And so did he. He wanted to destroy the Lord and do what was necessary to ensure that man’s death and Lexi’s safety.
And as the shadows stirred within him, he also realized his father hadnevercontained them. He’d never really believed his father had possessed this ability, but he’d questioned the possibility.
King Tove was a powerful man and adept at keeping the true depth of his power hidden from the world, his allies, his enemies, and his family. But if he’d possessed these shadows, they would have slipped out on occasion; it would have been inevitable.
If his father possessed this power, that dragon wouldn’t have eaten him. Now, for whatever reason, and he suspected it was Lexi, the arach bestowed this shadow magic on him during the trials.
And they’d done it to keep her alive. He didn’t know how the magic knew to seek him out, but there were many mysteries in all the realms that would never have answers.
He would have sacrificed himself for her before the trials; he was powerful before the shadows entered him, but now, he was more so. And the things that could have most easily taken him down, the dragons, were now unable to do so.
The Lord was going to die, and he would be the one to destroy him. When the shadows stirred excitedly inside him, Cole pulled Lexi closer as he sought to restrain them again.
“What did you do?” the woman asked again as she half rose before going back to her knees.
Cole had forgotten all about her until she spoke again. He had no time for this woman and her hysterics, even if she had just lost her child. It was sad, but a lot more children would die if they didn’t put a stop to the Lord.
It wasn’t Lexi’s fault the Lord was leveling the realms in search of her.
“I tried to keep her alive,” Lexi whispered. “I tried to stop the blood from flowing while shielding her from the dragon’s fire. I so badly wanted her... to... to live.”
Lexi’s voice hitched, and he scented her tears on the air before one slid down her cheek. Cole wiped it away as Orin opened the door and entered the room.
His brother froze when he spotted them. He glanced into the hallway before shutting the door and hurrying toward them. “What happened?”
The woman rested her hand on her daughter’s chest where the blood soaked her torn clothes to her flesh. Her face was a mixture of emotions so intense she couldn’t form words as her mouth opened and her lips moved, but no sounds emerged.
* * *
The tiny,dirt and soot-covered faces of the children huddling behind the hut caused a small twinge to tug at Brokk’s heart. One of them held a kitten in her lap while a snow-white owl perched on the shoulder of the other.
The girl with the owl was the older of the two, but she was only five or six. They were both probably too young to open a portal and were left behind in all the confusion.
Kneeling before them, Brokk rested his arm on his knee as the children eyed him warily. “Hello,” he greeted. “I’m here to help you.”
When the lower lip of the younger girl started to tremble, the older one hugged her close, but neither of them spoke.
“Where are your parents?” he inquired.
Brokk turned to discover Sahira and Maverick had walked over to join him. The older one raised a tremulous hand and pointed at the teepee behind him. Maverick pulled back the flap of the home enough to reveal the battered body of a woman within.
“Look away,” Sahira said as she swept the girls into her arms and turned them away.
“Any chance she’s still alive?” Brokk asked Maverick in a low voice the children couldn’t hear.
“I’ll check,” Maverick said and ducked inside.
The flap had barely settled into place before Maverick emerged again. He gave a small shake of his head to Brokk.
When the younger girl started crying, Sahira knelt before her. “It’s okay,” Sahira assured her. “We’re going to take you somewhere safe.”
“Stay with the children,” Maverick said to her. “We’ll search the rest of Gramarye and see if we can find any other survivors.”
If there were any other survivors, they were most likely children too young to open a portal. Or they were too injured to flee the realm on their own.
“If we’re not back in a couple of minutes, take them to the prison and tell Lexi and the others we’ll be back soon. There’s no reason for them to come here,” Brokk said.
“I will,” Sahira said.
