Page 191 of A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash

The ceiling ripped apart.

Talons—longer than swords, sharper than glass—pierced through stone like parchment, pulling the roof away as if it were nothing more than brittle paper.

A head loomed through the shattered sky.

A wyvern’s head.

But it was no longer a creature of flesh and bone.

No. It was something darker. Something made of shadow. An otherwordly presence that could rip through the world, its power capable of destroying anything.

Smoke coiled along its sleek, black scales, curling and twisting as though caught in an unseen wind. Its teeth—tall as men—gleamed white, a cruel contrast against its darkness.

And atop the beast—

Mal.

Or what had once been Mal Blackburn.

She no longer appeared as flesh and blood, but as something beyond mortal, beyond wyverian—something spectral, something ethereal.

Her form flickered like a mirage, half-light, half-night, as though she existed between worlds.

Wren had never known fear like this.

Mal’s gaze—piercing, merciless—first found Haven.

Then, Ash.

The Grand Hall seemed to shrink under the weight of her presence.

She parted her lips, and when she spoke, her voice was not her own. It was low, guttural, ancient.

It was a promise. A prophecy. A command.

‘Run.’

The word sent a shock through the room, through the verybones of those who still drew breath.

Mal did not wait.

She moved with the grace of something liquid, something born of night and nightmare. Sliding down from the wyvern’s back, she landed effortlessly, sword in hand—a blade woven of shadow and smoke, a weapon not bound to mortal steel.

Wren did not linger to watch what happened next.

She moved.

‘Kage.’ Her fingers curled around his wrist, shaking him from whatever trance had taken hold. He turned to her—dark eyes wide, haunted. ‘We need to go.’

His eyes cut back to Mal, to the sister who had become something unholy.

‘My sister…’

His voice cracked.

Wren tightened her hold on him. They didn’t have time for this.

‘We cannot do anything for her now, Kage.’

---