Page 109 of A Tale of Ice and Ash
“The darkness in Jasper grew. The Mirror convinced Jasper to seek out a shadow monster, a dark creature hidden deep underground. He told him absolute power would be his. Dwarves, as you know, are immune to almost all magic, but this twisted creature was something so old it was different. The minute Jasper unleashed it, hebecameit, a monster capable of infecting all others of its kind. He slaughtered his entire household, from the servants to his warrior-daughters that raced out to face him, and infected their corpses with his black blood and turned them into his minions.”
“Shades,” Eirwen swallowed. “He created the first shades.”
Onyx nodded. “And every one that came after.”
“But… not you?”
Onyx shook his head. “Merry and I alone escaped the carnage of that day, although not unscathed.” He twitched his leg. “Merry was still a child by our standards. He remembers very little of our lives down here. He does not remember being a prince.”
Eirwen jolted. “Then Jasper–”
“Was our uncle, yes. It was our father he killed. And our mother.”
“Why… why didn’t you tell us any of this?”
“Garnet knows,” he said. “Or knows enough. Oakley knows a fair bit too, or suspects from the snippets Merry has told him.”
“Why not just tell us all?”
“Jasper is my great shame,” Onyx said. “I could not defeat him. I tried to lead my people –what was left of them– back to our home at one point, but he just crushed our forces and took our numbers as his own. I could not save them. This ruin is mine. A monument to my shame.”
Eirwen looked down. Cole could see her mind struggling, unable to shape her thoughts into words.
“What… what happened to the Mirror?” he asked in her stead.
“I smashed it, foolishly thinking that would prevent it from ever leading another soul astray again, but…” He shifted aside. A large piece of it was missing. “Janusisthe Mirror,” he said. “Someone took a tiny sliver of it away, and it grew into another, was reframed, passed from hand to hand–”
“And ended up in Florin’s royal palace.” Cole clenched his fists. Eirwen reached out to touch his arm, but he could barely feel her. “Then Janus–”
“Found another ear to whisper in, by the sounds of things.”
Cole’s jaw tightened. “Do you think my mother… is she responsible for everything she’s done? Or was it him all along–”
Onyx shook his head. “I cannot say. I don’t know if Jasper’s ambitions were there before he met the Mirror, or afterwards. I do not know when he became Janus’ puppet. It was impossible to tell.”
Cole was silent. Itwasimpossible. The necklace proved she wasn’t under a curse. Her ruthlessness was still just human, like anyone else’s.
Something shifted not far off, like a boulder rolling away from a wall.
Onyx flinched.
“Shades?” whispered Eirwen, drawing her sword.
Onyx shook his head. “Too big. Follow me.”
They crept behind the upturned tables, keeping low. Something emerged from a tunnel at the far end of the room. Cole chanced a look in its direction.
His breath stilled in his throat, his knees giving way underneath him.
It was a monstrous, sloping, shapeless creature, a dwarf made giant. Its skin oozed black oil, which trailed behind him like a vile cape. Its features were twisted and distorted beyond all recognition, melted into a faint mask of humanity. It groaned as it sludged forwards, its breathing loud and shallow.
Onyx kicked Cole’s leg and shot him a look.Move.
That was easy for Onyx to say. He didn’t have to crawl to stay out of sight. Cole choked his fears and pushed after him. The dwarf moved towards the wall and opened a concealed panel in the side. Halfway across, Cole’s foot caught on an upturned chair. It toppled over at the slightest pressure, the sound racketing around the chamber.
The breathing stopped. A cold shadow cut across Cole’s back.
“Run!” hissed Onyx.
