“Some things cannot be told. They have to be seen,” he answered. “I doubt my brother would allow his bride to come with me into the Other.”
Appealing to my pride to get me alone. He probably honestly thought he was subtle.
“I don’t need Aramaz’s permission for anything,” I declared, tossing my head.
With a challenging smile, Belekoroz extended his hand, palm up, fingers curled. The Darkness around him deepened, stealing all the Light as his power responded to the wild anticipation burning in his eyes.
“Well then, are you prepared to touch the Darkness?” he breathed, his too-courteous voice a taunting caress. Shadowy tendrils eagerly reached out for me, causing my flowing white dress to flutter.
Should I have been afraid? All I felt was fierce determination, a violent urge to show him his place, to prove that not everyone would cower before the dark force of him.
“Show me,” I said, placing my hand in his.
His cool fingers closed around mine just a tad too firmly. A strange feeling settled into my stomach as I realized it was the first time we had touched. He pulled me closer with a sharp tug, his smile turning menacing, his magic and the warmth of his body a disconcerting presence. “Come.”
“What? Now?”
I gasped in surprise as the world shifted around us, a surge of his powers transporting us to the nearest point where the Veil between the worlds was dangerously thin, the Other looming just a step away. We did not often use our magic to transport us farther than we couldsee, the risk of ending up somewhere unintended too great. I should have known Belekoroz would not care.
“Why not now?” Those cunning eyes watched me with rapt attention, daring me to back down as he gestured at the telltale reflection in front of us. The air there flickered, revealing brief glimpses of a foreign sky and swirling shadows. “Or is the Allfather’s favorite daughter afraid of the dark?”
In hindsight, I should have informed someone where I was going and with whom. But I raised my chin, determined to mask my apprehension as I crossed the threshold between the bright sunny day of Aron-Lyr and the fragmented shards of reality shimmering in the air before me.
The world descended into chaos. My powers flared in sudden panic as I lost all sense of direction, my eyes instinctively closing against the flashing colors, my ears ringing with a whooshing sound. The only thing anchoring me was Belekoroz’s unwavering grip on my hand, even as my Light must have seared his skin.
“Keep your eyes closed and breathe. You’ll get used to it. One sense at a time.”
His tall presence behind me was as oddly reassuring as his smooth voice.
“Sound.”
I gasped as his breath tickled my ear with the word. The whooshing in my ears began to fade, replaced by the distant hum of the Other, a symphony of strange, otherworldly noises that seemed to pulse with life.
“Scent.”
With my eyes shut tight, I inhaled deeply. The air was cool and fresh, carrying a hint of something dark and spicy. My panic eased.
“Touch.”
A shiver ran down my spine as Belekoroz readjusted his grip, his fingers whispering over my palm to the tips of my fingers, lingering longer than excusable.
“Sight.”
Obediently, I opened my eyes at his command and took in the Other for the first time.
The landscape was a stark contrast to the vibrant world of Aron-Lyr. Excitement coursed through me at the sight of the endless gray plain stretching in every direction, the dark sky above empty one moment, glimmering with wild bursts of chaotic magic the next. The magic created a swirling canvas of shadows and light, casting eerie, shifting patterns on the ground below. It evoked memories of my first moments on Aron-Lyr’s soil, when the world was nothing but possibilities.
“This is amazing,” I exclaimed, my voice filled with awe.
“Mmm.” Belekoroz’s face twisted with condescending delight as he walked past me. He appeared different here, more relaxed. As if he no longer felt the need to hide behind his shadows, his proud nose, prominent cheekbones, and full lips standing out beneath long, midnight-dark hair that blew in a phantom breeze. “Aramaz found it utterly disturbing the one time he accompanied me here.”
Somehow, that didn’t surprise me. I tilted my head, contemplating our surroundings. “Are our minds simply casting the incomprehensible into a familiar form?”
My words earned me a sharp, astonished glance.
“It stands to reason,” Belekoroz answered slowly, something shifting in his expression, the first stirrings of interest morphing into genuine curiosity. I stifled a pleased smile. Did he think he was the only one who could use his mind?
“And if we never took corporeal form?” I asked innocently,stepping onto the storm-tossed plain. I made a disgusted sound as my thin slippers sank into the dark mud covering the ground, changing them into sturdy boots with a quick thought. Remaking clothes I owned, whose pattern in the fabric of being I knew, was not a noticeable drain on my powers.
