Not just Kit’s, either, Cedric realized, as a shout drew his attention to where Nox and Evander were engaged in battle. Evander held another darksteel blade, having seemingly snatched it from thin air, while Nox twirled twin batons in their hands. The nocterrian already had a long gash running up their forearm, their shadows gathering aroundEvander’s legs, struggling to restrain him. With the wave of his free hand, the shadows dissipated, and Evander walked through them as if they had never been there at all.
A cry rent the air, followed by a squelching sound that turned Cedric’s stomach. Metal clanged against stone as Zephyr pulled the darksteel blade from Kit’s torso and discarded it on the ground. Thraigg wasted no time in grabbing it, charging toward Evander with a curse. He hurled the weapon at the dark fae. Droplets of blood spun off the blade in a splattering arc as it cut through the air, aimed at a spot in the dead-center of Evander’s back, right between his wings.
Cedric held his breath. But Evander pivoted at the last second, twisting on his feet so fast, Cedric would have missed it if he’d blinked. The blackened edge of the dark blade sliced across Evander’s ribs, eliciting a hiss of pain and forcing him to stagger back.
Now, Cedric thought, his hands reaching for his sword, his body finally leaping into motion. They would have to subdue Evander now, before he could draw any more blood, cause any more pain. They would get to the bottom of why he’d done this after. Later. Once they made sure Kit was all right.
He refused to think she would be anything but.
With one final look at Elyria, head bowed over her friend, her body covering Kit’s as she whispered soothing shushes in her ear, Cedric moved. Together, he and Thraigg dashed across the chamber to close ranks with Nox...only to stop short as a deep, menacing laugh began emanating from Evander.
Shivers ran down Cedric’s spine, the laugh echoing around the chamber, cold andwrong. Evander’s jerking backward stagger came to a halt. Cedric’s eyes narrowed on the fae’s side where the darksteel blade had cut him, dark blood pooling on his skin.
Not blood.
Black liquid, thick as tar, seeped from the gash. Cedric stared, lips parting in shock as the strange, viscous substance spread. It beaded and dripped onto the floor, but also curled up Evander’s ribs, moving like it had a life force all its own. His bronze skin darkened and faded, the color draining as the substance skittered over his body, black veins bulging in its wake. His shimmering gold wings flickered—the wavering wickof a candle about to be blown out.
Elyria’s choked cry cut through the air as those once-magnificent wings tore, their delicate membranes shredding like aged parchment. Pieces flitted to the floor like ashes while the ragged, tattered remains fluttered loosely.
No longer the wings of a princely fae in his prime, but those of a creature long since corrupted. Veins crept from Evander’s eyes, the whites of which had turned an unholy, unnatural black.
“No...” Elyria’s voice was almost lost amidst the maniacal chuckle still coming from the creature before them. She was standing now, Cedric noticed, having taken just a few steps toward them, fear and indecision slowing her movements. Behind her, Kit lay on her side, eyes closed, ribs lifting with shallow breaths, while Zephyr continued working hurriedly to contain the fallout of her wound.
“Evander, please, no,” Elyria continued, taking another step. Her voice was weak. Cedric had never seen her like this. She seemed so...frail.
Evander’s head whipped toward her, a grim smile plastered on his vein-streaked face. “My love,” he said, as if in greeting.
Shock fixed her soft features in place. Her eyes were pinned open in horror, her lips parted with dawning realization.
Cedric tightened his hand around his drawn sword, stepping into Evander’s line of sight, cutting off Elyria from view. “Why do this?”
Evander’s cruel smile widened, twisting his formerly-handsome features, now more monster than man. “Wouldn’t you like to know,my lord?”
Cedric balked at the way Evander’s lip curled around the words, throwing them back at him, mocking him. And was there something else hidden in those two little words? Cedric couldn’t begin to understand the dark fae’s meaning.
Nox drew their batons together, crossing them in an X in front of their face, crimson eyes burning a hole into the dark creature before them. “What are you?”
“I’m not sure you’re ready to know,” Evander replied. Then he lunged.
In the blink of an eye, his darksteel blade collided with Nox’sbatons, showering the nocterrian in sparks. Cedric leapt forward, drawing his sword up in a long slash poised to knock Evander’s weapon from his hands.
But the fae was too strong, too fast. With a grunt of effort, he broke through Nox’s defense and slashed across their torso, sending them stumbling back. A wet streak bloomed across their dark clothes. At the same time, Evander’s free hand twisted in the air, an icy shield forming right as Cedric’s sword swung up.
The clash of steel and ice rang in Cedric’s skull. He cursed under his breath. Spinning on the spot, he brought his sword down toward Evander’s shoulder. The fae parried with a swift upward motion, darksteel meeting Cedric’s sword with such force that the impact reverberated up his arm.
He ducked to dodge Evander’s returning strike. Behind him, Thraigg let out a shout, charging with his hammer raised high. He swung. Evanderlaughed.Then, as if dancing to the sound of the alarmed shouts coming from Nox, Cedric, and Elyria alike, he gracefully stepped into a shadow.
Thraigg’s hammer connected with nothing, throwing him off-center.
Everyone in the room held their collective breath as one heartbeat ticked by, then another. The shock of learning Evander could shadowstep was incredibly heavy as it settled on Cedric’s shoulders. The tideweaving magic, Cedric knew to expect based on what Elyria had told him earlier, but this?
A glance at her told him she was just as stunned. He backed up another step, moving that much closer to where Elyria stood frozen in the center of the room. Having regained his balance, Thraigg exchanged a wary glance with Cedric.
Another few seconds passed. Confusion settled deeper into the lines of Cedric’s frown. Where did Evander go? Had he...run away? No. The champions may have technically outnumbered him, but all one had to do was take one look at Nox, clutching their abdomen, and Kit and Zephyr still on the floor on the opposite side of the room, to see that the champions were at a serious disadvantage.
Cedric’s focus flew back to Kit, unconscious but breathing steadily. Zephyr wiped at her forehead and got up from the ground, nodding atCedric as he caught her eye. Kit would live. For now, at least.
The briefest flash of relief ran through Cedric as he tracked his gaze to Elyria, hoping to convey some kind of reassurance, even as every hair on his neck still stood on end.
