me hold you," he murmured, his arm tightening around me, his breathing evening out until he finally gave into exhaustion.

I took the rare opportunity to trace the sculptured details of Tristan's face. I examined the healing scars still marring one side and the scorched patches of hair that were growing out, a shade darker than the longer locks around them.

Older than the rest of us, but how old?I wondered since he didn't look a day over thirty.

I lifted my hand to examine the mark on his chest, the one that he'd hidden from me, probably because it showed exactly what he was. His heart beat slower than any Fae's, his body a furnace I gratefully snuggled up against.

But even here wrapped in Tristan's arms, with all his lovely heat sinking into me, didn't stop my shiver.

I'd had a terrible revelation tonight—in between fetching blankets and water and firewood and worrying about whether or not the ward around Nightcairn would hold for the night.

I'd locked the Oracle away inside her dreams.

Now Corvus was here, poisoning this realm. Had Gelvira kept her brother's corruption at bay for all these millennia? Had the Oracle, in her own way, been protecting these realms from an even worse threat than herself?

No matter how many times I thought this through, I came up with the same answer.

Yes. That was exactly what happened.

This insidious corruption was no accident and not a coincidence. I'd released this blight into Solarys, and the only way to stop the infestation was to either free the Oracle or kill Corvus.

More bad choices, it seemed, were about to be made.

The next morning,I found an exhausted Dane and Tavion sipping coffee in the kitchen with bleary eyes. "Is the ward still secure?" I asked, hunting through the pantry, finding a dozen eggs and enough bread to cobble together a half-assed breakfast.

"As of an hour ago, yes," Dane muttered into his cup.

I cracked the eggs into the pan and started beating them smooth. "And right now?"

"The blight stops at the edge of our lands, but we had to reinforce the magic in a few areas where the black slime was working its way through. Montgomery magic will hold, though, it always does."

"If the darkness breaks through the ward, how much time would we have to evacuate?"

"A few hours." Tavion's eyes met mine, his shining with despair. "We'd have two choices, the way Dane and I see it. Go north into the High Barrens or take the tunnels into Caladrius. But like Dane said, our wards will hold."

I immersed the bread into the beaten eggs then set the pan on the warmer over the fire. "We'd better get everyone up. Raz needs to heal Zor and Lucius, then we have an hour to decide where we go next."

Dane bristled. "Our magic has held for a thousand years, and that ward will hold today."

"I'm not doubting the strength of your magic, Dane. That is Corvus out there and he's coming after us. He knows we're here," I told them quietly, taking the half-full coffee cup from Tavion and tipping it to my lips.

"He can't leave his little cave, but he's powerful enough to send his magic this far south. Your wards kept him at bay last night, but he'll find a way through, and when he does, we'd better be gone."

Dane set his cup down with a thump. "What do you know that we don't?"

I explained my theory about the Oracle keeping her brother in check, the timing of all this, and by the end, Dane was nodding. Tavion looked vaguely ill.

"Seems a likely argument." Dane sighed. "Can't be a coincidence the blight's spreading from the north when the evil bitch is locked away. But you can't run forever, and if he poisons all the realms, then we're all fucked."

"Succinctly put as usual, Dane." I pulled the pan off and flipped the bread over, then put it back on the heat. "But he won't get the chance to destroy this world."

"How do you plan to stop a god, Princess?"

"We're not going to stop him. We're going to kill him." Dane spat out a mouthful of coffee, but I kept an eye on the eggs, since at this stage they burned easily.

"With the Oracle locked away, Corvus is on his own. If he's expending magic fast enough to poison all the land from the Hammer down to Warrington Hollow, he'll be weaker than he's been in a long time."

"You are certifiable."

"Maybe." I shrugged. "But we know where he is. We have a narrow window of time with Gelvira locked away. We just have to figure out how to kill him."

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Tavion asked, a corner of his mouth kicking up.

"No, she didn't." Tristan yawned, heading straight for the pot of coffee. "I can vouch for the fact she laid there all night. Thinking."

"I slept a little," I hedged defensively.

"Never lie to a wyvern." I swore Tristan's eyes glinted red as he glared at me over the rim of his coffee. "You were up all night, and now I come down here to discover we don't even get to rest for a few days. Instead, we have to go up into the armpit of the world and kill an Old God. When I joined your court, I never pictured you to be such a harsh task master, princess."

I opened my mouth to defend myself then noticed the humor in his eyes.

I smirked. "Well, just wait until I tell you how we're going to kill him." I pulled breakfast off the fire and set it in the center of the table along with a pile of plates.

"Then you'll really complain about my leadership skills."

While my dissatisfied subjects ate the breakfast I'd made them, I woke Raziel and Zor, their faces pale and drawn like they hadn't slept at all. "I know we planned to stay for a few days, but that's changed."

I set down the pile of clothes Tavion and Dane had scraped together, two sets of old, scuffed boots on top. "Get dressed then come to the kitchen. Once you've eaten, we'll fill you in."

They moved slowly, like two males caught in a trance. Raz sported fading burns on his face and neck, and Zorander's arm was marred by a wicked looking gash. But I was more worried about this unshakable fog hanging over them.

Since the last thing they remembered was being swallowed by the black mist, I made a second round of eggs and bread while Tavion explained everything they'd missed. They shoveled food into their mouths mechanically, like every motion was pure habit not because they were hungry.

Raz rallied enough of his magic to heal Zor's arm, then he worked on Lucius's badly burned legs. Tavion helped his father up from the bed before getting him dressed and downstairs beside the fire.

Lucius felt well enough to sit at the table, a blanket wrapped tightly around him. His lined face was heavy with exhaustion, but he burned with outrage.

"How dare he threaten our lands?" he growled, the table shuddering beneath his fist. "Poison our forest. Everything was covered in that blight, all the animals that couldn't escape…dead." He turned to Dane. "This blight is heading south. Is that true?"

"All the way south to Cutter's Creek. Beyond the creek by now, I'd guess," Dane muttered. "But Anaria has a theory."

I sighed as every eye turned to me and I explained everything. Again.

"The timing isn't a coincidence. With the Oracle gone, Corvus is unchecked. That's the only explanation. We can't hesitate, we can't rest."

I shot Lucius an apologetic glance. "Once the Oracle escapes the blood circle, and she will, our window of opportunity is gone. Which means blight or no blight, we have to get this done quickly. There is only one place we can go to find out how to kill Corvus, and that's back to the past."

"I have a lot of faith in you, love, but Torin is the only seer I know." Tavion gave me a faint smile, his elegant fingers dancing on the tabletop.

"A seer won't help us. There is a place we can go to see the past," I said slowly. "If I'm right, we'll find our answers there."

"You'd better not be talking about what I think you're talking about," Raziel mumbled, hunched over his plate, looking even paler than he had when he'd woken. "Because that is a very bad idea."

"Why?" I challenged softly. "Someone preserved those skulls for a reason. Who's to say it wasn't for this very purpose? So we could see our own history and learn from it."

I swept crumbs off the table into my hand, tossing them into the fire. "That's the biggest failing of a bad leader, never learning from their own mistakes. Let's learn from ours."

I took the only remaining chair and pulled it closer to Raz. "Every time we touch the skulls, we go further and further back in time. So far nothing has happened except we learn a little bit more about our past. We know Corvus and Gelvira killed three of the gods, but we didn't see how. We have to know what happened. How they did it."

On the other side of the table, Tavion shuddered, leaning back in his chair. "We can't control what we see when we touch those fucking things. It's like being held captive inside our own minds."

"Maybe we haven't tried. When I was inside the Oracle's dream, I learned to control certain things. Notice details that helped me then act outside her thoughts. That's how I escaped her. Maybe we could do the same with the visions."

"You're presuming a lot here, Anaria. A lot," Tristan added for emphasis.

Raziel stared steadily at me. "We'd have to pair up. One of us goes in, another has to be right there, prepared to pull them out if things go wrong. If all of us were to be trapped inside those visions at the same time, down in that chamber…"

His eyes flickered. "They'd find our bones down there in a couple centuries."

"Nah," Dane muttered, drinking down the dredges of his cup. "A couple months, max."

"I know the dangers." I blew out a long breath. "But I also know I'm right. I can't explain the feeling, just…I feel like something is guiding me in the right direction, and for now, I'm going to trust that this is the right path."

"And if everything goes tits up?" Tavion asked softly, and for a minute, the only sound was the crackling of the fireplace.

"Then I won't trust that feeling anymore. But this is the only way I know to find the answers we need. And once that blight gets through your wards, we'll have to move fast. We should make the hard decisions now, and I say we should split up."

"Splitting up makes sense." Raz nodded, his hand drifting down to squeeze my knee. "Force Corvus to divide his attention between us. Even he can't be in two places at once."

Zorander dumped his coffee onto the fire with a fierce hiss and a puff of steam. "Tell us what you were thinking, Anaria."

"Dane and Lucius should head to Stormfall. It's far enough the blight will take weeks, maybe months to cross the High Barrens, or the witchs' wards might keep Corvus out entirely. You'll be safe there and you can warn Vesper and Bella of the danger, if they don't already know."

I turned my attention to Tavion's sire. "Lucius…there is a library there, bigger and older than any I've ever seen. I need someone to look for the answers we won't find in the past."

"Such as?" Lucius's eyes lit with curiosity.

"Such as how to break a binding oath to an Old God. Probably an unbreakable blood oath, sworn three hundred years ago."

Lucius shook his head, a wry smile lighting up his face. "I expect that will keep me busy for some weeks. But I accept the challenge, my queen."

The words hit me harder than they should have, knocking the breath from my lungs for a second, and Raziel noticed, squeezing my knee again. He had my back, like always.

"While you two head for Stormfall, we'll take the tunnels to the chamber and see what answers we can find. Gelvira and Corvus killed three gods. I'm hoping the five of us can kill one."

"And what, pray tell, will you do if you find those answers?" Lucius asked somberly.

"If the visions show us how to kill Corvus"—I could hardly keep my voice from shaking—"then we'll head north to the Hammer. Raz and Zor studied the maps, and it's a four-day ride across the Pale. There's a steep cliff to reach Corvus's cave, where I expect the bastard has traps set, but once we're there…we'll kill him using whatever we learned in the vision."

When I raised my eyes, silence greeted me.

Shocked silence, the kind where no one was even breathing.

"And when he's dead," Raz said quietly, winding his fingers through my own, "then we deal with the Oracle. Once they're both gone, this world can heal."

"Oh, is that all?" Dane muttered, looking at us like we were mad.

"Speaking of the Oracle…" Zor was still on his feet, face haggard but his jaw set. "How long before she gets free? Because when she does, she will be out for our heads."

I shrugged. "I've never locked an Old God into her own mind before, but I expect we don't have much more time. And yes, she's going to be beyond pissed."

"Then let's get moving," Tavion broke in. "There are more clothes in the armory. Dress for the weather, bring every weapon you can find. Dane, show me the food stores. We'll split them between us. Are there any supplies left in the tunnels?"

"There are three main restocking points, but the torches are running low." Dane scratched his chin. "Could be some dried meat, though I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. I expect the bread's dry as a bone. Or too moldy to eat."

Zor"s dark eyes glimmered as if he was running every possible scenario through his head right now and making some hard decisions. "One hour, then we meet back here. How many horses are here?"

Dane shifted his feet. "I sent the staff off as soon as we saw the threat. Only three are left and one is a pack mule, no saddle."

"You and Lucius take the two horses with saddles; we'll take the pack mule since we're on foot."

"You can make the portal in two days," Dane said confidently. "If the creek was as swollen as you say, then most of the snowpack has already melted off. With the swell in temperature from the magic, there won't be any snow in the high country. We'll reach Stormfall in five days if the way is clear."

Raz climbed to his feet and held out his hand. "We meet out front in an hour." I slid my hand into his, confidence swelling inside me as soon as our palms met.

"Are you sure about this, Anaria?" Raz murmured when we were upstairs, away from everyone else. "We'll be on foot. Which means we'll be vulnerable to attack. Slow, in case those…what did you call them? Night Crawlers? If they attack again, we'll be vulnerable."

"I have my magic and so do you. We have a wolf and a wyvern and Zorander Vayle. I worry for anyone stupid enough to attack us."

Raziel smiled softly. "I like your confidence, princess. Now let's figure out how to kill an Old God without all of us dying in the process."

We were dressedand packed when Dane returned from his final check of the ward, his face a white mask as he raced out of the forest toward the castle. "The blight is through the ward and it's moving faster than anything I've ever seen. That fucking darkness will reach the castle in a few minutes."

Right behind him, as if carried the wind, came the faint echo of Corvus's voice. A princess with no kingdom, a thief with no morals, when I find you, I will devour you whole.

I shivered against the reeking wind, against the threat that no one but me seemed to hear.

Lucius was already mounted, bundled in layers of wool and thick furs, Tavion turning his father's horse around as Dane flung himself onto his own horse, kicking the beast into motion. Lucius paused long enough to clasp Tavion's hand.

"When will I see you again, son?"

Tavion's eyes swung to mine, then he shook his head. "Don't know, but as soon as we can manage. If we find our answers in the tunnels, then it's still a hard ride across the Pale to the Hammer. From there…" Tavion shrugged. "Hard to tell."

"Be careful," Lucius warned. "Those tunnels hold secrets even your uncle doesn't know about. As far as the blood oath"—he glanced between us, his face somber—"I will find you the answer you need, Anaria. And figure out some way to get the information to you."

"You didn't see what's coming. We have to get moving," Dane shouted, stopped at the mouth of the narrow hunting trail leading into the mountains. "We don't have time for pleasantries, Lucius."

"Oh, we know what's coming," Tavion muttered before he grasped his father's hand. "Ride fast for Stormfall and stay ahead of that." He jerked his head to the darkening woods, that deep encroaching silence that wasn't at all natural. "Stay well ahead of that."

"We will, trust me." Dane bared his teeth in a fearsome grin. "See you the next time we meet."

They galloped off, and no sooner were out of sight than black tendrils crept out of the forest, the next gust of wind bringing that reeking scent and a shower of curled, blighted leaves. A ripple of stillness followed, the kind of silence that meant only one thing.

Death.

Anaria, that darkness seemed to call.

"Let's go." Tristan led the pack mule, and we hurried around the castle, following the well-worn road until we reached the tunnel entrance, Raziel picking up a torch, Zorander stowing every extra one into the mule's pack. "We conserve everything. Fire. Magic. Torches. We move fast but take breaks when we must."

I nodded, grateful Zor was taking over, then took one final look over my shoulder before the tunnel engulfed us in darkness.

The elegant spires of Nightcairn were already turning black, slime dripping down the leaded glass windows as if the stones were being swallowed by a nightmare. A pang went through me as they disappeared beneath a layer of sludge. I was so pissed I couldn't stop this, so fucking angry I was about to lose this beautiful, magical place which was as close to home as any I'd ever had.

Tavion didn't look back at all.

"This isn't over. We'll be back, 'Naria." Tristan touched my shoulder. "When this is over, when they're both dead, we'll come back and make this place whole again." His hazel eyes gleamed with understanding. "If this is where you want to live, then this could be our home."

We didn't have time for this, not really, and yet I couldn't stop myself from asking. "You'd be happy here, if we decided to stay?"

He pulled me against him and ran his nose up my throat, breathing deeply, an echo of his wyvern's purr rumbling in his chest before he pulled away with a grin. "Anywhere you are will always be home to me, 'Naria."

White teeth flashed against the darkness of the tunnel.

I took one last look at Corvus's festering rot devouring Nightcairn's regal beauty as his corruption ruined yet another thing I loved, my shiver of anger lasting long after I ducked into the darkness and followed the others toward whatever secrets waited for us down here.