Wemet the army inside theGoldenKingdom.Theyhad pushed through the last ofHadeon’sforces that weren’t atKoron.CommanderTuliusupdated me on casualties and our movements toward the capital over the next few days.
Theprice had been too high.Isat in the verdant fields outside the camp, staring up at the crescent moon, and prayed for every last soul whose nameIhad read on that list.TowhomIprayed,Iwasn’t sure.Maybeit was just to myself; a promise that those losses would be repaid in kind and that this world would change.
Despitethe recent violence,Icould feel the restlessness of the camp.Theupcoming battle atKoronwas ever looming.Abraxashad ordered everyone to bed, and that had promptly been ignored.
Allaround me, the sounds of singing, drinking, and fucking filled the air.Whendeath loomed, life always seemed to blossom in its more ferocious form, clinging to this world with every tooth and nail.
Ifinished my silent requiem and made my way toAvlyn’stent.Theysat on a cot with a bucket of water in front of them.Spheresof water leaped from the surface, dancing and orbiting one another.Theygave a small grunt, acknowledging my presence, but continued to focus on their magic.Isat down next to them, placing my hand on their back.
Immediately, the small spheresAvlyncontrolled grew until the entire contents of the barrel floated in front of us as a massive spinning orb that caught the torchlight.
“You’regetting pretty good at this,”Icomplimented.
Avlyngently channeled all the water back into the barrel without even the smallest splash. “Pallastaught me a few tricks for concentration.”Theirface went hard.
Igrabbed their shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze. “We’llget her back,”Ivowed.
Theyshook their head. “It’snot that.Ijust hope...Ihope she’s alright.Whoknows what horrible thingsHadeonis doing to her?Hehas to know she has information on us.Ifhe’s hurting her to get it,Iwon’t be able to live with that.Ishould have kept her safe.”Theyrubbed the end of their injured arm absent-mindedly.
“Maybeshe’ll just give him the information freely.Maybeshe was right all along; we shouldn’t have trusted her.”
“Shewon’t.Iknow she won’t.”Ididn’t argue with them.Wewould find out in a few days’ time, one way or another.
“Getsome rest,Avlyn.”
“Yes, sir.”Theygave me a sarcastic salute and turned back to their barrel of water.Irolled my eyes and gave them a gentle kiss on the top of the head before heading out.
Iwalked to the edge of the camp again, looking out towardKoron.Therewere a few hundred leagues between us and our destination still, soIcouldn’tsee the city.Isat down in the field of flowers that covered theGoldenKingdom.Thesweet scent of the ambrosia flowers stirred in the night wind.Diggingmy fingers into the ground,Ireached for the mana below.Ifollowed the stream to the earth’s beating heart, where it sat belowKoron.Itwrithed and pulsed, like it, too, knew the destruction that lay ahead.
Thefoundation of the palace tied into that immense power, andIfollowed it higher to where it knotted and flowed in an incredible pattern.Manawas woven into an unbreakable lock.Thathad to beMalech’sheart.Itugged at the threads that were woven around it, but it only pulled them tighter, keeping me away.Theywere intertwined with exacting precision.Itdid not surprise me that they had been created byPallas’ mother.Isaw the same attention to minute detail and rigid control in her daughter.
Pallashad been right.Thiswas truly a masterwork of enchantment.Ididn’t need to be any sort of expert to see that.Despitemy concentration, trying to unravel it from this great distance was like trying to separate grains of sand blindfolded.Iwould need to get closer, right up next to it, ifIwas to have any hope of ever reaching the heart.Isighed, ready to let it all go, when something caught my attention.
Asmall, floating point of light, separate from the lock, hovered nearby as if observing it.Itshone a soft blue, like the color of the noonday sky, and beat like a heart.Itfelt familiar.
Islowed my breathing, sending all thoughts away so thatImight see deeper and observe what the earth was showing me.
Aface emerged, and it wasPallas, standing in front of those great doorsIhad once failed to open.Herhand reached out, and she touched the enchantment there.Thelock of mana flared, and she stepped back.
Sheshook her head and turned away, fleeing the dungeon.Ifollowed the blue glow beating in her heart, the very magicIhad given her.Itfelt different now; it was no longer just mana of the earth.Itfelt likePallas.Iobserved it and saw that it, too, was composed of threads.Theywrapped around something deep withinPallas’sheart.Alock, just like the enchantment on the door.
Thethreads were erratic, like brambles that had grown in every direction, over and through each other.Themagic that wove them wasn’t fae.Theenchantment felt likeRunya.Thesethreads felt almost like…roots.
Idared tug at one and feltPallasfalter.Theroot seemed to swell and grip tighter every timeItried to move it, but if there was one thingIhad learned, it was this.Everythingburned.
Ifocused on my dragonfire, but the distance was too great.Icouldn’t have undone this knot anymore thanIcould the lock.
Ilet go and came back to my body.Iwas now lying flat on the ground, looking at the great starry riverMaiak.Whatlay beyond the tangles ofPallas’ heart might very well be what changed our days ahead from victory to defeat.Wewould see whose side she was on soon.
Iwandered back to the camp, but my mind lingered on that tangle aroundPallas’ heart.Somethingabout it felt too familiar.Irubbed my arm at the phantom sensation of tendrils rising from the earth and rooting under my skin.Rootsmade from mana that not only wrapped around me but also every man, woman, and child in the world.
“Youalright,Princess?”Istartled.Abraxashad snuck up on me asIwandered, my mind miles away.
“Yes,I... come with me.”Igrabbed his hand, and he followed without hesitation.Ipulled us into our tent and ran my eyes over him from head to toe.
“Seesomething you like, little bird?” he teased, grinning.
“Hush,I’mthinking.”
