Page 37 of Night Fae (Monsters of Veridia #3)

Dawn broke over the Shadow Kingdom in shards of crimson and gold, a bleeding wound in the sky rather than the gentle awakening of a new day. The unnatural auroras had faded with the night, but the wrongness remained.

In the courtyard, Caelen's soldiers assembled, readying weapons and supplies for the journey ahead.

Zev stood to the side, checking his own weapons one final time.

The weight of his daggers against his thighs provided a familiar comfort, anchoring him to reality while the world around them frayed at the edges.

Against his side, protected in a leather sheath, rested a longer blade—one he'd selected specifically for his father.

Knox approached, leading two horses. "We leave in ten minutes."

"Any word from the scouts?"

"Nothing new," Knox replied, his expression grim. "Just more reports of vanishing territories."

Zev nodded, taking the reins of one of the horses. The creature snorted and pawed at the ground, sensing the tension in the air. Across the courtyard, Caelen spoke with his generals while Daniel stood at his side, uncharacteristically silent.

Adrian joined them, carrying a satchel that clinked with glass vials. "The healers gave us these," he explained, distributing small bottles filled with dark red liquid. "For injuries. They said it's particularly effective against shadow magic."

Knox took one, examining it skeptically. "Let's hope we don't need to test that."

When Malik and Leon finished their conversation, Malik crossed to Zev's side. "Leon says the Barrier Temple is at the center of all shadow paths. If Yuri destabilizes it?—"

"We won't let him," Zev cut in, unwilling to entertain the possibility of failure.

Malik didn't argue. He glanced at the horse, apprehension flashing across his face. "I'm riding with you?"

"None of you humans have enough experience to handle these mounts alone," Zev confirmed. "Not in these conditions."

Relief softened Malik's features. "Good."

Despite everything, Zev felt his mouth quirk into a small smile. "Stay close behind me. Hold tight to my waist."

"That won't be a problem," Malik replied, his fingers brushing against Zev's.

A horn sounded, drawing their attention to where Caelen now sat astride a massive warhorse. The Shadow King raised his hand, and a hush fell over the courtyard.

"Today we ride not just for Elucia," he called, his voice carrying to every corner, "but for all Veridia.

For Earth. For every world threatened by what's coming.

" His green eyes swept across the assembled company.

"We face dangers beyond imagining. Some of us may not return.

But if we fail, there will be nothing to return to. "

Silence followed his words. No cheers, no battle cries—just the weight of understanding passing through the gathered forces.

"We ride!" Caelen ordered, turning his mount toward the gates.

The column moved out, armor glinting in the unnatural morning light.

Zev and Malik fell into position near Knox and Adrian, with Leon riding slightly ahead behind Lyrian, his eyes distant as he maintained his tenuous connection to Yuri.

Daniel sat confidently behind Caelen at the front, while Adrian's arms wrapped tightly around Knox's waist.

Malik pressed against Zev's back, arms locked around his midsection. The steady rhythm of the horse beneath them brought them into unconscious synchronicity, their bodies swaying together with each step.

As they passed through the palace gates and onto the main road, Zev felt Malik's chin rest briefly on his shoulder.

"What is it?" he asked without turning his head.

"Nothing," Malik replied, his breath warm against Zev's ear. "Just..." He hesitated. "Be careful today."

Zev's eyes shifted to meet Malik's. "I don't intend to lose."

The simple declaration seemed to satisfy Malik, who nodded and faced forward again.

They rode in relative silence after that, conserving energy and watching the landscape for signs of disturbance.

The terrain grew increasingly odd the farther they traveled from the Shadow Palace. Trees bent at strange angles. Streams flowed uphill.

But it wasn't until midday that they came across the most astonishing sight. They crested a hill and stopped, unable to go on.

Before them stretched an enormous chasm. A perfect semicircle carved from the landscape as though a giant had taken a bite from the earth itself. Trees, rocks, even the air seemed to end abruptly at its edge, revealing nothing but empty blackness beyond.

"By all the gods," Lyrian whispered, dismounting to approach the edge. "It's just... gone."

"Don't touch that!" Malik called.

"A nexus point collapsed here," Leon observed. "It can't have been anything else."

Adrian stared in disbelief. "How many people were caught in this?"

"Impossible to know," Caelen said grimly. "This area was sparsely populated, at least. Mainly forest and a few hunting lodges."

They skirted the edge of the chasm, forced to take a longer route around its perimeter.

A few hours later, they encountered the first refugees. A group of bedraggled fae fleeing southward, their belongings strapped to their backs or loaded onto handcarts. Most wore the distinctive silver and black of Night Court citizens, their faces drawn with exhaustion and fear.

Zev tensed at their approach, but none seemed to pay him any mind. Caelen called for a brief halt, dismounting to speak with the refugees while the others kept watch.

"What news from the north?" the Shadow King asked.

An elderly fae woman stepped forward, her silver hair tangled and dirty. "Half the Night Court is gone, Your Majesty. Just vanished overnight. First the outer territories, then closer and closer to the inner sanctum."

"The Prince?" Caelen inquired.

"Left with his personal guard before the worst of it. Headed toward the temple, they said." Her eyes flickered toward Caelen's companions, lingering briefly on the humans among them. "Lord Darius and Lady Morvena followed not long after with their own forces."

Zev exchanged a look with Malik. "They're there. All of them."

Malik's hand found his, squeezing briefly. "We knew this was coming."

"I will think of it as fate being kind for once, putting them all in one place for me to kill." Zev's voice took on a vicious edge that would have frightened most, but only earned a nod of understanding from Malik.

Caelen returned, offering what supplies they could spare to the refugees and directing them toward his palace.

A rare show of generosity from the Shadow King.

Zev couldn't help but wonder if it had been prompted by his mate, or if Daniel had already changed Caelen so much.

"What are you thinking?" Malik asked.

Zev shook his head. "Mates are a wondrous thing."

Malik blinked at him in confusion. Zev ruffled his hair.

As they prepared to resume their journey, though, Leon suddenly doubled over in his saddle, clutching his head while Lyrian looked at him in concern.

"Leon!" Daniel cried, dismounting to rush to his side.

Leon's face had gone ashen, his eyes unfocused. "The temple," he gasped. "Yuri—he's in pain. Something's happening there."

Lyrian steadied Leon as he swayed. "What do you see?"

"Conflict." Leon's voice sounded distant, as though part of him was elsewhere. "There's fighting. And something else—something powerful stirring beneath the temple floor."

"We need to hurry," Caelen decided.

Leon nodded weakly. "Yes. There's not much time."

They pushed their horses harder after that, across increasingly unstable landscape.

Reality grew more distorted the closer they came to the temple. The sky shifted colors rapidly, from normal blue to vivid purple to sickly green and back again.

"We're getting close," Leon announced as they approached a dense forest. "The temple lies at the center."

They had to dismount to continue through the thick undergrowth. The trees here looked old and the moss that grew on them glowed faintly, even in the daylight.

The path ended abruptly at a circular clearing, at the center of which stood the Barrier Temple—a structure that defied simple description.

It appeared to be made of white stone, but the surface rippled like water when viewed from certain angles.

Its architecture combined elements of countless different styles, as though the builders had drawn inspiration from every culture across multiple worlds.

Columns stretched impossibly tall, supporting a roof that seemed fashioned from myriad different materials.

Steps led up to a massive entrance, beyond which lay darkness. And scattered across those steps were bodies. The remains of warriors caught in a battle that had clearly ended not long before their arrival.

Knox approached the nearest fallen figure, studying the distinctive armor. "Night Court scouts," he confirmed.

Looking at the bodies scattered across the temple steps, Zev noticed distinctive marks on their throats and chests—burns in the shape of handprints that glowed with a faint silver light.

Zev knelt beside one of the bodies. "Looks like Barrier Keeper magic to me."

Knox examined another fallen scout. "Yuri did this?"

"They must have been trying to stop him," Caelen suggested, surveying the scene. "But they were too weak to do it."

The bodies showed signs of a fierce but brief battle. Some had weapons still clutched in their hands, others appeared to have been struck down while fleeing.

As they surveyed the carnage, Leon suddenly clutched his head and cried out in pain, dropping to his knees. Lyrian rushed to his side, but Leon's eyes had gone distant, unfocused.

"Yuri!" Leon gasped. "He's…"

Without waiting for the others, Leon staggered to his feet and ran toward the temple entrance, disappearing into the darkness beyond.

"Leon, wait!" Daniel called after him, but it was too late.

Caelen drew his sword. "After him. Now."

They hurried up the steps, stepping carefully around the fallen bodies. Knox and Adrian followed close behind, with Zev and Malik taking up the rear. Zev kept one hand on his dagger, the other positioned protectively in front of Malik.

The interior of the temple opened into a vast chamber that defied the dimensions of the structure they'd seen from outside. The ceiling soared hundreds of feet overhead, lost in shadow. Ancient symbols covered the walls and floor, pulsing with bright blue light.

At the center of the chamber stood Prince Ashelon, his figure striking even from a distance.

The Prince of the Night Court remained as beautiful and terrible as Zev remembered—midnight-black eyes with silver pupils, features sculpted to inhuman perfection.

At his feet lay a crumpled form that could only be Yuri.

Behind Ashelon stood Lord Darius and Lady Morvena, surrounded by a contingent of Night Court warriors.

Leon had already rushed forward and now knelt beside Yuri's bleeding form, frantically trying to stem the flow of blood from a wound in the Barrier Keeper's chest.

"Too late," Ashelon observed coolly as the others approached. "The keeper's life is measured in minutes now."

"What happened here?" Caelen demanded, his voice echoing through the chamber. "What are you doing in my territory?"

Ashelon's silver pupils flashed. "What you could not, Shadow King. I've prevented catastrophe."

"By murdering the last Barrier Keeper?" Knox challenged.

"By stopping a madman from destroying reality itself." Ashelon gestured carelessly toward Yuri. "He was attempting to awaken something that should remain dormant."

On the floor, Yuri's eyes fluttered open, focusing on Leon with startling clarity despite his failing body. His bloodied hand reached up, grasping Leon's wrist.

"You understand now, don't you?" Yuri whispered. "Why it must be done?"

Leon shook his head. "Not like this. There has to be another way."

Yuri's grip tightened. "Finish what we started..."

With those words, silver energy began flowing from Yuri's body into Leon's, a visible transfer of power that made the air around them crackle. Leon gasped, his back arching as the energy filled him.

"Stop him!" Lord Darius commanded, but it was too late.

Yuri's body went still, his purpose fulfilled even in death. Leon stood slowly, his eyes now glowing with the same silver light that had filled Yuri's.

"I understand now," Leon said, his voice resonating strangely through the chamber. "All of it."

The temple floor began to activate, ancient symbols lighting up in sequence as energy surged through patterns carved into the stone. The entire structure trembled.

"It's waking up," Leon warned, a hint of awe and terror in his voice. "The ancient deity that exists between all worlds."

As he spoke, reality fractured around them.

The temple walls seemed to dissolve in places, revealing glimpses into other dimensions—a modern city inhabited by people with dragon wings, a primordial forest, a town on a floating island.

Each vision flickered for mere seconds before being replaced by another.

"What is happening?" Malik demanded, edging closer to Zev.

Leon turned to face them all, his expression caught between wonder and horror. "The barriers weren't created to separate our worlds," he explained. "They were created to divide IT."