Page 23 of Vervain

She glows as if basking in the stream of life—Mother’s light.

Her focus darts around, and with another step, it all bleeds back into reality. Everything darkens, blackening and drowning it out until night comes.

Saya’s eyes widen, a slight breath leaving her mouth when she looks up. The stars are bright tonight, and the moon is a creamy milk.

“Serun, we have a problem.”

Shaking off the awe, Serun plucks the orb from where it now floats in the air and slides it into his pocket. Reyes stands at the edge of the building, looking down. “Death still lingers in the air. They should have rotted by now, correct?”

“Some can linger,” Serun says.

Saya moves ahead, and Serun follows, grimacing at the fleeting moment between them. She’s a curiosity. He can’t place her. But he wants her and yearns for her presence.

More than a friend. Not quite a lover. A feeling he hasn’t experienced in a very long time.

He must protect her at all costs.

Serun leans over Saya’s shoulder, his frown deepening at the echoes of the past crawling about the courtyard. They blend with the darkness, moving like an illusion of the wind.

“Those monsters,” Saya growls, and light radiates from her. She’s driven by malicious intent. A hatred so defiant that it will get her killed if she attempts to fight one of them.

Serun rests his hand on her shoulder. Saya flinches but doesn’t move away from him. Instead, she leans slightly to the side, her wrath-filled red eyes glowing as she turns them in his direction.

“We will get rid of them,” Serun says, his voice soft. “Wait on the rooftop while we kill these imbecilic creatures. Creepy bastards.”

“All that head, not enough brain,” Reyes chuckles.

Saya clasps her hands together, tightening until her fingertips redden. “They are intelligent. One waited for me to open the door in the kitchen so it could flee, and when they were about to attack Jax, they were speaking to each other in their insect language.”

Serun looks to Reyes, and his brother shrugs.

This is news to them—though the echoes never usually lasted long enough for them to know this.

“Fascinating,” Serun murmurs before he steps off the edge. Shadows swarm around him until he is the shadowed creature he first showed Saya. Mere inches from hitting the ground, a haze of black smokes out of him, and he lands with grace and silence.

A group of echoes long past their expiration date crowds the front of the Darkovish Feeding Ground. Since the closure of Hellsgate, their bodies have weakened enough for Serun to feel confident he can take them all on without breaking his back. Most will die off within a week, only for others to congregate somewhere new in the next decade. He will have to map the next location more carefully.

Serun’s shadows quiver. He flexes his hands, and his claws extend. Echoes care little for the dead. If he wanted to, Serun could walk past them, and they would not bat a neon yellow eye at him.

On another night, he would leave them be. But he doesn’t want them bothering Saya while they roam among death.

Moonlight graces the courtyard. As it shimmers, Serun appears above an echo with a mangled arm hanging from its mouth. Serun’s coat flaps in the brisk wind, shadows thinning, splintering with jagged edges. In one swift motion, he lifts his leg and slams his boot down on the echo’s head. Blades of shadow cut through the bone, then tear out of the creature, ripping it to shreds.

Ahead, two of seven echoes turn to face Serun. Growls rumble, rasping through decayed lungs at the sudden threat. Serun cares little for the thrill. His back fucking aches, and he doesn’t want to be gone for long. Saya is on the rooftop, waiting for him.

The two echoes carelessly launch at him. They are mindless by design, but Serun doesn’t doubt Saya’s words, so he exercises caution.

Serun appears in the sky, twisting his body towards the ground to see their yellow eyes following him. He spreads his arms wide, and as he clutches at the air with one hand, a thin, long, black sword appears. In a lightning-fast blur, he lands between the two creatures, his sword arm still extended. After a beat, the heads of both echoes slide away from their bodies, and they tip over into a sloppy mess. Blood drips from the tip of his blade, and he shakes the sword out of existence with a flick of his wrist.

Three more echoes turn to Serun.

His shadows shudder, and before they can move, he drags them into the darkest part of the night. Their agonised screams reverberate, inhuman, until the insect noises fade into nothingness.

With a dust of his shoulders, Serun heads for the entrance. Two echoes leap towards him, but he makes no move to defend himself. He looks ahead, his brow twitching when the glint of blades comes into focus.

Bloodlust ripples off Reyes, and his butterfly swords scissor through one echo’s neck, removing its head. Avianna spins her body around the neck of the other echo, twisting its head so it looks sightlessly up at the starry sky. Then, in one swift movement, she kicks herself away from the corpse and lands at her husband’s side. Reyes touches her hip, longing for her affection, only for her to turn to scan her surroundings.

Reyes’s swords fade with a wave of his hands. “Back pain again, brother?”