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Teryn’s hand froze, his newest drawing only a quarter complete. A sense of pressure eased from around him. It was a sensation he’d only begun to feel since Morkai had blocked him and Emylia from projecting, and he rarely noticed it until it was gone. The only time it dissipated was when Morkai was asleep.
His eyes met Emylia’s, and she gave him a nod.
It was time to practice in a more tangible way. Perhaps this time he’d make it across the room to the vials of blood.
But as he and Emylia projected their etheras outside the crystal, it wasn’t into the dark bedroom at Ridine Castle. It was a clearing in a dense forest blanketed by night, illuminated under shafts of moonlight that stretched pale claws through the treetops. Teryn’s body was hunched on the ground. The sorcerer inhabiting the body curled his fingers, one hand digging into the earth, the other clutching his chest. His head was bent over several pieces of parchment that littered the mossy forest floor. On each page was a pattern inked in red.
Blood weavings.
Morkai’s chest heaved, but it was Teryn who felt those breaths, felt the shallow pulses of air that moved inside him. Morkai sat back on his heels and threw his head back, letting the moonlight wash over his face. His lips twisted in a triumphant smile.
Teryn looked from the sorcerer to the bloodstained papers, then to Emylia. “What has he done?”
Her gaze was locked on something farther away.
Teryn followed her line of sight. His breath caught as he saw a hulking form half hidden in shadow. He stepped closer, noting the silhouette of a pair of antlers, an enormous set of paws. The creature shifted on those paws and took a lumbering step toward Morkai. Moonlight shone on brown fur and claws that dug into the earth. Another step revealed a boar-like snout with curving tusks, nostrils flaring over a mouth of serrated teeth. Teryn saw the antlers clearly now, each tine ending in a deadly point. But that wasn’t nearly as unsettling as what rested below those antlers; where eyes should be, the creature had four fleshy faces.
Four faces with mouths locked open in a silent scream.
Four faces with hollow gazes.
Four faces Teryn knew.
Four faces that had now become a Roizan.
53
The Veil was even more immense up close. Cora stared up at the strange wall, watching it writhe with swirling particles of shadows and mist. When they’d first approached, Fanon had ordered her to walk through the Veil. His smug grin should have been enough to tell her it wouldn’t work, but her hope had been too strong. Just when she was certain the Veil would be as yielding as a fog, she’d found herself against something solid. She’d first suspected Fanon’s magic, but then she noted her hands were suddenly free, her palms pressed against the invisible wall. As realization had dawned, she’d immediately reached for her collar. But before her fingers could make contact, Fanon used his magic to pin her arms to her sides and fling her several feet back from the wall.
“Well, at least we know the wardweaving remains strong,” Fanon had said. After that, he’d approached the Veil, pressed both palms to its swirling surface, and closed his eyes.
Then he’d stood there.
Unmoving.
For hours.
Or had it only been minutes? Now that she knew time moved differently here, she was unable to trust her own estimation. It certainly didn’t help that she had nothing to do but stand painfully idle next to Valorre, Etrix, and Garot while Fanon faced the Veil doing…whatever the hell he was doing. Every second that crawled by was like a knife twisting in her heart. Because each of those seconds were minutes for her world. For Teryn. If day broke, they’d be approaching a week.
Mother Goddess, would Teryn last that long? What could Morkai be doing to her kingdom right now?
“I know you must be anxious to return home,” Etrix said, stepping closer to her, “but we must give Fanon time. He’s extending his skyweaving all along the Veil, seeking the source of a possible tear.”
So that was what he was doing. If only Fanon’s task took the whole of his attention. She’d tested her abilities to fight her restraints while he was so distracted, tried to approach the wall a few times, but each attempt had resulted in invisible pressure holding her back. She wasn’t sure how his skyweaving worked, but his magic was obviously strong.
Garot shifted to face her. “Would you like to hear a story? I find stories relax me, and I never did finish telling you the history of your kind’s dark deeds.”
She bristled. So far his story had only revealed that a witch had used magic that brought him to El’Ara, and it didn’t sound like adark deedso much as an accident that resulted in a love affair. Their child, on the other hand, seemed a bit unhinged, but he wasn’ther kind. He may have been half witch and a worldwalker, but he was half Elvyn too. After meeting Fanon, it wasn’t hard to imagine Darius may have gotten his cruel streak from his Elvyn side.
Of course, there was likely much she still didn’t know. Besides, a distraction might make the wait less agonizing. Especially if it provided more answers that could aid her escape.
“Will you tell me more about the Veil?” she asked, trying to sound more bored than desperate. “Has the border between our worlds always been here, or was it created to keep Darius out after he escaped Satsara’s first ward?”
“The latter,” Garot said, “though the fact that you can see it is proof that the ward is flawed. Had it been properly completed, it would be invisible to us all, and we’d never have to fear anyone crossing into our world again.”
“Why wasn’t it properly completed?”
Garot’s tone took on that whimsical storytelling quality again. “Before I can explain that, I must first tell you of Darius’ return. Feeling betrayed by what his mother had tried to do, he now came with invasion in mind. He insisted he was the rightful heir and would claim his place as Morkaius. Not Morkara, mind you, but as the self-proclaimed High King. Where the Morkara is responsible for distributing themorafairly and evenly throughout the land, Darius sought to control it and harness it as he saw fit. War came. He used his worldwalking abilities to bring in human armies wielding weapons of iron. Many, many died.”
