Page 25 of Ashen Wings

I still against the archway. The wraith that cadet spoke about back in Smoke….could he have come into contact with one of these lurkers?

“I haven’t experienced something so pathetic as fear since I was a mere youngling, but these creatures of malice…they are not to be underestimated.”

“And you’re searching for the rider because they’re slaughtering Shadow’s people?”

“Not just our people, little thing, our dragons, too.”

Oh shit…even the Blightfangs? “If they’ve infested your faction, what’s stopping them from crossing into others?” I ask.

Tenebris places a hand across his broad chest, and blood settles in my stomach. “You’ve seen the injuries my rider returns every night with. We’ve held the line, but without the guardian…”

“Ashborne is Shadow’s last defense?”

Tenebris nods, his sharp eyes somewhat somber in the light. “Along with the ward you now threaten to break. It keeps them from infecting the other factions, but not without failures.”

“Oh…” I whisper, eyeing the dragonstone.

“You are the first lead we’ve had in years on finding the guardian. Begging is below me, but I will ask you only once—help my rider and his companions find the guardian rider or the continent will face a worse fate than human war games.”

“I…” My lips part to continue, but the words escape me. Take the dragonstone, break the ward, disappear into a faction knowing the continent might very well burn, me along with it. Or…accept this imprisonment, play along, and most likely die at the hand of one of my many captors. Fuck, neither option sounds even close to optimal.

“The sun will rise soon. You should be going. Remember, little thing, the decision may be yours, but the cosmos have already forged our fates.”

With that, Tenebris strides to the shrine’s steps and extends his palms toward the sky.

All-encompassing darkness takes hold, and I shield myself against the current of energy pouring from his skin. Bones crack, muscle shreds, and after my next blink, a gargantuan Blightfang stands in his place. Tenebris glances back, his crystal red eyes refracting dawn’s light like chiseled gemstones. The dragon huffs and stretches his wings before lunging into the air. I’m silent as he soars to the skies and disappears beyond the clouds.

What the actual fuck am I going to do…

Before I can think better of it, I retrieve the dragonstone from my pocket and return it to its watery home.

Trekking back to the main house feels like defeat. I can’t break the ward or I risk exposing the rest of the factions to the same fate as Shadow. Thoughts of the lurkers curdle my blood with each solemn step.

Although Tenebris could be manipulating the truth to aid in my decision to stay, I’ve heard of their haunting faces—void of all features—and the destruction they cause. The earth, soil, even the air within Shadow’s borders is lifeless, like the lurkers have sucked every soul, pulse, and current dry. I want my freedom, more than anything in this world, but I can’t doom others to their deaths. Would a life stained in innocent blood truly come without weight? No. I’ve killed plenty, but only ever criminals or those deserving of death.

So, I retreat back through the forest, past the strange fountain, and slip into the first-floor arboretum entrance.

Even with daylight streaking the walls in pinks and golds, the house is settled into sleep. I climb the stairs one by one, careful to tread lightly over the creaking old wood, until I’m exhausted from a sleepless night and healing injuries.

When my boots stop before the bedchamber door, my stomach plummets. The door is locked from the outside with no release on the handle. Only a key allows access. A key kept closely on Isra’s person.

There’s no chance of scaling the house’s exterior, not with the drop. A plea to the cosmos has me gripping the door handle, just to be sure. I twist the knob, and my heart skids to a halt when it clicks open.

That’s more concerning than if it had remained locked. I scan the silent hallway, inspecting the alcoves and portraits for any sign that my captors have noticed my absence. Maybe Isra, in the late hour, unlocked it thinking I was asleep. Unlikely, but I’ll choose to believe it for the sake of my sanity.

I slip through the doorway and latch it shut before I’m forced to explain why I’m dressed in my stinking clothes and awake at this hour. I strip again to my underclothes and slide into bed, exhaustion burrowing into my bones.

My eyelids are heavy enough to forget the panic-stricken thoughts whirling through my mind, and for once I’m grateful to block them out. I close my eyes and nestle into the comforter. Even without bedsheets, the silken-down molds to my body. Fuck this is comfortable.

My thoughts dim until they blur and go silent.

12

Aknock at the bedchamber door has me upright and delirious. Midday light refracts on the windowpanes, scattering prisms of rainbows across the bedchamber floor. For a moment, I’ve forgotten where I am, my gaze tracing the crown moulding and curvature of the sconces. Then it catches on the heap of my old clothes and everything crashes down like crumbling walls and rubble.

“Courier, it’s nearly noon. Time to get your worthless ass up.” Roe’s voice is sharp through the wood door. I groan and fall back into bed. My limbs are dead weight under the goose feather bedding and I’m sore in places I didn’t realize could strain.

“I’m leaving a change of clothes and washing items just outside your door. If you don’t join us in fifteen minutes, I’ll drag you down the stairs myself.”