Page 32 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen (The Heartless and the Wicked #4)

SIXTEEN – KOLFINNA

Shadows erupted from Kolfinna’s body as she tore apart a troll-like beast limb by limb, its purple-blue blood spraying over her and painting the vined walls.

The creature fell to the floor with a loud thud , sending gusts of dust to filter through the air and make her eyes water.

She breathed out heavily and pushed back sweaty, errant strands of hair that had come undone from her braid.

This was the fourth troll she had come across and she much rather preferred fighting smaller beasts than the giants, since it was harder to spread her shadow-magic onto a larger target.

She circumvented the creature—one of many she had encountered—and nearly screamed in frustration as the only path to her left revealed a dead-end.

She had been fighting monstrous creatures relentlessly for the past hour with her shadow magic, but whichever path she chose always seemed to be wrong and eventually led to a wall, forcing her to retrace her steps, fight more creatures on the way, and choose another wrong path.

Her mind was spinning with thoughts of which paths she had, and hadn’t, taken.

At some point, she had tried climbing the walls of the maze, but the vines roped along the shrubby wall had struck her down. Even using her shadow-magic didn’t deter the vines, so she’d given up that notion.

Kolfinna exhaled deeply and continued down a random path, keeping her shadows ready in case something attacked her. She kept walking, rounding the corners, her gaze skating left and right, but it was suddenly eerily quiet.

Movement to her right made her snap her fingers out to shoot magic at the motion. She realized a second later that she had speared a horned rabbit with a mouth chock-full of unnaturally razored teeth. Her inky magic stained its snow-white fur.

Releasing a shuddered breath, she continued creeping along the path.

Another monstrous creature appeared, but she attacked it with her shadows in the next second, her body moving without much thought from her.

She fell into a rhythm. Crack a beast’s neck with her shadow tendrils, rip a limb off with another, leech its magic, attack the next one.

She had to hand it to this maze—she had learned more about using her shadowy magic this past hour than she had in all the weeks since it first manifested.

Previously, she had thought her shadows moved on their own, but she was starting to realize that they moved according to her will.

First, it was her subconscious that moved them, trying to protect her, but then as she gained control over her shadows, she was able to move them freely.

They were an extension of her, and it had taken her this long to figure out how to use them.

Kolfinna rounded another corner and halted in her tracks. In front of her, the path opened up to a large lake, which stretched in front of her, cocooned within the walls. Across the lake was an arched exit with red, bleeding flowers blooming around it.

Did she have to swim across to reach the exit?

A quick glance at the rippling water’s surface revealed nothing; in fact, the water was so murky and black that she couldn’t see a thing within it. Given how many creatures she had fought up until this point, she was highly, highly positive that there were monsters lurking within the dark depths.

She cast her shadows to create a skinny bridge over the water and tentatively stepped onto it.

Her body swayed left and right as she crept along her shadowed passage.

She should have made it broader, but she was afraid her control wasn’t good enough, and that some sections would be spread too thin, resulting in her falling into the water.

Almost there .

She stared at the exit, her steps slow. She was at the halfway mark.

Hope swelled in her chest at the prospect of being done with this trial.

Although it wasn’t necessarily difficult, it was tedious.

It was also mentally draining to have to focus so much on her shadows and her magic.

She had defeated all those monsters, but she had been beaten badly in the process.

A bite here, a slash there—it had taken a toll on her body and she wanted to collapse into a bed.

The prospect of a warm bed pushed her forward faster. Maybe she would be able to see Blár later tonight? Her cheeks to flush. She was sure he’d be amused to hear her stories of all the creatures she had fought today; creatures that shouldn’t have even existed, but they did, in the fae lands?—

A hand curled over her ankle and yanked her down.

A scream ripped from her throat as she was dragged into the icy lake.

A shock of cold ran through her system, and she inhaled sharply, bitter water filling her lungs in seconds.

Her eyes burned and she kicked furiously as more claws hooked onto her legs and drew her deeper into the lake.

Her magic swelled and flared, whipping around her instinctively, but it never caught onto anything and she continued to be yanked down, down, and down.

Her limbs grew heavy and she swung them furiously. It was so dark down here that she couldn’t see a thing. Her chest burned and she fought the urge to breathe in the salty water. She was aware she was panicking, but it was hard to focus, even as sharp talons dug into her body.

She kicked at whatever creature was on her legs, her foot connecting with something, but as soon as she rid herself of one, another hooked onto her.

Calm down, calm down?—

A torrent of terror seized her.

Would she drown here?

Kolfinna closed her stinging eyes, trying to make sense of the darkness. This trial was supposed to make her focus on her shadow abilities. What could she do with her shadows down here?

Just as she was thinking that, she wrapped her body in her shadowy magic, layering herself in darkness.

She added another layer, and then another; her shadowy magic leeched life from whatever was nearby and each layer fortified her magic.

Slowly, the creatures pulled away from her body and she was able to kick herself up.

When her head emerged from the water, she inhaled sharply, coughing and spluttering. Her chest felt like it would burst as she breathed in large gulps of water. She wasted no time swimming to the end of the lake where the exit was, a deep coldness seeping into her bones.

Even after she dragged herself out of the lake, she lay there for a moment, breathing in heavily and shivering with chattering teeth.

Her arms and legs quivered and she crawled to the exit.

The instant she crossed the arched doorway, her surroundings began to warp and blur.

She squeezed her eyes shut as the maze shifted around her and she collapsed onto the stone floor of the tower.

When she peeled her eyes open, she was back in the room with the painting. A sigh of relief escaped from her shuddering body, and she collapsed onto her back. She had never thought she’d be this happy to be back here.

“You’re sopping wet.”

Kolfinna raised her head to the sound of Vidar’s voice, finding him leaning against one of the walls, his strong arms crossed over his chest and his wings splayed behind him.

She wasn’t sure what she saw in his red eyes—concern, amusement, or frustration—but she didn’t want to stare too hard to figure it out, so she flopped her head back onto the floor, uncaring that he was witnessing her like this.

“I fell in the lake,” she said with a frown.

“You fell? Or were you dragged in?”

“Does it matter?”

“No, I suppose it doesn’t.”

She pushed herself into a sitting position and shoved her wet braid out of her face. “What would you have done if I didn’t know how to swim?”

Vidar canted his head. “If you were seconds away from death, the tower would drop you back into this room. It is a condition that is written within these walls. Typically, it’s written in the Black Castle as well, but some instructors remove it to weed out the weak.”

Kolfinna shifted her attention to the painting in the room, her attention sliding to the woman, and then to Vidar’s painted face. Her throat closed up and she found it hard to say anything. She could feel Vidar watching her, but she ignored it.

“Is that …?” She clamped her mouth shut, her voice wobbling.

“It is.” Vidar stared at the painting; his shoulders grew taut, but there was a softness in his eyes that didn't suit him.

“It was trapped with my army, which is the only reason it survived. I had it covered with my shadow-magic the entire time, so nobody has seen it before but you, myself, Aesileif, and the artist.”

“Why is it here?” she asked, swallowing down the confusing emotions climbing up her throat, making her want to feel so many things.

“Why not?”

She didn’t have an answer for him.

He pushed himself off the wall and strode over to the doorway and hesitated there, his attention moving from her to the painting, and then back to the door. “You did well. Rest for a few days and then we will move onto your next trial.”

Kolfinna’s thoughts instantly snapped over to what she and Blár had discussed last night, about her plan to siphon information out of Vidar. Now seemed like the perfect chance, especially since he seemed to be softer today. More forthcoming.

But she didn’t want to learn more. It terrified her.

“Vidar,” she croaked.

He paused, midway through opening the door. “Yes, Kolfinna?”

Her question remained stuck in her mouth. Fear gripped her tightly and she struggled to ask him anything. She clambered up to her feet, her training clothes sticking to her like a second skin. A shiver ran down her spine and she clutched her elbows to her body.

Did she want to know more about Vidar?

“Kolfinna?”

She blinked over at him. “I … I was wondering …”

He continued to stare, the silence prolonging the awkwardness.