Page 19 of Crowned by the Shadow (Bound by the Veil #5)

I backed toward the gateway, keeping the Moon Blades raised between us. “Then we’ll face it together,” I said, glancing at Thorn and the unconscious Wyn. “Not alone. Not corrupted. Together.”

Eldric’s laugh was terrible to hear, a sound of madness and despair intertwined. “Together,” he mocked. “Such a simple concept. So limited. So... temporary.”

With a last burst of speed, I retreated into the gateway, the Moon Blades still clutched in my hands. Thorn wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close as the passage closed.

The last thing I saw was Eldric’s form re-solidifying, the wound at his throat already healing as corruption flowed into it like living darkness. His eyes, those terrible, ancient eyes, locked with mine one last time.

“Until we meet again, Eclipse Child,” he whispered, his voice somehow reaching me through the collapsing passage. “And we will meet again.”

Then the gateway snapped shut, and we were falling through darkness, the Obsidian Keep and its horrors left behind.

The Moon Blades hummed gently in my hands, their light guiding us through the void between realms. I held them tight, these weapons that had answered my call when I needed them most, and made a silent promise.

Next time, I would be ready. Next time, I would end this once and for all.

As we fell through the void between realms, I felt the Void Dragon Empress reaching for us. Her presence was like icy fingers grasping at my soul, trying to pull me back into her domain. The corruption that had threaded through my Moon Mark pulsed with her power, responding to her call.

But the Moon Blades in my hands blazed with silver light, creating a barrier between us and the darkness. Where the Empress’s touch tried to claim me, the blades’ power pushed back, their ancient magic recognizing the corruption as an invader.

“Hold on!” I shouted to Thorn and Ronan, though my voice seemed to disappear into the surrounding void.

Thorn clutched Wyn’s unconscious form tightly against his chest with one arm, his other wrapped firmly around my waist. Ronan had grabbed hold of my shoulder, his face a mask of determination as we hurtled through nothingness.

The pendant at my throat pulsed with energy, guiding our passage through the darkness. I could feel the Crown’s power flowing through me, stabilizing our path despite the Empress’s attempts to divert us.

Mine, her voice whispered through the corruption in my veins. You cannot escape me.

“Watch me,” I snarled, gripping the Moon Blades tighter. Their light intensified, pushing back the surrounding darkness.

With a violent lurch, we were thrown from the void, landing hard on solid ground. I tumbled across damp earth, the Moon Blades still clutched in my white-knuckled grip. The world spun around me as I fought to orient myself, my lungs burning as I gulped in sweet, clean air.

We had emerged in a forest clearing, moonlight filtering through the canopy above. The familiar scent of pine and loam filled my nostrils. We were back in the mortal realm, far from the Obsidian Keep and its horrors.

“Wyn!” I gasped, scrambling to my feet. My body protested the movement, muscles screaming from the battle and our desperate escape.

Thorn had landed on his feet, still cradling Wyn protectively. He gently laid her on a bed of moss, his face tight with concern. “She’s still breathing,” he said, “but barely.”

I dropped to my knees beside them, the Moon Blades clattering to the ground as I reached for Wyn’s hand. It was cold to the touch, the corruption still visible beneath her skin like dark rivers flowing through her veins. Her face was deathly pale, her breathing shallow and irregular.

“No,” I whispered, panic rising in my throat. “No, no, no. Wyn, stay with me.”

Thorn crouched on her other side, his eyes narrowed as he examined her. “The corruption is deep,” he said grimly. “It’s not just in her body. It’s in her magic, her essence.”

I pressed my fingers to her wrist, feeling her pulse flutter weakly beneath my touch. It was fading, growing more erratic with each beat. “She’s dying,” I choked out, the reality of it hitting me like a physical blow. “I can feel her slipping away.”

“There must be something we can do,” Ronan said, his voice tight with barely controlled emotion. He looked at me, his eyes pleading. “The artifacts?—”

I grabbed the pendant from around my neck, pressing it into Wyn’s palm and closing her fingers around it. “Please,” I begged, not knowing who I was addressing, the pendant, the goddess, or some other power that might be listening. “Please help her.”

The pendant remained cold and unresponsive. Whatever power had guided us through the void seemed spent, at least for now.

“The Crown,” I said desperately, reaching for where it had fallen. “It stabilized the passage. Maybe it can stabilize her, too.”

I placed the Eclipsed Crown on Wyn’s forehead. It looked wrong there, too large for her delicate features, but I had to try something, anything. The Crown glowed faintly, responding to her presence, but the corruption continued to spread, dark tendrils now creeping up her neck toward her face.

“It’s not working,” Thorn said, his voice gentle but firm. “The corruption is too deeply embedded.”

“No!” I slammed my fist against the ground, tears blurring my vision. “I won’t lose her. Not after everything we’ve been through. Not after what we just escaped.”

The Moon Blades at my side hummed softly, drawing my attention.

Their silver light pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat, almost as if they were trying to tell me something.

I reached for them, feeling their power flow through my hands and up my arms, pushing back against the corruption that had threaded through my mark.

“The blades,” I whispered, a desperate idea forming. “They repelled the Empress’s touch. Maybe they can do the same for Wyn.”

“Senara,” Thorn said cautiously, “we don’t know what that might do. The blades responded to you, to your mark. Wyn doesn’t have that connection. They were only ever meant to be wielded by someone who was extremely strong with moon magic.”

“But she has a connection to me,” I insisted, positioning the blades on either side of Wyn’s body before moving her hands, so they rested on the leather of the hilts. “We’ve been bound by friendship, by loyalty, by magic. That has to count for something. She’s my sister in every way but blood.”

I closed my eyes, focusing on that bond, on all the memories we shared.

Wyn teaching me to read when we were children.

The two of us huddled together during winter nights in the street, sharing what little warmth we had.

Her face lighting up with excitement when she discovered a new spell.

Her unwavering belief in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself.

“Please,” I whispered to the blades. “Help me save her.”

The Moon Blades’ light intensified, silver beams connecting them across Wyn’s body. Where the light touched the corruption, it seemed to hesitate, to recede slightly. But it wasn’t enough, and the darkness seemed to push back, fighting for dominance.

“It’s not working,” Ronan said, his voice heavy with resignation. “The corruption is too strong.”

“No,” I refused to accept it. “There has to be a way.”

I thought of Eldric’s words about Wyn’s transformation, about her becoming the Twilight Mage. He had claimed it was necessary, that it would give her power, purpose. What if there was truth in his madness? What if fighting the transformation was killing her?

“Maybe we’re approaching this wrong,” I said slowly, the idea terrifying but impossible to ignore. “What if we’re not supposed to remove the corruption?”

Thorn’s head snapped up, his eyes widening. “What are you saying?”

“Eldric called her the Twilight Mage. He said she was a balance between life and death, void and substance.” I looked down at Wyn’s pale face, the corruption now creeping toward her eyes.

“What if we’re not supposed to purify her, but stabilize her?

Help her find a balance between the corruption and her true self? ”

“That’s insane,” Ronan protested. “You can’t seriously be considering letting that darkness remain in her.”

“I’m considering saving her life,” I shot back, glaring at him for a second before I returned to watching Wyn. “The corruption is killing her because she’s fighting it. What if, instead of fighting, we help her control it?”

I reached for the Crown on Wyn’s forehead and placed it on my own once more.

With the diadem being where it belonged, I could sense the other artifacts and pulled on their power.

The pendant warmed against my chest and the mirror pulsed behind me, not linked, but still forming the third part of the triangle.

Finally, I placed my hands on the Moon Blades as well, wrapping my fingers around the leather between Wyn’s and feeling their power flow through me.

“I need your help,” I said to Thorn and Ronan. “Your magic, your strength. Whatever you can give.”

Thorn didn’t hesitate. He placed his hands over mine on the right blade, his Sun Court magic merging with my Moon Court power. The blade’s silver light took on a golden hue where our hands met.

Ronan hesitated a moment longer, then placed his hands over mine on the left blade. His wariness was clear as he closed his eyes, but still he channeled his own power into the connection.

I focused on Wyn, on our bond, on everything that made her who she was. Her curiosity, her kindness, her unwavering loyalty. I pictured those qualities as a light within her, a core of pure energy that could neither be corrupted nor extinguished.

“Find balance,” I whispered, directing the combined power of the artifacts and our magic toward that light. “Find harmony between darkness and light. Between void and substance.”