Page 25 of Crowned by the Shadow (Bound by the Veil #5)

Chapter

Sixteen

Senara

The sun climbed higher as we prepared for our return to the Obsidian Keep. My stomach churned with equal parts determination and dread, but I forced those feelings down. Van and Volker needed us, and I wouldn’t abandon them to Eldric’s cruelty or for him to use them as leverage over me.

Wyn sat cross-legged at the edge of our small camp, her eyes closed in concentration as she continued mapping the shadows within the fortress.

The transformation had changed her in ways I was still struggling to understand.

Light and darkness danced across her skin in perfect harmony, neither overpowering the other.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, sitting beside her.

Her eyes opened, those new starlit irises focusing on me. “Different,” she admitted. “But not in a bad way. It’s like I’ve been living with only half my senses, and now everything is... more.”

“Does it hurt?” I couldn’t help asking, remembering the agony on her face when the corruption had first spread through her.

“Not anymore.” She held up her hand, watching shadows swirl across her palm. “The darkness isn’t fighting me now. We’ve reached an understanding.”

I nodded, though I couldn’t fully comprehend what she was experiencing. “And the Empress? Can you still feel her?”

Wyn’s expression darkened. “Always. Like a whisper at the back of my mind. She’s furious that I escaped her control, but also... curious. She didn’t expect this outcome.”

“Neither did we,” I said with a small smile.

“Senara.” Wyn’s voice grew serious. “There’s something you should know about the Empress. Something I glimpsed when I was connected to her.”

I tensed, bracing myself. “What is it?”

“She wasn’t always what she is now. Before the corruption, she was something else—something ancient and powerful, but not evil.

She wouldn’t let me see what exactly, but I know it’s true, like I know my own name.

” Wyn’s eyes seemed to look through me, into some distant past as she chewed on her lip, clearly debating what she was about to say.

“I think she was once a guardian, like the goddess you serve.”

The revelation sent a chill down my spine. “What happened to her?”

“I don’t know exactly. The memories were fragmented, distorted. But there was a betrayal...” Wyn shook her head. “Whatever she once was, she’s consumed by darkness now. And she’s determined to remake all realms in her image.”

Before I could ask more questions, Thorn approached, his expression grim. “We’re ready. Ronan’s found a path that should keep us hidden until we reach the mountains.”

I rose, offering Wyn my hand. “Time to go.”

We traveled swiftly, using the pendant’s power to speed up our journey. By late afternoon, we stood in the shadow of the mountains that flanked the Obsidian Keep. The fortress hung suspended between them, a monument to impossible power and ancient magic.

“There,” Wyn whispered, pointing to a narrow crevice in the mountainside. “The shadows are thinnest there.”

We approached cautiously, every sense alert for danger. The air felt heavy, charged with the same malevolent energy that permeated the fortress above. But something was different this time, I could feel it in my bones, in the way my mark responded to our surroundings.

“The corruption is spreading,” Ronan observed, his voice tight. “It’s stronger than before.”

“The convergence approaches,” Wyn confirmed. “The Empress grows stronger with each passing hour.”

We reached the crevice, barely wide enough for one person to slip through at a time. Wyn placed her hands against the stone, and shadows gathered around her fingers.

“I’ll go first,” she said. “Follow close behind me.” She stepped into the crevice and seemed to melt into the darkness. One moment she was there, the next gone, as if the shadows had swallowed her whole.

Thorn went next, then Ronan. I hesitated for just a heartbeat, the memory of our last visit to the Keep flashing through my mind. Then I stepped forward, letting the darkness envelop me.

It was like diving into ice water, shocking and disorienting. I couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, could barely breathe. The shadows pressed against me from all sides, thick and viscous. Just when panic rose in my throat, a hand caught mine. Wyn was there, guiding me through the darkness.

We emerged into a narrow tunnel carved from the same obsidian crystal as the fortress. Veins of corruption pulsed through the walls, but they seemed to shy away from Wyn’s presence, curling back oil from water.

“This way,” she whispered, leading us deeper into the mountain.

The tunnel sloped upward, winding its way through the heart of the mountain. Unlike the main chambers of the Keep, this passage felt ancient, forgotten. Dust covered the floor, undisturbed save for the small tracks of creatures too insignificant for Eldric to notice.

“How much farther?” Thorn asked, his voice barely audible.

“Not far,” Wyn replied. “The dungeons are just ahead. I can feel Van and Volker’s presence.”

I reached for the pendant, trying to confirm her words with my own senses. A faint connection formed. It was just enough to know they were alive, but not strong enough to see through their eyes again.

“They’re still alive,” I confirmed. “But something’s blocking a stronger connection.”

“Eldric will have wards in place,” Wyn said. “Especially after our last visit. He was meticulous about the chamber he held me in, so I’m sure he’s doing the same with them.”

We continued in silence, each step bringing us closer to our imprisoned friends. The tunnel eventually opened into a wider passage, the ceiling rising high above our heads. Faint light filtered down from grates that were built into the ceiling above, casting eerie shadows across our path.

“The dungeons are through there,” Wyn said, pointing to a heavy iron door at the end of the passage. “Two guards on the other side.”

“Can you sense if they’re corrupted?” Ronan asked.

Wyn closed her eyes briefly. “Yes. The void has them. They’re not dragonkin, just regular fae guards who’ve been turned.”

“I’ll handle them,” I said, reaching for the Moon Blades. They materialized in my hands, their silver light threaded with gold, just like my mark.

Thorn placed a hand on my arm. “Wait. Let Wyn try first. Her new powers might let us avoid a fight altogether.”

The idea hadn’t even occurred to me, and it bothered me a little that my first choice had been violence. I nodded, stepping back as Wyn moved toward the door. She placed her palms against the iron surface, and shadows gathered around her hands, seeping through the metal like water through cloth.

“Sleep,” she whispered, her voice carrying a new authority that sent shivers down my spine.

A moment passed, then another. Wyn stepped back, a small smile playing across her lips. “They’re unconscious. That being said, I’m not sure how long it will last, so we probably only have a few minutes at most.”

Ronan stepped forward, examining the lock. “I can pick this. Give me a moment.”

While he worked, I kept watch, the Moon Blades humming softly in my hands. Thorn stood at my back, his presence a comfort in this place of darkness.

“Got it,” Ronan said as the lock clicked open. “Remember, quick and quiet. We get Van and Volker, then we’re gone.”

We slipped through the door into a circular chamber. The unconscious guards lay slumped against the wall, their weapons still sheathed. Beyond them, a corridor lined with cells stretched into darkness.

“Which one?” I whispered to Wyn. I knew if I looked in each cell for my friends, then I’d feel as though I had to save everyone there, dragonkin or not, and that wasn’t something we’d come prepared to do.

She pointed to a cell near the end of the corridor. “There. Both of them.”

We moved swiftly, passing empty cells and others containing shapes I couldn’t bear to look at too closely, so I told myself they were just piles of blankets and pushed the guilt deep down to deal with later. The corruption was stronger here, pulsing through the walls and floor like a heartbeat.

When we reached the cell Wyn had pointed to, I peered through the dark at the shapes on the other side of the bars.

My heart leapt at the sight of Van and Volker, huddled in a corner, but then sank at their condition.

They looked worse than in my vision. Volker’s face was pale with blood loss, his injured arm bound in torn strips of cloth.

Van’s usual vibrancy was dimmed, his shoulders slumped with exhaustion.

“Van,” I called softly. “Volker.”

Their heads snapped up, disbelief written across their features.

“Senara?” Van breathed, rising shakily to his feet. “Is it really you?”

“It’s me,” I confirmed. “We’re getting you out of here. Stand back from the door.”

I raised the Moon Blades, preparing to cut through the lock, but Wyn stopped me.

“Let me,” she said. “I can do it without making noise and there are wards on the lock that Ronan won’t be able to pick his way through.”

I stepped aside again, watching as she placed her hands on the lock. Shadows and light intertwined around her fingers, and the lock simply... dissolved, the metal turning to dust that drifted to the floor.

The door swung open, and Van staggered out first, his eyes widening as he took in Wyn’s transformed appearance.

“What happened to you?” he asked, his voice a mixture of awe and concern.

“Long story,” she replied with a small smile. “One I’ll tell when we’re safely away from here.”

Volker followed more slowly, leaning heavily on Van for support. His face was tight with pain, but his eyes were sharp as ever, always seeing more than made me comfortable.

“You shouldn’t have come back,” he said, though gratitude was clear in his voice. “This place is more dangerous than you know.”

“We know enough,” I said, helping to support his other side. “And we weren’t about to leave you here.”

“Eldric—” Volker began.