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“Do you think there’s a chance we might reach Gerazad before Arluin?”
“I’m a Void Prince, not a seer. Why don’t you ask the priestess?”
I turn and peer at Taria expectantly.
“I can’t be certain,” she replies, shaking her head. “I haven’t had the chance to meditate since a few nights ago. Even then, I didn’t glimpse any visions of us in Gerazad.”
“It’s all right,” I say. “We have no choice but to keep pressing on, anyway.”
Taria nods and glances at Caya. Though Caya watches the three of us as we speak, I’m not sure she’s paying attention to our words, seeing how unfocused her gaze is. She follows us silently as Natharius continues to pave our way through the trees.
All I can hope is that we’ll reach Gerazad first. Or else we won’t be able to warn the orcs of their impending doom. If we arrive too late, I don’t know when I’ll next have the opportunity to defeat Arluin.
If ever.
With every step we take through this ghastly forest, I allow thoughts of Arluin to drive me forth. Natharius’s pace is relentless, but neither Taria nor Caya complain. My legs ache with fatigue, but I fill my mind with the vengeance I will claim in Gerazad. Of Father, whose corpse and soul are enslaved to that monster.
Finally, the trees open to a sprawling lake. Its waters are murky, though I expect nothing less in woods as shadowy and eerie as these.
Natharius stops, and his crimson eyes darken. If I didn’t know better, I would say the Void Prince looks horror stricken.
My brows furrow together as I examine Natharius’s expression. I go to ask him what’s wrong but before I can say anything, he breaks into a sprint.
I blink at him, watching him bound toward the water’s surface. “Natharius?” I call after him. “What is it?”
The demon doesn’t respond. He doesn’t once pause, and his pace is frantic until he reaches the lake. He halts at the edge and stares into the depths below.
“Natharius?” I repeat, hurrying after him. But he doesn’t seem to hear me. His gaze remains on the murky lake. A very mortal emotion is plastered across his face, though I can’t pinpoint what exactly. It almost looks like fear. Dread. What could cause the Void Prince of Pride to feel such emotions?
Zephyr doesn’t draw near the water’s edge. He keeps a few paces away from the lake and watches it cautiously.
Natharius raises his hands. Darkness swirls out, reaching across the lake. His spell sweeps across the water’s surface, capturing every drop in a shadowy net. Once the entire lake is covered by his magic, he pushes his hands together. The water follows his command, constricting and forming an enormous orb. Natharius’s jaw clenches as he pushes the gigantic bubble through the air, exposing the bottom of the lake.
With all the water hovering in the air, the lake is now but a crater. It runs so deep into the earth, it’s impossible to see anything in the darkness.
Lines of exertion are etched into Natharius’s forehead. “Illuminate the bottom of the lake with aether,” he says to me.
My brows shoot up. He’s the one who’s bound to my will and not the other way around. I almost go to remind him of that fact and of his place in our relationship, but something in his expression silences the words on my tongue.
He’s scared: something I thought to be impossible until this very moment.
And if the Prince of Pride is scared, then I should be as well. Even if I don’t yet know what the threat is.
“Iluminos.” A radiant orb springs from my hands, drifting into the darkness below. The rays shine across the moist soil, making it glitter like thousands of diamonds.
As the light reaches the bottom, a shadowy object comes into view. I narrow my eyes, squinting to better determine the item.
It’s an altar of some form, too wicked to belong to a church. Skulls are etched into its obsidian sides. Though it’s tiny from where we stand high above, my throat dries at the sight. Its appearance alone makes one fact evident: It’s an object of dark magic.
“It’s . . .” Natharius starts, his voice breathless and barely audible over the wind. “It’s gone.” The tremble in his voice makes me shiver.
“What’s gone?” I ask. My stomach churns at the horror plastered across his face.
Taria comes to a stop beside us. “Here the darkness in these woods is at its strongest,” she whispers, her words sending a chill across my skin. “I have never felt air this suffocating.”
I don’t look at the priestess as she speaks. My eyes stay on the Void Prince. “Natharius,” I say, my pitch rising with fear, “what’s gone?”
He remains silent for another moment. Then he drops his hands. The darkness swirling around us fades, as does the magic holding the lake overhead. The orb shatters.
