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When fifteen shadow demons are flying around the black tornado, the Regent brings his hands down and the tornado disintegrates with it. I remember that on the night of the Blood Moon, only fifteen original shadow demons came through the rip into our dimension. But I also know that they multiply when they hunt and kill.
“Come and take your instructions!” the Regent calls to the shadow demons. They fly down and float around the camp, their darkness skimming the heads of the guards. The terrified guards scramble for cover, some running off altogether. Kellan looks on wide-eyed, but he stays, witnessing his father’s plans. But it wasn’t just his father who did all of this. Kellan lied and manipulated to get me here.
The one good thing about their victory is that Kellan is too busy watching his father and the shadow demons to notice the troll hiding in the bushes. Tuuk meets my gaze and the crumpled expression on his face lets me know just how bad I must look. He starts to waddle toward me, but I shake my head sternly. As much as I hate it, I’m of no use to anyone anymore. The one person that might be able to help is Daimis. Somehow he has magic. Which means he might be able to stop this. I signal to Tuuk to free Daimis. He hesitates and I signal again, more sternly. He finally nods, and rushes off to help Daimis, still being held by guards.
“This is all thanks to you, Sahra,” the Regent says, bringing my attention back to him. “You’ve given me the means to the perfect weapon. Shadow demons kill without remorse, and they never fail. Well, with the exception of you, of course. But that’s only because the magic that brought them here is the only thing that can control them.” He looks up to the shadow demons, who seem to be just waiting. “You will kill all magic users, starting with the closest threat: Crystal Falls.”
“No!” Daimis shouts, straining against the shackles and the soldiers still holding him. “You’re talking about genocide! Crystal Falls is filled with innocents—Children!”
“Who will grow to be a threat to our kingdom,” the Regent says.
Crystal Falls is where my mother lives, the woman I’ve never met, and yet is the only family I have left. The same woman who helped raise Daimis.
The shadow demons break off one by one and fly east to Crystal Falls. The Regent’s veins are now black. Is the magic killing him? It may be, but not fast enough to stop the orders given to the shadow demons. I climb to my shaky feet. No one pays any attention to me, I’m no threat now. I’m nothing but a magic-less, frail, walking shadow.
On wobbling legs, I make my way to Elsie’s cage. Each step is an effort, each breath labored. My body just wants to lie down and sleep. But I’ve been weak before, back when I was starving on the streets. I didn’t give up then and I won’t give up now. I keep moving forward, one step at a time. My body might be broken, but my will is not.
The guard who had a knife pointed at Elsie was the first who ran for cover, dropping his weapon in the process. As I approach, Elsie's brown eyes are full of regret. I give her a shaky smile and shrug. She mimics my gesture as if to say,Yeah, me too.
I finally make it to where the guard dropped the knife. Taking steadying breaths, I pick it up and with every last bit of strength I can muster, I throw the knife. It flies end over end at the Regent. With my strength so diminished, my aim wavers, and instead of sinking into his head, as I intended, the knife embeds into his abdomen.I missed.My heart drops with me as I sink my knees into the snow.
“Father!” Kellan yells and rushes to the Regent’s side. The Regent yanks out the blade and tosses it to the side. He covers his wound with one hand, and black-streaked blood seeps through his fingers, splattering on the snow like spilled ink.
“It’s okay, son,” the Regent says the incantation for healing. The bleeding instantly stops, followed by his blond hair falling in chunks at his feet.
Kellan picks up a lock of his father’s hair, and really examines the Regent. “The magic,” he says. “It’s killing you.”
“No, it just saved me, look, I’m healed.” The Regent shows his undamaged skin where the knife had struck.
Kellan shakes his head. “Maybe you should put it back in the Faestone.”
“No!” the Regent snaps. “I will not abandon our plans because of a few physical changes. Thaaryn will be safe from all magic users before long. That is what’s important.”
I notice three of the shadow demons still floating in the space above the camp. They haven’t moved from their spot. There’s no emotion in their bony faces, but they appear to be waiting, and their heads are turned away from the Regent. And that’s when more pieces of the puzzle fall into place.
I turn to Daimis who is urging Tuuk to hurry up with his manacles. The guards who were holding him are now unconscious at their feet. Daimis’s face is strained in pain, while Tuuk burns the manacles off his wrists. I need to give them more time.
“It’s not just a few changes,” I say. I’m so tired, but once again, I climb to my feet. “He’s definitely dying, Golden-eyes.” Kellan finally looks at me. Really looks at me. His face strains and he shakes his head a little. Good, I hope what he did to me eats him alive. I turn my attention to the Regent and put a sly smile on my face like armor. “You took something that doesn’t belong to you and your incapable human body can’t handle it. How does it feel to know that a piece of me is slowly killing you from the inside? Puts a smile on my face. Did the creature that has been whispering in your ear tell you my magic would kill you?”
The creature narrows its eyes at me. I imagine it wants to wrap its taloned fingers around my throat to shut me up. I scoff. “You can’t do anything,” I say to it. “Or you wouldn’t need to attach yourself to a human, like the overgrown parasite you are.”
The creature whispers into the Regent’s ear and he nods. “We’ve heard enough from you. Your father was determined to be a problem, a threat to the kingdom, and it seems so are you.” His black tendrils all turn into spikes, and he points them at me.
Kellan jumps between them and me. “Father, no. You promised!”
So, while Kellan isn’t past torturing me, killing me is where he draws the line. How heroic of him.
The Regent sighs. “You’re right. I promised thatIwouldn’t kill her.” He looks up to the remaining shadow demons. “Kill Sahra Devoe!”
Perhaps he should have wondered why the three hadn’t moved in all this time. He should have questioned, like I had, why they appear to still be waiting for instructions, like they hadn’t been given a command from their master in the first place. He should have noticed that they all had their attention pointed at Daimis. He also should have wondered where the magic that Daimis used to set me free had come from. Daimis is human, how did he get the magic in the first place? The Regent’s arrogance is his biggest weakness.
“Those three won’t take commands from you,” I say.
The Regent looks at me like I’ve gone mad until he too realizes they still haven’t moved. The Regent stares at the shadow demons, his brows creased, obviously trying to understand why they’re not following his orders. The creature on his shoulder hoists himself higher, hovering over the Regent’s head and narrowing his eyes at the shadow demons. I get a thrill of excitement that, for once, we have the upper hand.
I glance at Daimis and Tuuk, just as Tuuk burns off the last manacle from Daimis. Daimis meets my gaze, his is full of fire. I mouth,give him hell.A wicked smile touches his lips, and he nods back.
“They’re waiting for the magic that brought them here to command them,” Daimis says, stalking forward.
