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With an almost imperceptible nod from the Foremost, the tension eases, and I am accepted into the hunting party without another word.
Sola Vinari has begun.
After brief preparations, our hunting band moves off. Several massive, stretched-leather game bags are dispersed among us, along with four reinforced sacks with narrow openings, resembling very large wineskins. Each of us receives a coil of rope. Thus equipped, we exit Utsanek through the northernmost gate and cut through the dense trees like the teeth of a comb. We possess no ignati to guide our way, only the innate understanding of direction and keen senses developed through a lifetime of existence in this darkness-laden land.? Krandel, the one who brought the initial report of the sola, takes point for the first leg of the pursuit—a grueling slog through thick underbrush. We do not stop to drink or speak or even relieve ourselves.
Gradually, the landscape transforms as we approach the foothills of the Askonnet Mountains. After hours of punishment, Krandel holds up a hand and nods to the Foremost. Dravek motions to spread out in an even line and follow his lead. We are getting close.
My heart thumps a wild beat in my chest. For thirteen years, I have dreamed of taking revenge on the creatures that stole my Ellehra from me. Worth more to me than my own life, she left a gaping wound in my soul when she was torn away.
For thirteen years, I have looked into identical, glassy eyes in my daughter’s face and wondered if things would have been different if I had prevented my wife from leaving the house that day. But knowing her, it would not have made a difference.
Ellehra had always been headstrong. She was determined to prove the solas meant no harm, that they were a thing needing protection rather than elimination. But might will always determine right, and the power of the kaligorven has always been the only thing worth considering in the Vale. Still, she persisted in her trust of the Light Creature’s goodness. And how had those burning beasts responded to such unwavering faith? By leaving her mangled body to feed the carrion in the middle of the forest. The memory of finding her lying there still haunts my dreams.
Whatever Dravek might say, I know a sola slayed her. I saw the fatal wounds, exuding an unnatural light that drove the tendrils of ténesomni away, shining like a Light Creature. Only a sola could cause something to glow in such a supernatural manner.
But the fact that the solas had carried out their own sentence had not mattered to the kaligorven.
For centuries, the valefolk have existed in an uneasy alliance with the cryptic beings that thrive in the darkness. They are rarely seen, except when a sola appears. Then, payment is required: the blood of a Light Creature poured out at the Reckoning Grounds and witnessed by all the people. When Ellehra meddled with custom and threw off the Hunt—at the expense of her own life—the kaligorven took out their fury on the citizens of the Vale. The darkness deepened tenfold for a fortnight, and every living thing that could not find shelter was slain.
The snapping of a twig brings me back to the present. We halt our approach at the raised hand of the Foremost and strain to discern anything between the phantom-like pillars of the trees. As far as I can tell, nothing is out of the ordinary, save the peculiar bolétis that dot the forest floor.
We wait.
Without warning, the unnatural spectacle of a sola unfurls from the roots of the mountain above us. Only sixty, maybe fifty, yards ahead, a daunting rock face separates the predators from the prey. Fortunately, we are downwind of it, but that is our only advantage. We cannot all make the climb that would put us in striking distance.
It appears we don’t need to. For whatever reason, the sola makes a careful descent, right into the heart of our trap, with the craggy incline fencing it in from behind. It will not easily escape.
As the glowing thing draws near, I will myself to look at it, curious despite my hatred. What form does it take? I have heard tales of monstrous bruins and fearsome horned rams. The solas never seem to take the same shape twice. I struggle to identify it, unable to bear looking at it for long. Blinding brightness floats and ripples around it like featherlight ribbons caught in a lazy breeze. But sooner than should be possible, my eyes adjust, and I behold the most glorious living thing I will ever see.
It is like a lion, or at least a lion is the nearest comparison I can draw. Four enormous paws grip the earth with silent precision as it approaches. Its huge body is sleek and muscular. It has a long, thick tail that ends in a blazing flame of strange ignati. The fur around its strong neck grows thicker than on the rest of its body, parting into a thousand shining locks—or are they feathers? Its muzzle is smooth and whiskered, with a velvety nose and long, pointed fangs.
The awful beauty of the sola cannot be fully comprehended, nor can its piercing brilliance. It burns with a myriad of licking tongues of flame. Great beads of liquid light splash into a thousand twinkling droplets at the slightest shiver of movement. The lion-sola sends the grasping tentacles of ténesomni retreating away, like oil meeting water. The creature eclipses everything I have ever imagined.
I am transfixed. My spirit swells with an unexpected awe. I clamp my eyes shut.
No. Remember Ellehra. I must remember what they did to her.
But it is not possible to hold this beast in contempt. How can something so magnificent have been the cause of her demise? The effort of resisting its otherworldly magnetism causes my body to tremble.
When I open my eyes, my fellow hunters are moving ahead without me. I hasten to follow, berating myself for faltering when revenge is so close. Though I try, I cannot push aside the nagging thought that I have been mistaken.
We only advance ten yards before Dravek issues more wordless commands. As the resplendent creature crouches by a mountain stream, slaking its thirst, the Foremost raises his bow. The other hunters follow suit, some brandishing spears. We will attack as one, ensuring there will be no escape for the sola. It is oblivious to our presence. How does it not sense us? I lift my spear but find it unnaturally heavy. I cannot hold it steady, and as our leader gives permission to let fly, its tip sags to the ground.
A ghastly shriek shreds the atmosphere, followed by a surge of terrible heat that casts every man to the ground. I scramble to my feet as soon as my body permits and find myself at the side of the immense, fallen creature. The others are close behind.
What I behold breaks me.
The sola lies in a tangled heap of fur and feathers. All its light has been extinguished, except for where the five arrows and spears pierce its hide. Flowing from those mortal wounds, glittering blood gathers into glowing pools. My legs give out, and I collapse to my knees, soaking my trousers with the strange substance. The beast’s face is noble, even in death. I rest a hand on its huge shoulder. Already cold to the touch. Its warmth was released the moment it perished.
The similarity to how my wife looked in death strikes me like a physical blow. Her wounds, too, had shone impossibly bright. I assumed there had been some strange effect from contact with a sola, but a new and incomprehensible thought invades my mind. Perhaps, somehow, the light came from within her. Like she was a Light Creature herself.
It is too overwhelming and illogical to consider. My insides quake. I scramble aside in time for my stomach to project its contents into a bush.
Dravek’s cynical laughter barely registers over the ringing in my ears.
“Too much for your delicate sensibilities, Téron?”
The other men chuckle. I wipe my mouth with the back of a quavering hand. Calm begins to return to me. Making no reply, I get up to retrieve my spear from where the sola’s shockwave threw it to the ground.
