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I saw his lips moving, but I couldn’t quite catch what he was saying; there was far too much noise coming from the trees and the darkness for me to be able to hear him. But as Valerian spoke, the light coming from him and from the amulet increased in brilliance.
The amulet pulsed once, brightly, intensely, and the shadows shrieked. The figure in the woods shimmered, and shuddered, as if it had phased out of reality for an instant.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Shut your eyes,” he said, “Now.”
I shut them hard and turned my head down. A moment later, I feltthe warmth of the next pulse of light wash over me. I could hear each throb that came out of that lantern, I could feel the light rising and falling in intensity, and with each beat of warmth, I thought I could feel Valerian. His magic was powerful, and ancient… but dark, and cold, and…sad… andlonely.
Nothing at all like the light radiating from his amulet.
I had never felt anything like it.
The shadows around us continued to shriek, their voices rising to a frantic frenzy. I covered my ears to shield myself from the noise as my heightened senses were suffering against such a loud, disjointed uproar of invisible voices. Just like that, though, they fell silent, and I felt the light that had been washing over me a moment ago also cease.
I waited for a second before pulling my hands away from my ears and opening my eyes. Looking around, I realized the shadows were gone. The forest was still dark, but it was a natural dark, with the last few weakening shafts of sunlight heralding the arrival of night. The creature, I also realized, had disappeared. It wasn’t in front of us anymore, blocking our way out of the forest.
It, like the shadows it had conjured, had vanished.
I heard a thud, and when I turned, I saw Valerian fall to one knee. The silvery marks along his arms and forehead receded, and as the light in his amulet faded to a spark, and then to nothing at all, the lantern cracked and broke, falling in pieces to the snowy ground underneath us.
I rushed over to Valerian and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Are you alright?” I asked.
But he didn’t reply. He only looked at me, and I saw the color drain from his face. His blue eyes sparkled at me, and then they started to close.
“No,” I said, desperation in my voice, “No, no, no. You’re not allowed to die or fall asleep. Do you hear me?”
I shook him, and that seemed to wake him up, even if only a little bit. “I’m alive,” he said.
“Come on,” I said, pulling him up, “Let’s get you back on the Maukibou.”
Valerian had trouble standing, but he had enough strength left in him to get on Colbolt’s back. Once he was up there, he promptly toppled forward, onto the back of the Maukibou’s neck. I took my seat behind him and grabbed the reins.
“I guess I’m driving,” I said, and I urged Colbolt to start moving with a quick pat against his shoulder.
I wanted to head for the road, but with sunlight fading fast, I knew we wouldn’t make it before dark. I had to find somewhere for us to hold up for the night, somewhere with a roof, ideally, but a cave would also do. I needed a place we could hide from the Moon Children, if we had to. Somewhere defensible.
That was going to be a tall order considering how much time I had left before the sun fell and temperatures sank into the ground. Colbolt and I would be alright. He had fur, and I could grow fur if I wanted to, but Valerian? All he had was the cloak on his back, and frankly, I didn’t think it would be enough.
We needed fire.
Heat.
A small space I could warm up with magic, at the very least.
“Come on, boy,” I said to our mount as we rode through the forest. “Help us find a place to lay low.”
Otherwise, Valerian was done, and I couldn’t handle that. He was the only other person in the entire world who knew who I was, and he had just saved our lives. I owed him, and I was going to deliver.
CHAPTERTWENTY
Twilight was dying, and Valerian was barely conscious. As the last of the bright, Arcadian sun’s rays fell away, leaving very little ambient light, I started to lose hope. It was so dark, I couldn’t tell whether night had in fact already fallen, or if the shadow creature had returned. There would’ve been no way of knowing, save for the creature itself manifesting in front of me or the scent of foul, dark magic it gave off.
Luckily, I hadn’t run into either of those things.
Not yet.
Colbolt lurched to the left, even though I was urging him to go right. I fought with him, but he didn’t listen, choosing instead to go down into a narrow ravine flanked on both sides by densely packed trees and jagged rocks. I could hear a stream trickling away nearby; a moment later, we were in it, the Maukibou rushing us deftly over its shallow waters until, finally, he pulled off along the banks of the creek and came to a slow stop.
