Page 34 of Crowned By the Shadow
Eldric smiled, the expression grotesque on his half-transformed face. “Evolution. Adaptation. Survival.” He gestured to his corrupted features. “This is the price of knowledge, Eclipse Child. The price of understanding what truly lies beyond the Veil. Of trying to save my people, and failing.”
He set the mask down on the dais and moved toward us, his feet always seeming to land where there were no marks, as though he’d walked this path a million times before. I wanted to ask what he meant, but I also didn’t want to interrupt whatever was happening to make him share information with us.
“I was there when Fiona failed,” he continued. “You’re right, I did care for her, but not enough.” He nodded toward Thorn. “I believed in her mission. I believed we could stop the Empress, seal her away forever.”
His dragon eye flashed with inner fire. “I was a fool. When the moment came, when Fiona faced the Empress, I watched herdie. I watched her light extinguished. And in that moment, as the Void reached for me, I understood.”
“Understood what?” Ronan asked, his voice tight with suspicion.
“That we cannot fight the inevitable,” Eldric replied. “The Void Dragon Empress is coming. The convergence approaches, and as it does, the cosmic prison weakens. These are facts, immutable and absolute.”
“So you surrendered,” I said, disgust rising in my throat. “You let the Void corrupt you.”
“No!” For the first time, Eldric’s composure cracked. “I transcended! The Void showed me truths your small mind cannot comprehend. It showed me that there’s no difference between fae and dragonkin. We are all just ants in the face of the void and the Empress.”
He gestured to Wyn’s suspended form. “Just as it’s showing your friend. The transformation is painful, yes, but necessary. The Twilight Mage must be born.”
“Twilight Mage?” Thorn repeated, confusion evident in his voice.
“A perfect balance,” Eldric explained, his voice regaining its eerie calm. “Neither light nor dark. Neither void nor substance. Life nor death. A bridge between worlds.” He turned back to me. “Just as you are, Eclipse Child. Sun and Moon. Beginning and end. Day and night.”
I shook my head, refusing to accept his twisted logic. “You’re insane.”
“Am I?” Eldric smiled again. “Or am I the only sane one left? I’ve seen beyond the Veil. I’ve glimpsed what lies in the spaces between stars. And I know that resistance is not only futile, but unnecessary.”
He stepped back, moving to stand beside Wyn. “The Void Dragon Empress isn’t your enemy, Senara. She’s your salvation.Your destiny. There was a moment where I thought you might be stronger than Fiona, strong enough to put the Empress back in her cage for a long time, but then she predicted this, and I knew you would be just as weak as your predecessor. The only thing we can do if we wish to survive is to embrace what the Empress offers us. Accept the destiny that has been laid before you and your road will become much smoother.”
“My destiny is my own,” I said, the Crown on my head growing suddenly warm. “And I choose to fight.”
Eldric sighed, as if disappointed by a child’s stubbornness. “I expected more from you. Especially since you know what happened to Fiona.”
“What did happen to her?” I demanded. “The truth.”
“The truth?” Eldric laughed bitterly. “She was weak. When the moment came, when she stood before the tear in reality and faced the Empress, she hesitated. She doubted. And in that moment of doubt, she was lost. Yes, she said the words. She raised her weapon, but she knew all was lost before she even said the first syllable.”
He turned and went back to Wyn, reaching out and touching her face with disturbing tenderness. “I won’t let that happen to your friend. The Twilight transformation will prepare her, strengthen her. When the Empress comes through, she’ll be ready. She’ll survive.”
“As what?” I spat. “A puppet? A slave?”
“As something new,” Eldric replied. “Something magnificent.”
My hand closed around the pendant at my throat. “I won’t let you do this.”
“You cannot stop it,” Eldric said simply. “The process has already begun. The corruption spreads through her veins, just as it spreads through yours.” He nodded toward my mark, where the darkness continued to thread through the silver patterns.“You felt the Empress’s touch when you crossed between realms. You know her power.”
I glanced at Thorn, whose face had hardened into a mask of determination. Ronan stood ready beside him, weapon poised. They were waiting for my signal; I realized. Waiting for me to decide how we would proceed.
“Why Wyn?” I asked, buying time to think. “Of all the mages you could have chosen, why her?”
“Because she was already halfway there,” Eldric replied, as he turned to face me once more. “Her necromancy? The ability to touch the boundary between life and death? The duality of her nature? It all made her the perfect candidate. It doesn’t hurt that she matters to you, either.” His corrupted eye fixed on me. “Your emotions for her will make you hesitate, just as mine for Fiona made me hesitate. I’m giving you the chance I never had. You can save her, to help her transcend.”
“By turning her into a monster?”
“By helping her grow!” Eldric snapped, his composure cracking again. “The Void isn’t evil, Senara. It’s simply... different. Another state of being. Another way to exist.”
I shook my head, disgust rising in my throat. “Look at yourself. Look what it’s done to you.”
“It’s strengthened me,” he insisted. “Now I’m more powerful than I could have ever imagined. Maybe if Fiona had sent me away as well, things would be different, but I wasn’t who she chose. I was left to face the Empress alone, and I did what I had to do to survive.”
