Page 9 of Shadow and Smite

I had learned of my “talents” under duress.

The night Eleanor had been branded, the ability rose within me. When the Shades held me down, their Gray General approaching, ready with his Brand… My power awakened.

I shivered, swallowing down the recollection.

Since that awful night, I’d taught myself everything I could, digging through Inarus’s old books, those he had abandoned in Issa Neu. He had been our Court Sorcerer. His duties included guarding the texts,notstudying them. He had used the knowledge to cause the Collapse, destroying the Shadow Court.

Necromancy was a magic not meant to be practiced. But it was my power. Under the circumstances, I had honed it, making it a weapon. A tool for survival.

Slowing my breath, I sank into the Underworld, the realm where souls slipped downward to final death. In the realm of the dead, the waves and sea spray faded from awareness. Descending, I surrendered to a different, slower tide. My body grew cold, becoming vulnerable.

It was a meditation I had practiced, learning to slip my soul from my body. Night after night, I had prepared myself for this moment, learning the art of opening my living soul to the dead.

My magic still burned, slowing to an ache, as I reached for the still minds of the Shades.

My first goal was to bring them to me, to let them hold me down. I needed the Gray General to brand me. Then I would destroy the General. With their leader gone, the horde would become headless. The attack would end, and the Shades would stumble away.

With the Brand on my body and the Gray General gone, I could use another thing I’d learned:ashflower.

Small star-shaped flowers, red as blood and grown from obsidian. Blessed by Teyr.

They were a gift from my pilgrimage to Teyr, my whole reason for visiting the human continent. There, at his volcano, I had entered the Divine Realm and spoken with the god. I told Teyr of the Collapse, and he asked about Gloom.

I convinced him to give me the ashflower. He gave it to me,exactly enough,he said. He warned that there would be none to spare.

Water sprayed across my face, and I blinked, returning to the living.

“Are you ready?” I asked Vanessa. The sprite now glowed, an electric blue light radiating from her body. The whole crow’s nest shone under her power.

Vanessa spun, the glow of blue magic twirling with her. “TheUmbral Staris now under my control. Release the pulleys!” Her voice boomed throughout the ship.

The crew above obeyed.

“And off we go!” she cackled. The boat tore off, breaking from the wake of the merchant’s ship. Vanessa preened, glowing even brighter. “By Teyr, it feels good to be back!”

“That way!” I pointed. “The Shades are on the port side.”

She hesitated, the boat slowing. “So let me check, one final time… You’re sure you want to do this? This boat is a beauty, fast as she damn well pleases, and youdon’twant me to outrun the blasted things?”

“I’m sure.”

She shrugged. “For the record, you’re the only weirdo I know whowantsto meet them. My last client certainly didn’tintendto have a run-in with the Shades.”

I raised an eyebrow. It was the first I’d heard of her former client and their untimely end. At least it explained why she was so fearless.

“Just do me one favor,” she added.

“What?”

“Keep the boat in one piece. It’d be a shame to lose her.”

“When this quest is over—either from success or my death—theUmbral Staris yours. I’ve given my oath.”

“Excellent,” she purred, and the boat began accelerating.

Into the darkest depths of the fog, we rushed toward the horde. I braced myself for the fight.

Without thinking, I reached for my handkerchief, finding it gone. I didn’t mind the absence, not when it was a reminder that it guarded Ayla.

---