Page 38

I reach toward the shadows again, this time drawing them up andoutward. Darkness pools above us, spreading to form a canopy that blocks the worst of the sun’s glare. The effort leaves me momentarily lightheaded. Once this would have been an action achieved with ease. Now it strains abilities gone long unused. I hide the weakness, adjusting my stride to disguise the sudden unsteadiness in my legs.

She looks up at the hovering darkness with equal parts wariness and relief.

As the sun begins to descend, Ellie’s steps grow increasingly slower. Despite the woven shade above us, the day’s journey has taken its toll. While I could continue on for longer, we need to stop for the night.

“We need to find shelter. Night comes quickly in the desert, and with it, the cold.”

A cluster of rock formations rises from the sand perhaps half a mile ahead. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than nothing. I adjust our course toward it, maintaining the shadow-canopy until we reach the relative protection of the stones.

“Rest.”

She sinks to the ground, and takes out the waterskin. Opening it, she takes a drink then offers it to me. I take a sip more for appearance than necessity. My body requires even less sustenance now that my power is returning.

“I don’t think the water is going to last long.”

“We’ll find more tomorrow. There are ways to extract it from desert plants, if you know where to look.”

With the approaching darkness comes another surge of power. I can feel it building, responding to the natural shadows that lengthenwith each passing minute. My skin tingles with it, almost painfully sensitive to the night’s approach.

This. This is my element, my domain, mybirthright.

I step away from the rocks, and spread my arms wide, welcoming the darkness, letting it flow through me like a current. Power builds within me, greater than I’ve felt in years. It crests in waves, pulses that leave me breathless, almost drunk on the sensation. I stagger slightly, overwhelmed by my own strength, by the sheer rush of energy surging through me.

The shadows around me deepen, swirling in response to commands I don’t need to voice. The connection is intimate, like flexing a muscle long atrophied but suddenly remembered. I shape the darkness, moulding it between my hands like clay, bending it to my will. Walls of solid shadow rise from the desert floor, their texture somewhere between smoke and stone. A roof forms overhead, then solidifies, providing shelter from the elements. I fashion an entrance that can be sealed with a thought, protection against whatever might prowl the night.

Within this structure, I gather the darkness at its center, compressing it with slow, even pressure until it forms a perfect sphere. It hovers between my palms, suspended, awaiting purpose. The cold emanating from it is absolute.

I inhale. Then exhale.

“Asha’valen. Dosmira. Kelth.”

My voice is quiet, but the syllables still slide from my tongue like oil poured into flame. Ancient, elemental words—a shaping, a warming, a binding.

Heat rises beneathmy hands, and spreads outward, drawn from the sand, from the air, and channeled into the waiting sphere of dark, until a deep, penetrating warmth fills the shadow-shelter completely.

The sensation of creating rather than existing is intoxicating.

“Come,” I call to Ellie, who stands watching with undisguised fascination. “This will protect us better.”

She approaches cautiously, hesitating at the entrance, one hand raised. “How are you doing this?”

“Shadow magic has many applications.” I gesture her inside, noting the wonder she doesn’t bother to hide. “This is one of them.”

She enters slowly, eyes widening as she steps fully inside. Her hand passes through a tendril of shadow, and it coils lightly around her fingers, then releases. She shivers, not from cold, I think, but from the strange intimacy of touching something born of my will.

“It’s so warm. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

She settles against one wall, as far from me as the space allows. Smart girl. She can probably sense the change in me, the growing power that makes me less the prisoner she first encountered and more something … other. Yet she doesn’t show the fear most did. Just caution.

“Few have.” I sit across from her, feeling the night’s energy continue to build inside my body.

“You’re getting stronger, aren’t you?” Her perception surprises me again.

“Yes.” I see no reason to deny the obvious. “The binding suppressed much of what I am. Now it’s returning.”

“And what is that?” Her eyes fix on mine. “What are you … really?”

I smile slightly. “Darkness is everywhere. It touches everything,seeseverything. Those who command it can’t be easily tracked or contained, as the Authority discovered with me. It took them years to capture me, and even then, they needed specialized bindings to hold me.”