Page 74 of Acolyte (Tempris #2)

Ivain cleared his throat noisily, and Skye pretended not to see the moisture that rimmed his eyes.

“Remember,” the old man said, “if you don’t come back, Sarina’s threatened to burn her way into the afterlife just to scream at you, and that’s a mess I’d prefer not to clean up. I’d be sweeping up ash for weeks.”

Skye chuckled, leaning into the old man when he clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Oh, I wouldn’t dare die and risk her anger. I might be crazy, but I’m not stupid.”

“Good.” Ivain gave his shoulder a firm shake. It was obvious there was more he wanted to say. More he would’ve said if there had been time. But there wasn’t, so all he said was another mumbled, “Good,” before letting his hand drop and walking away.

They took the main road, steering the horses into the densely wooded forest that dominated the central part of the island.

The air was mild and humid, warming when they moved into the sun, and everything around them was green—the trees, the giant ferns blanketing the forest floor, the moss growing on every surface and in every nook and hollow .

It would’ve been lovely if not for the flickering wardline along the side of the road, the crystals and wiring dug up and strewn across the pavement—evidence that the barrier had been broken.

That meant that the shades had access to the highways, and while the faint scent of rot now mixed with the smell of the forest, they saw neither shade nor beast.

Not until a few miles past the main river crossing.

Skye held up a hand as they approached the clearing, stopping a few feet inside the tree line.

“What are they doing?” Carin murmured, her voice nearly inaudible even to a shadow mage’s senses.

It was the first time she had spoken all day, though Asher had made up for her silence with a near-constant stream of chatter.

He kept poking at her, trying to make her laugh.

There was history there, though Skye couldn’t quite tell if it was good or bad.

“Is it a trick?” Kato asked. He looked to Skye.

Who just shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said.

He’d never seen shades act this way. The ones he’d encountered had been wild and vicious, desperate for any amount of flesh or aether they could find.

They were constantly on the move in search of sustenance, and they would tear a mage apart if given the chance.

These, however—they looked almost… calm.

There were five of them wandering listlessly around the glade. Two men, two women, and a single child . They seemed to have no direction, no purpose. It was unnerving.

Kato pulled up his horse beside him. “Just when I thought I’d seen everything— ”

“Never assume you’ve seen everything,” Vaughn said gruffly. “It’s childish.”

Kato and Skye shared a look. The man was unpleasant, to say the least. There was likely a reason Kalahad wanted to be rid of him.

“Should we find a way around?” Kato asked. “It may be best not to alert these. Shards know what they’re doing out here. Or how many more could come running.”

“Is there an alternate path?” Vaughn asked.

“Not by road,” Skye said, tightening his grip on the reins when his horse tried to kick.

The shades were making them antsy. This entire area smelled like death.

“We’d have to double back to Ryme to find another highway, and while there are trails that cut through the forest, it would be slow.

We’d lose what little protection the wardline is still giving us. ”

Vaughn let out a low hum, grazing a finger across the amulet at his neck—a single shadow crystal encircled by a carved ouroboros. Skye had seen that symbol before. He knew he had, though he couldn’t quite place it.

“Let me take care of this,” Vaughn said after a moment. He swept aside his fur-lined cloak, revealing a set of fine gold armor. He reached for an equally exquisite sword.

“Look,” Kato said, one hand going to his own sword. His horse skittered back a few steps as the child stumbled closer—a small girl with tangled black hair. Half of her face had been shredded down to the bone, and when she spotted them with a single brown eye—

Tilting her head back, she screamed .

And it was like nothing Skye had ever heard. Shrill and piercing, it echoed into the distance and nearly made his ears bleed. Birds jolted from the treetops overhead as the shades began to scramble.

Heart lurching into a gallop, Skye just… reacted.

He dropped from his horse and reached for the dagger in his boot in a single fluid movement. His legs surged, his aether flashed, and then he was flying, a flurry of dirt and gravel streaming in his wake.

All shadow mages could use aether augmentation. They could move magic around their bodies to increase their already-enhanced abilities. Bolstering immortal strength and quickening immortal speed—boosting the superior reflexes they’d been granted solely because they’d been born fey.

But bloodcrafting—that allowed him to alter his body.

To examine the way his muscles flexed and snapped; the way his heart thundered in his chest, pumping blood and magic through his veins.

If he could see it, he could change it. He could make it better.

He could re-weave his muscles and strengthen his bones.

He could become something that was no longer completely fey.

His dagger found its target as he cut the throat of that screamer.

And before any of the shades had begun to react, he’d already started moving through the crowd.

A slice here, a cut there—the crystals in their chests shattered.

They fell to the ground. It was almost a relief to finally be able to let loose.

To give himself over to the moment. For a little while, there was only the dance of metal and the spray of flesh .

Seconds later, Skye skidded to a stop, grabbing his horse’s reins before it could panic.

He ran a hand down its nose, cooing at it the way Taly had taught him.

She’d always had a natural way with animals.

He could feel his heart pounding, the fire of his aether still burning in his limbs and only just beginning to recede.

That had felt… good . Better than it probably should.

The others were staring at him. Gaping.

“What in the nine hells—” Vaughn began.

“And here I thought I was the faster brother,” Kato interjected, shooting a meaningful glance at the others. “Pureblooded bastard… You don’t think you could’ve shared a bit of the glory.”

Skye forced a smirk. He knew what his brother was doing. Kato was covering for him. What he’d just done—it was unusual, to say the least. “I guess you just need to work on your reflexes.”

Kato muttered something under his breath, then looked to Vaughn.

“You wanna know what’s sad?” he said in a conspiratorial whisper.

“Our great-great-great-grandmother could still hand him his ass. The woman was already ancient when she was conscripted to fight in the Shade Rebellion. She ran messages between the Council and the front line, and rumor says she once ran from Tempris all the way to the Arunea outpost in a single day. On foot .” Kato looked to Skye, sneering.

“What do you think, golden boy? Think you could beat that?”

Skye made sure to scoff, refusing to pick up the bait.

Vaughn hesitated just a moment longer, then let out a derisive snort. He still eyed Skye suspiciously, but for now, he seemed placated as he urged his horse forward, grumbling something about shadow mages from House Ghislain.

Carin, though… she just stared at Skye like she’d seen a ghost. He could still feel her eyes on him as he swung himself back into the saddle.

As they urged the horses forward, through the clearing. It was almost like she knew. Like she could see each spell he had used, the magic still entwined beneath his skin, meshed with flesh and bone.

But then her eyes shifted to the bodies littering the clearing. Their mouths gaped, and their limbs tangled. She paled even further when her horse stepped over that little girl with the slit throat and black hair.

“Hey,” he heard Asher murmur to Carin. Turning slightly, Skye saw the water mage draw up his horse beside her. “Look at me.”

So, she did.

“It’s okay,” he said softly, reaching over to place a hand on hers, still clutched around the reins in a white-knuckled grip. “ You’re okay. We’ll get through this, Cee. Nod if you understand.”

She gave a shaky nod, and Skye suddenly felt guilty for eavesdropping.

Whatever this was—it was personal. They were fighting an army of dead men, and it was impossible to come away from that without a few demons.

As he looked back at Carin Fenmar now, he could see each one of those monsters and their gnashing teeth.

Thankfully for her—and this mission—Asher Venwraith seemed more than willing to fight them.

Evening came and went, and Skye was grateful for the brief but heavy shower that pounded down on them somewhere outside of Della.

Asher and Carin had grumbled out a few choice curses, complaining about visibility, but the downpour helped wash away some of the sweat and rot that clung to them as they began piling up a mound of shades.

It was a precaution as they drew nearer to the palace. Shades fed on flesh and aether, and they didn’t want anything that would draw them into their camp.

Kato began directing the others to gather wood and kindling for the pyre, and Skye checked each body, retrieving arms and legs and heads and trying to piece them back together.

There were humans and fey, even an old draegon man whose scaly skin, once a vibrant blue, had faded to a dull gray.

After the Schism, most of the otherworld races had retreated to Lycia, but with the impending Aion Gate connection, the merchants had started to return to the island.

Shards, please don’t let them have nephilim.