Page 29 of Crowned By the Shadow
“We need to know what we’re walking into,” I said, finally finding my voice. “I should check on her. Then we need to see if we can figure out where Van and Volker ended up.”
We found shelter in a shallow cave, just enough to block the wind and hide us from watchful eyes. Thorn stood guard at the entrance while Ronan built a small, smokeless fire that cast long shadows against the stone walls.
I sat cross-legged before the flames, the Veilshard Pendant cool against my palm. The weight of what I might see pressed down on me, but I couldn’t delay any longer.
“I’ll be right here,” Thorn promised, his silhouette framed against the cave entrance.
I closed my eyes and wrapped my fingers around the pendant, focusing on Wyn’s grass charm that I kept in my other hand. The connection between us had grown stronger with each attempt, as if the pendant recognized her essence.
The world fell away.
Darkness. Cold. Pain.
I gasped as Wyn’s surroundings materialized around me. A circular chamber carved from obsidian, runes pulsing with sickly purple light along the floor and walls. In the center stood Wyn, suspended in mid-air, her arms and legs spread wide by invisible forces. Her head hung forward, silver hair obscuring her face.
But it wasn’t just her hair that shimmered with silver light—veins of corruption traced patterns across her exposed skin, pulsing in rhythm with the runes. The sight sent ice through my veins.
Eldric circled her slowly, his animalistic silver mask reflecting the corrupted light. “The process accelerates,” he said,voice smooth and terrible. “You fight admirably, little mage, but the void has already claimed parts of you.”
Wyn lifted her head, and I had to stifle a scream. Her eyes, once warm and full of curiosity, now held galaxies of darkness, pinpricks of light swimming in black pools. Yet determination still burned within them.
“I won’t. Become. Your. Weapon,” she gasped, each word clearly causing her pain.
Eldric laughed, the sound echoing unnaturally. “You misunderstand your purpose. You are not the weapon, you are the gateway.”
He approached a stone altar where an oddly familiar object lay, a bastardized version of the Starforged Mirror. My heart raced as he traced its surface with gloved fingers.
“The convergence approaches,” he continued. “When the celestial bodies align, the true veil, the one between worlds, thins, then the Empress shall require a conduit infused with both void and life.” He turned back to Wyn. “You will become that perfect balance. And if your Ecplise Child friend can handle it then she will find not only a gateway within you, but a boon in the fight against the Void Dragon Empress as you will be the Twilight Mage. See, I don’t care which way the pendulum swings, I only want one thing. Chaos.”
Wyn’s body convulsed suddenly, dark energy crackling around her. “Senara will stop you,” she spat through clenched teeth.
I felt a chill as Eldric tilted his head, seeming to look directly at me despite the impossibility. “I’m counting on it,” he whispered. “The Eclipse Child walks willingly into our embrace.”
The vision shattered as something yanked me backward. I found myself on the cave floor, Thorn’s concerned face above mine, his hands gripping my shoulders.
“Senara! You were screaming.”
I struggled to sit up, my body trembling uncontrollably. “He’s corrupting her,” I gasped, the horror of what I’d witnessed still fresh. “The void…it’s inside her now. In her veins, her eyes...”
Ronan crouched beside us, his face ashen. “Can we reverse it?”
“I don’t know.” The admission hurt more than any physical wound. “But we have to try. He has a weird version of the Starforged Mirror, one that seems to be attuned to the void specifically. He’s using Wyn as some kind of conduit for the Empress, but he also said that she could be a weapon against her.” I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes, trying to stem the wave of pain thatricochetedaround in my head. “I’m so confused.”
Thorn’s expression hardened. “Did you see a way in?”
I closed my eyes, trying to recall details beyond the horror of Wyn’s transformation. “There’s a ritual chamber in the central spire. I couldn’t see how to reach it, but...” I paused, remembering something. “Eldric knew I was watching. He’s expecting us. Expecting me.”
“It’s a trap,” Ronan stated flatly.
“We already knew that,” I replied gently as I got to my feet despite my shaking legs. “But that doesn’t change anything. Wyn needs us. Besides, whether it’s true or not, he claimed not to care which side won as long as there was chaos. He might not try and hurt us after all.”
“That’s dangerous thinking, Senara,” Ronan murmured. “Especially if we already know it’s a trap.”
I pulled out the Starforged Mirror from my pack, its surface catching the firelight. When I held it near the pendant, both hummed with energy, responding to each other.
“These are the keys,” I said, remembering Fiona’s dying words from my vision. “Together, they might save Wyn and stop whatever Eldric is planning.”
Thorn studied the impossible fortress in the distance. “We still need to find a way across that chasm.”
