Page 8 of Crowned by the Shadow (Bound by the Veil #5)

Chapter

Six

Senara

The hedge maze swallowed us whole, its towering walls of greenery offering momentary sanctuary.

I crouched low, my breath coming in short, controlled bursts as I followed Sebastian’s lead through the winding paths.

The pendant hung heavy against my chest, pulsing with an energy that seemed to match my racing heartbeat.

“We need to get beyond the outer gardens,” Sebastian whispered, his voice barely audible above the distant shouts of guards. “There’s a passage that leads?—”

He froze mid-sentence. I nearly collided with his back.

The surrounding air changed, grew heavier, thicker, with something that tasted like decay on my tongue. My skin prickled with warning before my eyes confirmed what my instincts already knew.

They emerged from all sides at once. Fae guards, but not as they should be.

Their movements were wrong, jerky and uncoordinated, like puppets with tangled strings, and their skin bore a sickly gray pallor, veined with black lines that crawled across their faces like spiderwebs.

The worse was their eyes, which were clouded with an inky darkness that consumed the whites entirely.

“Corrupted,” Thorn breathed, drawing his blade in one fluid motion. “The Void’s influence has spread further than we thought.”

We backed into a tight triangle, shoulders pressed together as the corrupted fae closed in. I counted twelve, then fifteen, then stopped counting altogether as more poured in from the maze’s hidden entrances.

“Any suggestions?” I asked, drawing my weapon and feeling woefully unprepared.

Sebastian’s laugh was bitter. “Fight like hell.”

The first one lunged without warning, faster than any natural movement should allow. I pivoted, narrowly avoiding the clawed fingers that grazed my cheek. My blade caught it across the chest, but instead of blood, a viscous black substance oozed from the wound.

The creature didn’t even flinch.

“Some of them don’t feel pain,” Thorn called out, reminding me and probably educating Sebastian.

My soul mate’s movements were precise, calculated, each strike meant to disable or kill rather than wound.

We both knew that there was no way to get these fae back once the corruption had spread this far.

I ducked beneath another attack, slashing upward through a corrupted guard’s arm. The limb fell away, but the fae kept coming, the black ichor dripping from the severed joint as I used the opening and stabbed upward into its chest.

Catching movement from the corner of my eye, I spun toward it. Two more rushed me from opposite directions. I dropped to one knee, letting them collide above me before thrusting upward with my blade. One fell, the other staggered back.

The pendant at my chest burned hot suddenly, almost searing through my shirt. Acting on pure instinct, I grabbed it with my free hand.

Power surged through me, raw and ancient. The Moon Mark across my skin ignited with silver light, patterns blazing across my flesh like liquid starlight. The nearest corrupted fae recoiled, shielding their darkened eyes.

“Senara!” Sebastian’s voice cut through the chaos. “The pendant! Use it!”

I still wasn’t entirely sure how, but my body seemed to know, and I thrust my hand forward, palm out, and a pulse of silver-blue energy erupted from the pendant. Three corrupted fae disintegrated on contact, their ashes scattered by an unseen wind.

But for each one that fell, two more emerged from the maze.

Thorn fought with the grace of a dancer, each movement flowing into the next as he cut down foe after foe. Still, a corrupted guard sliced across his arm, drawing a hiss of pain.

Sebastian moved like a force of nature, all controlled fury and precision. His face was transformed in battle, the madness in his eyes replaced by cold calculation. This was the Sun King, I realized. This was my father, as he must have been before grief broke him.

“There’s too many!” I called out, dispatching another with a clean strike through its throat.

A corrupted fae tackled me from behind, its weight driving me to my knees. Claws dug into my shoulders, tearing through fabric and skin. Pain lanced down my back as I struggled beneath it.

The pendant pulsed again, and instinctively I rolled, throwing the creature off. As it scrambled to its feet, I drove my blade up through its jaw, watching as it crumbled to ash.

Blood trickled down my back, hot and sticky. I staggered to my feet, finding myself separated from Thorn and Sebastian by a wall of corrupted fae.

“Fall back to the fountain!” Sebastian shouted, his voice barely audible over the inhuman screeching of our attackers.

I cut a path toward him, each swing of my blade fueled by desperation and the strange power flowing through my veins. The pendant’s energy seemed to guide my movements, making me faster, stronger than I’d ever been.

A corrupted fae leapt at me from above, dropping from an overhanging branch. I didn’t have time to raise my weapon. Instead, I thrust my hand forward, channeling the pendant’s power through my palm. The creature exploded mid-air, showering me with ash.

I wished I knew how to channel my power the way I had done a few times before, when I had thought I might lose Thorn and was able to wipe out a whole group of enemies in one breath, but I couldn’t seem to figure it out.

All I could do was fight until I reached Sebastian’s side, back pressed against the stone fountain. Thorn joined us seconds later, blood streaming from a gash above his eye.

“What are they?” Sebastian gasped, struggling to catch his breath.

“Fae,” Thorn spat. “Or at least they were at some point. The Void Dragon Empress’s corruption takes many forms.”

The corrupted fae circled us now, moving with unnatural synchronicity. Their black eyes fixed on us with hungry intensity.

“The pendant,” Thorn said between breaths. “Can you use it to get us out of here?”

I clutched it tightly. “I’m still not really sure how.”

“Focus,” Sebastian urged. “Feel the connection to the realms. Picture where you want to go.”

“How do you know this stuff?” I mumbled.

“King, remember? I studied the histories of our court so I could better serve it in the future. Joke was on me though, since I will never be allowed to serve the Sun Court.”

I shook my head at the foolishness of these fae as I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate despite the sounds of the approaching horde. I thought of Wyn, of the Obsidian Keep where she was held. The pendant warmed against my palm.

“They’re coming!” Thorn warned.

My eyes snapped open to see the corrupted fae charging as one.

“Now or never,” I muttered, gripping the pendant with both hands.

I poured every ounce of will into it, imagining the pendant creating a doorway between the maze garden and the Obsidian Keep. For a heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then the world tore open.

A rift appeared before us, a jagged tear in reality that revealed swirling darkness beyond. The corrupted fae shrieked in what sounded like fear, backing away from the pulsing portal.

“Is that—” I started.

“The Void,” Sebastian confirmed, eyes wide. “Not what we wanted.”

The rift pulled at us, its gravity increasing with each passing second. The corrupted fae nearest to it were dragged screaming into the darkness.

“Close it!” Thorn shouted.

I tried to release the pendant, to sever the connection, but the power had taken on a life of its own. The rift grew larger, hungry and insatiable.

“Senara!” Sebastian grabbed my shoulders. “You must control it!”

I focused again, picturing the rift closing, willing the pendant to obey. Slowly, painfully, the tear shrank.

The remaining corrupted fae fled, vanishing back into the maze as the rift collapsed in on itself with a sound like thunder.

I fell to my knees, exhausted. The pendant went cold against my skin.

“That,” Thorn said after a moment of stunned silence, “was not in the plan.”

I stared at the scorched ground where the rift had been, my hands still trembling. The pendant hung lifeless against my chest, its power momentarily spent. Around us, ash drifted on the breeze, all that remained of the corrupted fae who we’d defeated.

“We need to move,” Thorn said, helping me to my feet. “That display will have drawn attention.”

As if summoned by his words, a chorus of inhuman shrieks echoed through the maze. More were coming. I couldn’t help but wonder if they had sensed the dissipation of the void magic and knew that it was safe to return and try to kill us once more.

Sebastian’s face hardened as he surveyed our surroundings. His eyes, so like my own, calculated distances and possibilities. “The eastern exit is our best chance,” he decided. “If we can reach the outer wall?—”

The hedges to our left exploded inward. More corrupted fae poured through, their movements even more unnatural than before.

These weren’t just infected guards, they were something worse.

Their bodies twisted at impossible angles, limbs elongated and joints reversed.

The corruption had progressed further, transforming them into nightmarish parodies of their former selves.

“Run!” Thorn shouted, grabbing my arm.

We sprinted down the nearest path, the creatures in close pursuit. Their howls raised the hair on my neck. The noise was not the battle cry of predators, but the agonized wails of beings trapped between life and death.

We rounded a corner and found ourselves facing a dead end. Towering hedges blocked our path on three sides, with the corrupted fae closing in from the fourth.

“Shit,” I breathed, spinning to face our pursuers. My muscles screamed in protest, exhausted from the previous fight. The pendant remained cold and unresponsive against my skin.

Sebastian stepped forward, placing himself between us and the approaching horde. His posture changed, straightened with purpose and authority.

“I can create a passage,” he said, his voice suddenly calm. “A way out.”