Page 114 of Night Fae

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 totheir 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.